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Took the valve cover off to replace the valve cover gasket since they are leaking a bit (engine ~110k miles) and noticed that there is a significant amount of slack in the chain. Based on the picture below what would be some recommendations here? Completely new chain or can it be tightened to get some more life out of it? Any other parts that should be replaced at the same time and are there better / more reliable parts than the standard GM / AcDelco parts that one would get from the local dealer?
What you are seeing is actually normal. If you turn the crank a hair, all the slack will be gone. However, I would suggest at a minimum getting a new chain tensioner. Get a new chain if you want to play it safe.
Now to your problems. Your guide between the cam gears is broken. That means all the others are not far behind. I would recommend replacing all of them get the Cloyes kit since they are the manufacture for GM and half the price. Since that guide broke, I would very highly recommend popping off the oil pan and cleaning it out. If enough of the guide gets sucked into the pickup tube, the car will lose oil psi and bye bye engine.
What you are seeing is actually normal. If you turn the crank a hair, all the slack will be gone. However, I would suggest at a minimum getting a new chain tensioner. Get a new chain if you want to play it safe.
Now to your problems. Your guide between the cam gears is broken. That means all the others are not far behind. I would recommend replacing all of them get the Cloyes kit since they are the manufacture for GM and half the price. Since that guide broke, I would very highly recommend popping off the oil pan and cleaning it out. If enough of the guide gets sucked into the pickup tube, the car will lose oil psi and bye bye engine.
Thanks for the reply! Would you be able to draw a square around this in paint in regards to the picture I posted? I have not played around inside the engine much so not sure what to look for...
Did you happen to have a link for the Cloyes kit you mentioned?
Is there a picture of a good and bad version of this "guide gets sucked into the pickup tube". Would be interesting to visually see the difference.
Sorry for all the questions, eager to learn more about whats going on inside this wonderful magic metal box.
See the metal piece hanging over the top of the chain? See how there's only plastic on the bottom of half of it? There's supposed to be plastic under all of the metal. So you need to clear out your oil pan and timing cover to make sure you don't have plastic pieces floating around in there and causing problems.
I'm going to assume you or the previous owner money shifted or spent a lot of time bouncing off the rev limited launching for a drag race.
As far as the oil pickup tube difference between having no plastic and plastic it's pretty obvious, there is a screen in the pickup. Either debris will be blocking it or it wont be.
That's a lil bit of excessive slack and your guide is broken likely from the chain hitting it which means your other guides are probably worn as well. Its time to go ahead and do a full timing and balance set being over 100k. Id highly recommend pulling the pan and pulling the pieces from the pan or pickup so you don't risk reducing oil pressure from the restriction.
Here is the timing chain part number set id recc getting so you replace everything including the actuators and solenoids for the vvt system. Cloyes is the oem supplier for gm and is a good quality set for cheaper than dealer and most aftermarket prices. https://www.cloyes.com/part-finder-s...rt_type=Engine Timing Chain Kit&pl=Stock Replacement&lookup=application&appyear=2009&appmak e=Chevrolet&appmodel=Cobalt&appengine=L4 2.0L
Here is the balance kit id recc getting as well. https://www.cloyes.com/part-finder-s...rt_type=Engine Balance Shaft Chain Kit&pl=Stock Replacement&lookup=application&appyear=2009&appmak e=Chevrolet&appmodel=Cobalt&appengine=L4 2.0L
Id recommend also getting the balance crank gear as well for peace of mind, the balance shaft sprockets and water pump sprocket doesn't tend to wear much but I do see crank sprocket wear often. https://www.cloyes.com/part-finder-s...rt_type=Engine Timing Crankshaft Sprocket&pl=Stock Replacement&lookup=partno
That's a lil bit of excessive slack and your guide is broken likely from the chain hitting it which means your other guides are probably worn as well. Its time to go ahead and do a full timing and balance set being over 100k. Id highly recommend pulling the pan and pulling the pieces from the pan or pickup so you don't risk reducing oil pressure from the restriction.
Here is the timing chain part number set id recc getting so you replace everything including the actuators and solenoids for the vvt system. Cloyes is the oem supplier for gm and is a good quality set for cheaper than dealer and most aftermarket prices. https://www.cloyes.com/part-finder-s...rt_type=Engine Timing Chain Kit&pl=Stock Replacement&lookup=application&appyear=2009&appmak e=Chevrolet&appmodel=Cobalt&appengine=L4 2.0L
Here is the balance kit id recc getting as well. https://www.cloyes.com/part-finder-s...rt_type=Engine Balance Shaft Chain Kit&pl=Stock Replacement&lookup=application&appyear=2009&appmak e=Chevrolet&appmodel=Cobalt&appengine=L4 2.0L
Id recommend also getting the balance crank gear as well for peace of mind, the balance shaft sprockets and water pump sprocket doesn't tend to wear much but I do see crank sprocket wear often. https://www.cloyes.com/part-finder-s...rt_type=Engine Timing Crankshaft Sprocket&pl=Stock Replacement&lookup=partno
Are the parts you have mentioned here all designed for a 08' 2.0L Turbo engine. I only see 2.4L mentioned in the parts list for the 3rd item. Also is the 3rd item not included in the Engine Timing Chain Kit?
Yes. The top kit is the timing set for a vvt ecotec which includes the lnf 08-10 and the second kit is the balance chain kit with guides and tensioner. The third is the crank sprocket for the balance chain, it only comes in a different timing kit (9-4201SAWP) that doesn't include the vvt acutators or vvt solenoids (which I highly recc changing while your there at your mileage) but includes the balance chain sprockets and water pump. I have yet to see enough wear on those sprockets or the water pump sprocket to recc chancing trying to change them out. I have yet to see a water pump fail other than on rare occasion it leaking but that requires a few more seals to replace bc you gotta take out the crossover tube and thermostat housing. The balance chain setup is the same in a 2.0, 2., and 2.4 so that crank balance sprocket works for it. Im not sure why the cloyes site doesn't have it pull up as fitting a 2.0 or 2.2 but it fits. I cross referenced the oem part number (90537301) from gm parts catalog to cloyes site. There is plenty of retailers like amazon and rock auto that sell cloyes kits, just search the kit numbers.
Oh i almost forgot you will also need a front cover gasket and i recc getting new guide bolts for all the guides except the front upper guide bolt. There is a replacement plug that goes in place of the access plug on the head that hold that upper guide. The factory bolt is a poor design and the upper bolt can break or bend under the stress. zzp sells it or you can get a dorman one just about anywhere. the dorman number is 917-954
Here is the one on zzp's site https://zzperformance.com/products/e...RoCPlUQAvD_BwE
Oh i almost forgot you will also need a front cover gasket and i recc getting new guide bolts for all the guides except the front upper guide bolt. There is a replacement plug that goes in place of the access plug on the head that hold that upper guide. The factory bolt is a poor design and the upper bolt can break or bend under the stress. zzp sells it or you can get a dorman one just about anywhere. the dorman number is 917-954
Here is the one on zzp's site https://zzperformance.com/products/e...RoCPlUQAvD_BwE
Much appreciated for the info, I have quite the parts list going now. What is the part for the "new guide bolts" though? I'm guess they come together in a set or something?
5 of these for the guides. They use threadlock that's preapplied to the new bolts, brake cleaner and air dry the bolt holes to get the oil out before you install them or the threadlock may not cure properly.
There is actually
6 from the factory but the upper front guide bolt will be replaced with the zzp/dorman one. It is the one that breaks the most often from stress but the others also can wear and bend when the chains get stretched. Ecotec Timing Chain Guide Bolt 11588522
You can also get the bolts on rockauto if you get the cloyes kits there to save on shipping. Search 11588522 and its the top one in the search (gm genuine) the next two are replacement bolt/plug for the upper front guide like I talked about.
5 of these for the guides. They use threadlock that's preapplied to the new bolts, brake cleaner and air dry the bolt holes to get the oil out before you install them or the threadlock may not cure properly.
There is actually
6 from the factory but the upper front guide bolt will be replaced with the zzp/dorman one. It is the one that breaks the most often from stress but the others also can wear and bend when the chains get stretched. Ecotec Timing Chain Guide Bolt 11588522
You can also get the bolts on rockauto if you get the cloyes kits there to save on shipping. Search 11588522 and its the top one in the search (gm genuine) the next two are replacement bolt/plug for the upper front guide like I talked about.
Thanks again for the info. Made a updated parts list with all RockAuto links. Any parts that you think might be missing? Think I have it all covered.
He did state it had a oil leak and it looks like the oil dye we use so id assumed that would be the reason lol. Bet that thing lights up like a rave under a uv light.
He did state it had a oil leak and it looks like the oil dye we use so id assumed that would be the reason lol. Bet that thing lights up like a rave under a uv light.
If you have a oil leak from the driver front area of the valve cover it is likely the last cam cap that houses the hpfp. There's a gm bulletin about it and it is pretty common.
If you have a oil leak from the driver front area of the valve cover it is likely the last cam cap that houses the hpfp. There's a gm bulletin about it and it is pretty common.
Interesting, trying to search on GMs parts site for what that replacement part would be?
Yea you have to remove the hpfp and roller, then take off the cover plate end cap then reseal it per the pdf I posted. Only parts you need are the hpfp seal and oring, the end cap seal, and gm engine sealer.
