Why The Demise of Timing Belts?

[andyd]

The SOHC I6 in the 528e has a belt. I change it along with a bunch of other stuff.300$ bucks in parts. An easy drive way job. It is the 60K mile service. That pretty much was it and I got 350k out my first one. Never had a breakdown in 12 yrs plus. OHC valve trains scare me. Not so much the chains but all the plastic guides. Chunks of broken guide will jam the chain and de-rail a worn , but otherwise serviceable chain. This is what happened to the 1st gen M5 six. Also the Ford 4.0 v6 in the Exploder and the Ranger,

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I never liked the idea of a timing belt. I never owned a car with one, and will try my best not to. JMO


Since I routinely get 250k miles and much more out of my simple pushrod motors without any major service I can't imagine knowingly buying a car with these issues...

 

[Smoky14]

The longer the chain the greater the error in cam timing as they wear. The advent of VVT has helped solve that, but when it is time to change the chain hang on to you wallet.
The masking of cam timing error by VVT doesn't mean you don't have a wear problem on you hands.
YMMV
Smoky

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I never liked the idea of a timing belt. I never owned a car with one, and will try my best not to. JMO


Since I routinely get 250k miles and much more out of my simple pushrod motors without any major service I can't imagine knowingly buying a car with these issues...


Do they make cars with pushrod mills anymore? Cars not SUV, CUV or truck.

 

[eljefino]

^ Good question. Maybe the 02 cavalier was the last of the breed?

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: supton
Do they make cars with pushrod mills anymore? Cars not SUV, CUV or truck.

Corvette, CTS, Camaro, SS, 300, Charger, Challenger, Viper...

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Smoky14
The longer the chain the greater the error in cam timing as they wear. The advent of VVT has helped solve that, but when it is time to change the chain hang on to you wallet.
The masking of cam timing error by VVT doesn't mean you don't have a wear problem on you hands.
YMMV
Smoky


I watched a fleet of Ford 4.6 and 5.4's wind up huge miles without a problem...I drove a Town Car that had 585,000 miles on its original timing chains. Non-issue!

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: supton
Do they make cars with pushrod mills anymore? Cars not SUV, CUV or truck.

Corvette, CTS, Camaro, SS, 300, Charger, Challenger, Viper...


Fair enough. Anything considered economical?

I like the notion of a low rev'ing pushrod motor, so nothing against that list--but I'll never own one.

 

[babyivan]

Too bad my pushrod 231 Buick V6 (a.k.a. 3800 in later incarnations) is not in production anymore.... and just as it was getting good again.

Nice SHORT chain, and especially good without a nylon teeth gear to ruin the party... oy!

Good gas mileage (even for today's standards), stout cast iron block, nice power (low/mid-range), and relatively easy to work on.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: supton
Do they make cars with pushrod mills anymore? Cars not SUV, CUV or truck.

Corvette, CTS, Camaro, SS, 300, Charger, Challenger, Viper...


Fair enough. Anything considered economical?

I like the notion of a low rev'ing pushrod motor, so nothing against that list--but I'll never own one.


You can make a low revving overhead cam engine too - just put a cam / set of cams in that makes more low end power.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: supton
Fair enough. Anything considered economical?

I like the notion of a low rev'ing pushrod motor, so nothing against that list--but I'll never own one.


Some of them rev pretty dang high.

On the highway they've shown that they can make them get reasonable fuel economy. The problem is that there's almost no way to mask all that displacement around town when you need to accelerate frequently.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: supton
Do they make cars with pushrod mills anymore? Cars not SUV, CUV or truck.

Corvette, CTS, Camaro, SS, 300, Charger, Challenger, Viper...


Fair enough. Anything considered economical?

Well, a Corvette is quite economical compared to just about anything else that is comparably fast.