2.0 LSJ Engine: how to-timing chain tensioner
New Member
Joined: 01-28-08
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From: pa
ok thanks i had called about one but it was the stock one.. It was about the same price as online with my discount from work
New Member
Joined: 01-28-08
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From: pa
Senior Member
Joined: 07-19-06
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From: Grand Rapids, MI
Subscribed for later. Thanks for the write-up.
Maybe I'm confused and looking at the wrong part, but won't you need a fairly large allen wrench to take the old tensioner out?
Actually it's $10 cheaper ($29.74) at GMPartsDirect.com
First off THANK YOU for posting this up. It helped me muster the ***** to take this on. lol
In doing this though, I discovered that the updated part doesn't require any of the steps listed in alldata, the dealer, etc. It is completely plug and play without even needing to remove the valve cover. Just unscrew the old one and insert the new one.
Tools used doing it this way: 1 1/4" or 32mm socket (same as oil filter), ratchet, and a torque wrench to properly torque it down.
In doing this though, I discovered that the updated part doesn't require any of the steps listed in alldata, the dealer, etc. It is completely plug and play without even needing to remove the valve cover. Just unscrew the old one and insert the new one.
Tools used doing it this way: 1 1/4" or 32mm socket (same as oil filter), ratchet, and a torque wrench to properly torque it down.
Actually it's $10 cheaper ($29.74) at GMPartsDirect.com
Last edited by N8s07SS; Jul 13, 2010 at 10:10 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: 04-09-06
Posts: 546
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From: Frederick, Maryland
anyone have an exploded picture of how to set the new tensionor I know you gotta take the snap ring off. but I'm see guys say that they are just screwing the new one in did yours come pre loaded
Senior Member
Joined: 04-09-06
Posts: 546
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From: Frederick, Maryland
Click!
The OP did this the wrong way then? All you do is - Old one out, new one in? He went a little out of the way it looks like.
Also, before I do this, they fixed this in 2006 or 2007? I'm not going to change mine if I already have the new style.
Thanks!
The OP did this the wrong way then? All you do is - Old one out, new one in? He went a little out of the way it looks like.
Also, before I do this, they fixed this in 2006 or 2007? I'm not going to change mine if I already have the new style.
Thanks!
New Member
Joined: 08-08-10
Posts: 2
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From: Idaho
Some important notes regarding this procedure...
First and foremost, I am not new to wrenching game. I wrenched for quite a while, anything from measly oil changes to my favorites, engine and transmission overhauls. I'm by no means going to talk myself up, just please believe for the sake of people doing their own tensioner swaps that my experience is more than adequate.
Secondly, THIS CAN GO WRONG and it did on my car. I hadn't seen a tensioner quite like this before and I decided to do quite a bit of research before going through with it. After looking around and seeing numerous posts about "I didn't even take the valve cover off, I just screwed the new one in and started 'er up" etc, etc etc, I felt quite comfortable with it. I did pop my valve cover off and went along with my business. I bought a genuine GM revised tensioner.
Problem: Upon pulling the tensioner, the cams took the normal "hop" and settled. What I come to find out later is, the crank had just jumped TWO teeth. Not good at all.
Next, I begin throwing in the new tensioner. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that your tensioner is RESET IN. Mine *measured* fully extended, HOWEVER, I could still compress it with my hand. To me, this was odd, however, I remembered reading that others noted they could do the same. (As I went back and read later, it turns out I had somewhat misunderstood what they had written about it).
Upon getting the tensioner fully installed, I realized the chain wasn't quite tight. Not good. However, the chain was by no means LOOSE. I went ahead and stuck the valve cover back on with a couple bolts, tossed the coils in, and lit it up. Immediately, it sounded like hell. I had a minor startup rattle before, but this was terrible. It sounded like marbles rattling around in the bore. Extremely loud and rackety marbles. I had expected the tensioner to fully pump up and lock under oil pressure, but this never happened. Chain was slightly looser upon removal of the valve cover after running. Note that the car did not run quite right. Minor hesitation and miss at around 2,000 rpm. I did have a check engine light. I had figured in my head it was either cam/crank correlation from a sloppy chain or a knock sensor from the massive rattle and it was intentionally limping itself.
I immediately shut it down and tore back into it. Long story short, I have arrived at the following conclusions:
1. Your tensioner ABSOLUTELY should be COMPRESSED and LOCKED IN on installation.
2. You should DEFINITELY take the valve cover off and MANUALLY JAR the new tensioner into its extended and locked position. I had read somewhere that the new and revised tensioner did not quite function like this; that is false, it DOES have a 'reset' and 'extended/locked' position. To those that are familiar with tensioners, I'm sure this is obvious and apparent. However, this does seem to be a point of confusion. This tensioner DOES have compressable freeplay in it. However, it also does have a locked and extended position.
3. My problem didn't even turn out to be a problem in the timing chain tensioner (lol). I ended up having a slight balance chain rattle, so before you decide that your rattle is definitely that pesky, TSB'd tensioner, think again.
What I find odd about this scenario:
1. I find it very odd that I had it jump teeth. Generally speaking in a chain motor, it is damn near impossible to hop teeth with good guides and a decent chain. That being said, yes I did check the chain length and yes I did inspect all of the guides. No significant wear or stretch either place. Therefore, I am comfortable concluding that this little LSJ can hop time with only the tensioner removed. ALL SAID AND DONE, I HAD HOPPED TWO TEETH LATE ON THE CRANK RELATIVE TO THE EXHAUST CAM, AND THE INTAKE CAM WAS -3 TEETH RELATIVE TO THE EXHAUST CAM. (-1 relative to the crank) Thankfully, all cylinders air check fine and I thankfully did not bend or tweak any valves.
I ultimately ended up buying a second tensioner in order to understand these things. My original tensioner had somehow locked somewhere around "halfway" out. It was still compressable but would never quite extend and lock. I had read this to be normal (contrary to my intuition, dammit!) and did not regard it as strange. I suppose that at some point in it arriving in my hands it was dropped or jarred in some way that caused this. There is nothing wrong with the part, but the odd circumstances I ended up with are worth noting. I later disassembled it and it is completely resettable and usable, I just simply want to make sure that you understand that this isn't quite as cut and dry as some people make it out to be.
Moving on, I tore down both the old tensioner after getting the new one. It will ratchet back down to the compressed position after you pull the snap ring out. It's pretty easy to figure it out once you get it apart. At this point, I figured out my problem (or, at this point, part of it.... keep reading....). I reset the tensioner, put it in, jarred it, and everything looked great. Chain was tight, no signs of any problems. One mistake I made here: I never bothered to check the cams. At this point, they had already jumped teeth and I had no idea. I lit the car up, and immediately realized I had not solved any noise problem. Same little rattle.
At this point I realized it was still missing. I pulled out the ol' scanner and found cam/crank correlation. Datastream showed I was missing like hell. I popped the valve cover back off and discovered the cams were off by three teeth (relative to each other). I popped all of the plugs out and checked the top of all the pistons with a bore scope... No evidence of piston/valve collision. I then tore the side cover off to check the rest, at which point I found that I had jumped all sorts of time. Here I pulled the chain, measured it up against a brand new chain (good hookups at the dealer!) and looked over the guides really well. No problems anywhere. I reset the chain to its proper spots and got it back together, and thankfully, it runs fine now.
I am currently still waiting on my balance shaft tensioner to arrive to proceed. While I didnt bend anything, thank God, it could very easily happen. I am out of time for now... I'll likely come back and edit in more and update this when I get time.
Edit: I finished everything and got it back to normal, and all I can say is wow. Its impressive how much noise that got rid of. The majority of my noise was from the balance shaft chain, not the timing chain, so be careful assuming that you absolutely have timing chain noise.
First and foremost, I am not new to wrenching game. I wrenched for quite a while, anything from measly oil changes to my favorites, engine and transmission overhauls. I'm by no means going to talk myself up, just please believe for the sake of people doing their own tensioner swaps that my experience is more than adequate.
Secondly, THIS CAN GO WRONG and it did on my car. I hadn't seen a tensioner quite like this before and I decided to do quite a bit of research before going through with it. After looking around and seeing numerous posts about "I didn't even take the valve cover off, I just screwed the new one in and started 'er up" etc, etc etc, I felt quite comfortable with it. I did pop my valve cover off and went along with my business. I bought a genuine GM revised tensioner.
Problem: Upon pulling the tensioner, the cams took the normal "hop" and settled. What I come to find out later is, the crank had just jumped TWO teeth. Not good at all.
Next, I begin throwing in the new tensioner. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that your tensioner is RESET IN. Mine *measured* fully extended, HOWEVER, I could still compress it with my hand. To me, this was odd, however, I remembered reading that others noted they could do the same. (As I went back and read later, it turns out I had somewhat misunderstood what they had written about it).
Upon getting the tensioner fully installed, I realized the chain wasn't quite tight. Not good. However, the chain was by no means LOOSE. I went ahead and stuck the valve cover back on with a couple bolts, tossed the coils in, and lit it up. Immediately, it sounded like hell. I had a minor startup rattle before, but this was terrible. It sounded like marbles rattling around in the bore. Extremely loud and rackety marbles. I had expected the tensioner to fully pump up and lock under oil pressure, but this never happened. Chain was slightly looser upon removal of the valve cover after running. Note that the car did not run quite right. Minor hesitation and miss at around 2,000 rpm. I did have a check engine light. I had figured in my head it was either cam/crank correlation from a sloppy chain or a knock sensor from the massive rattle and it was intentionally limping itself.
I immediately shut it down and tore back into it. Long story short, I have arrived at the following conclusions:
1. Your tensioner ABSOLUTELY should be COMPRESSED and LOCKED IN on installation.
2. You should DEFINITELY take the valve cover off and MANUALLY JAR the new tensioner into its extended and locked position. I had read somewhere that the new and revised tensioner did not quite function like this; that is false, it DOES have a 'reset' and 'extended/locked' position. To those that are familiar with tensioners, I'm sure this is obvious and apparent. However, this does seem to be a point of confusion. This tensioner DOES have compressable freeplay in it. However, it also does have a locked and extended position.
3. My problem didn't even turn out to be a problem in the timing chain tensioner (lol). I ended up having a slight balance chain rattle, so before you decide that your rattle is definitely that pesky, TSB'd tensioner, think again.
What I find odd about this scenario:
1. I find it very odd that I had it jump teeth. Generally speaking in a chain motor, it is damn near impossible to hop teeth with good guides and a decent chain. That being said, yes I did check the chain length and yes I did inspect all of the guides. No significant wear or stretch either place. Therefore, I am comfortable concluding that this little LSJ can hop time with only the tensioner removed. ALL SAID AND DONE, I HAD HOPPED TWO TEETH LATE ON THE CRANK RELATIVE TO THE EXHAUST CAM, AND THE INTAKE CAM WAS -3 TEETH RELATIVE TO THE EXHAUST CAM. (-1 relative to the crank) Thankfully, all cylinders air check fine and I thankfully did not bend or tweak any valves.
I ultimately ended up buying a second tensioner in order to understand these things. My original tensioner had somehow locked somewhere around "halfway" out. It was still compressable but would never quite extend and lock. I had read this to be normal (contrary to my intuition, dammit!) and did not regard it as strange. I suppose that at some point in it arriving in my hands it was dropped or jarred in some way that caused this. There is nothing wrong with the part, but the odd circumstances I ended up with are worth noting. I later disassembled it and it is completely resettable and usable, I just simply want to make sure that you understand that this isn't quite as cut and dry as some people make it out to be.
Moving on, I tore down both the old tensioner after getting the new one. It will ratchet back down to the compressed position after you pull the snap ring out. It's pretty easy to figure it out once you get it apart. At this point, I figured out my problem (or, at this point, part of it.... keep reading....). I reset the tensioner, put it in, jarred it, and everything looked great. Chain was tight, no signs of any problems. One mistake I made here: I never bothered to check the cams. At this point, they had already jumped teeth and I had no idea. I lit the car up, and immediately realized I had not solved any noise problem. Same little rattle.
At this point I realized it was still missing. I pulled out the ol' scanner and found cam/crank correlation. Datastream showed I was missing like hell. I popped the valve cover back off and discovered the cams were off by three teeth (relative to each other). I popped all of the plugs out and checked the top of all the pistons with a bore scope... No evidence of piston/valve collision. I then tore the side cover off to check the rest, at which point I found that I had jumped all sorts of time. Here I pulled the chain, measured it up against a brand new chain (good hookups at the dealer!) and looked over the guides really well. No problems anywhere. I reset the chain to its proper spots and got it back together, and thankfully, it runs fine now.
I am currently still waiting on my balance shaft tensioner to arrive to proceed. While I didnt bend anything, thank God, it could very easily happen. I am out of time for now... I'll likely come back and edit in more and update this when I get time.
Edit: I finished everything and got it back to normal, and all I can say is wow. Its impressive how much noise that got rid of. The majority of my noise was from the balance shaft chain, not the timing chain, so be careful assuming that you absolutely have timing chain noise.
Last edited by Elusive89; Aug 15, 2010 at 11:06 PM.
Ok I reset the tensioner because mine came fully extended. I took the snap ring out and compressed it and loaded it. Now Its fully compressed but it moves in and out very easily.. Is this normal? And so now I should be able to take the old one out and toss the new one in? But how does it pop back out???? Do I have to hit it or will it automatically do so??? I'm not a genious when it comes to cars but I do all my work with the help of the how to forum. I'm just a little confused on how the tensioner works and so called springs into place.
Member
Joined: 01-28-09
Posts: 260
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From: KY
I bought the tensioner and am hoping to do it tomorrow.
I am really just hoping the plug and play thing works out for me, and that the cam doesn't "Jump teeth." I'm mechanically inclined but just have never done any work on automobiles besides oil, plugs, plug wires, window motors, and stuff like that. Hopefully I'm not in over my head here. I see everyone saying that they had to reset their tensioner and I don't even know what that means. Mine slides in and out fairly easily. anyone care to explain?
How do I make sure the cam does not move?
If the cam does move, how do i line it up again?
I am really just hoping the plug and play thing works out for me, and that the cam doesn't "Jump teeth." I'm mechanically inclined but just have never done any work on automobiles besides oil, plugs, plug wires, window motors, and stuff like that. Hopefully I'm not in over my head here. I see everyone saying that they had to reset their tensioner and I don't even know what that means. Mine slides in and out fairly easily. anyone care to explain?
How do I make sure the cam does not move?
If the cam does move, how do i line it up again?
Last edited by ddawg23213; Sep 16, 2010 at 11:31 PM.
Junior Member
Joined: 07-09-07
Posts: 442
Likes: 0
From: harrisburg, pa
I think ill call the dealer for this, I do have a Ottp stage kit but the dealer hasn't said anything before so we shall see how it goes. I don't have the time or garage space to do much with my car. Oh yea the car is still under warrenty at 69k .
wow dude that crazy????i think i might pop my valve cover just to check mines didnt jump...it feels a little rough these days at idle....so what are u suppose to do if it does bounce a tooth? just rotate the cam back or forward?
Took me 10 minutes while 45 degrees and dark outside to do this in the driveway.
Used my 32mm oil filter socket, and a 1/2" ratchet. Tapped the ratchet with a hammer to break the old one loose. Pulled out by hand once loose. Wiped up the little bit of oil. Installed the new one, put weight on it to Joe ft-lbs deemed it good. Started up the car.
2005 LSJ with 82,000 miles on it, replaced old design with new design.
Used my 32mm oil filter socket, and a 1/2" ratchet. Tapped the ratchet with a hammer to break the old one loose. Pulled out by hand once loose. Wiped up the little bit of oil. Installed the new one, put weight on it to Joe ft-lbs deemed it good. Started up the car.
2005 LSJ with 82,000 miles on it, replaced old design with new design.
Took me 10 minutes while 45 degrees and dark outside to do this in the driveway.
Used my 32mm oil filter socket, and a 1/2" ratchet. Tapped the ratchet with a hammer to break the old one loose. Pulled out by hand once loose. Wiped up the little bit of oil. Installed the new one, put weight on it to Joe ft-lbs deemed it good. Started up the car.
2005 LSJ with 82,000 miles on it, replaced old design with new design.
Used my 32mm oil filter socket, and a 1/2" ratchet. Tapped the ratchet with a hammer to break the old one loose. Pulled out by hand once loose. Wiped up the little bit of oil. Installed the new one, put weight on it to Joe ft-lbs deemed it good. Started up the car.
2005 LSJ with 82,000 miles on it, replaced old design with new design.
