LetsGoMets78

Quick question for anyone. I am getting the 2007 2.4 SS Sedan and I would like to know if it has a timing belt or a timing chain. I am hoping it's a timing chain.

06blackg85ss

iTrader: (1)

Pretty sure its a chain

06G5GT

It's a chain no ifs ands or buts about it.

LetsGoMets78

Thank God! OK. Now, they never have to be replaced or etc and they rarely break/snap, right? Sorry to be an engine idiot, but I don't know it all. I am a regualr driver and I don't beat the hell out of my cars.

Thanks

06G5GT

They are designed for zero maintenance and it is rare for them to snap. But if somehow it ever does, the engine is toast.

1stbluSS

it is a chain and the tensioner for said chain is garbage in these cars....

1stbluSS

i dont know if all of our cars use the same but i had to have mine replaced within 4 months. Sounded like a ticking bomb

LetsGoMets78

How long did it take from when you heard the timing chain ticking to when you took it in. What are the tell tale signs that the tensioner is crappy.

Anyone else have this issue?

css9450

After all those years of Quad 4s you would have thought they could get the tensioners right.

1stbluSS

The sure fire way of knowing something is wrong with the tensioner is the sound. It ticks like a time bomb and gets worse when you turn the car. Also it ticked for about a week and a half until I took it in.

LetsGoMets78

It was covered under warranty right? How long were you without the car?

Halfcent

The timing chain tensioner on the Ecotec is actually very easy to replace. It was part of a genious design actually. While the unit itself has average durability (meaning one out of like a hundred might go bad), servicing the unit takes a half an hour. It can be removed and replaced as a complete unit from the outside of the engine, without any other part removal required. And yes, it is covered under the vehicle warranty.

LetsGoMets78

so it's nothing to be overly concerned about then?

joeworkstoohard

i wouldn't be. honestly, even belts aren't that big of a deal. people have this idea where timing belts are the worst thing ever created....

as a rule, they're not that bad, at least on four bangers. it can be a little scary re-timing the engine if you've never done it before, but honestly, it's generally not THAT horrid.

LetsGoMets78

Thanks guys, you rock!

css9450

That's what I was hoping to hear. This is a lesson they probably learned from the Quad 4.

stlurbanpunk

i think i have a chain tensioner problem on my old 2.2 cavalier, its been making an egg beater noise for the last 3 years. It only does it when the engine is warmed up though. Do you guys think i do have a loose chain?

Halfcent

No. It would be noisy all the time. Egg beater?

stlurbanpunk

yeah, you know those old mechanical egg beating whisks that nobody uses anymore.

http://www.discountcooking.com/shop/...egg-beater.jpg