Timing Chain Life

[92saturnsl2]

It's really only an issue on problem engines whose design is flawed.

In some cases manufacturers have moved from a duplex chain to a single row chain for the usual modern reason of shaving factions of a % off emissions and fuel consumption.

It's got so I would now much prefer a belt because at least they are easier to diy replace than a chain and you won't need to replace the sprockets as well. The cost of Professional timing chain replacement on my 15 year old car would write it off.

I agree with this, I've always had good luck with belt driven engines. Spend a few hours and a couple hundred bucks every 100K and you're good to go.

Sadly once everyone adopted VVT/cam phasers and/or GDI, they all switched to chains, which is a mixed basket. Some are known for crapping out early, others go the distance-- usually the life of the engine. Some engine designs, the chain drive is horribly complex and I know of very few that are easy to work on.

 

[OilStainedNapkin]

Have you ever seen a maintenance schedule include timing chain replacement? Especially on a Toyota like yours? I think that’ll give you your answer

 

[TomYoung]

If It's a simple, relatively short chain, like on my 1999 Alero V6, it will most likely never need to be changed. If it's really long and goes around a bunch of pulleys, change it. By change it, I mean change it when the water pump it's powering goes out or when doing some other maintenance in the area.

What exactly makes a longer chain more prone to wear?

 

[hrv]

Not sure how long they last but on my 07 Accord with a 2.4 I had 386000 with no issues at all...

 

[zzyzzx]

What exactly makes a longer chain more prone to wear?

More parts = more points of failure.

 

[tblt44]

A lot of the timing chains jobs I have done are not necessarily due to worn chains but broken plastic guides. What suck is pulling the engine out just to get to them and finding out the aftermarket has high quality aluminum ones for not much more.
View attachment 251679

That looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
I like my simple/short 5.3 timing chain design

 

[ElectroMechanoMan]

If I were working on something in the area of the timing chain, I’d inspect it for wear at the minimum and replace it if the vehicle had high mileage on it. Do good maintenance and chances are the timing components will last.

 

[dfarr67]

Most chain issues I have read about for the K24 are maintenance related-read oil changes.

 

[CourierDriver]

Timing chain change outs can run you 9000 bucks, depends on the model of truck or your auto..that said, I called the Dodge dealership and I ask about timing chain change out on a pickup truck, he said if engine was ruined , a new engine installed would be 12,0000 to 19,000 bucks, idn...........................

 

[nwjones18]

In some cases manufacturers have moved from a duplex chain to a single row chain for the usual modern reason of shaving factions of a % off emissions and fuel consumption.

It's got so I would now much prefer a belt because at least they are easier to diy replace than a chain and you won't need to replace the sprockets as well. The cost of Professional timing chain replacement on my 15 year old car would write it off.

I used to see belts as a negative, but now that I’ve lost a motor to a chain/tensioner failure I think they may have some benefits

 

[andrew_j]

Depends on oil maintenance, the specific design(some have failure points typically guides), and luck .

 

[Kurtatron]

I’m starting to appreciate Timing belts since they’re usually easily serviceable. Chains are not. If the chain goes bad, the cost to fix is much more.

In theory, I’d prefer chains since they should last longer, but too many manufacturers mess them up.

Timing belts give me some power and control over my engine’s longevity.

Longest lasting chain I had was a Toyota Previa with 200k miles, but that only drove one cam gear. Simple.

 

[JHZR2]

I’m starting to appreciate Timing belts since they’re usually easily serviceable. Chains are not. If the chain goes bad, the cost to fix is much more.

In theory, I’d prefer chains since they should last longer, but too many manufacturers mess them up.

Timing belts give me some power and control over my engine’s longevity.

Longest lasting chain I had was a Toyota Previa with 200k miles, but that only drove one cam gear. Simple.

I kind of agree. At least for daily drivers. You know when it’s time to go in and you know everything is reset to spec.

Chains take more care and work.

But a well designed engine makes it simple to measure chain wear.

MB engines have it right on the harmonic balancer:

 

[dfarr67]

My K24 is supposed to be lifetime- BUT that depends on keeping up with oil changes.

 

[Zee09]

What happened to Shel_b

 

[Donald]

Mines a normal roller chain on the M271 engine which is known for timing chain and sprocket problems. They replaced it with an inverted tooth chain on the next engine.

What gets me is that chain drives are not rocket science, they have been around a long time so they are well understood and the manufacturers must know what needs to be used for durability but they have still managed to penny pinch the solution on some modern engines.

The engines have changed and the timing chain needed to adapt. My 1965 Mustang with 289 engine had a short and simple timing chain but also had pushrods for the rocker arms. Once they went to OHC things changed.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I’m starting to appreciate Timing belts since they’re usually easily serviceable. Chains are not. If the chain goes bad, the cost to fix is much more.

In theory, I’d prefer chains since they should last longer, but too many manufacturers mess them up.

Timing belts give me some power and control over my engine’s longevity.

Longest lasting chain I had was a Toyota Previa with 200k miles, but that only drove one cam gear. Simple.

Even with wet belts they still have to design them to be relatively easily serviceable.

 

[brages]

I’m starting to appreciate Timing belts since they’re usually easily serviceable. Chains are not. If the chain goes bad, the cost to fix is much more.

In theory, I’d prefer chains since they should last longer, but too many manufacturers mess them up.

Timing belts give me some power and control over my engine’s longevity.

Longest lasting chain I had was a Toyota Previa with 200k miles, but that only drove one cam gear. Simple.

If you're a DIY kind of guy, timing belt replacements aren't too hard or too expensive. You get a new water pump, and it's usually not bad to replace leaking seals.

On the other hand, my Prius and Accord are both running just fine with chains at 250k+ miles.

On the other hand, my co-worker is looking at a pretty high bill for a timing chain job on his 3.0 Duratec Escape.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

My K24 is supposed to be lifetime- BUT that depends on keeping up with oil changes.

The K series engines have a pretty simple and robust cam chain arrangement. That and clean oil go along way toward reliability.

 

[Exhaustgases]

I'm not fan of timing chains nor belts. Timing chains that are miles long have lots of wear points. I've always found it goofy that for a belt pulleys are used as the guide and for chains its crap plastic, that can break etc. A dry belt is the easy and best to change and usually will not stretch and wear like a chain will. Chains open you up for leaks from the RTV going bad, and in tight spaces resealing and cleaning can be horrible.

K24 ? Yeah, but the V-6's all have belts.