Hey all,

Curiosity got the best of me so I removed the covers to inspect my secondary timing chain tensioners. My '01 (118k miles) was making a strange sound at start up and I thought it was the starter. THe car make a crazy rattle sound every so often right at start up. To me, it sounded like it was coming from the starter.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find a good tensioner on the left bank but when I looked at the right bank, I discovered one of the bolts holding the tensioner had almost come out! It wasn't screwed in at all!

Now I'm wondering about the condition of the primary chain tensioners. The car makes a slight rattle at start up then the engine is very smooth. That's why I'm hoping it's the starter.

But the chain seems very loose! I've uploaded a video that shows the right side chain and there seems to be a lot of play.

Questions -
1) what generation of tensioner do I have?
2) what is the likelyhood the idiot repairman who didn't tighten the bolt to the secondary tensioner, "effed" up the primary tensioner?? Should I take everything off and remove the timing chain cover to investigate?

Here's the video showing the play in the chain:


Thanks for the help!!

 

You've got the latest generation metal tensioners ( assuming they both look like the one in your photograph), so that's good news.

Chain tension looks OK to me... the tensions are activated by oil pressure, so the chain gets tighter once the engine is running.

CRAZY that the tensioner bolt has backed out or was never tightened. That MIGHT be the source of your rattle on startup... only way to know is to tighten it to the specified torque, button the engine back up and give her a go.

 

Wow! Looks like you dodged a really big bullet.

Those are the 3rd gen tensioners BTW. I think the play is OK as the tensioners take up the slack when oil pressure comes up. Better mechanics than me (there are many) can confirm. The 3rd gen tensioners take a shorter bolt set than the 2001 version. Wonder if that one wasn't correct and worked itself loose?

They might also confirm if your chain has jumped a tooth. Hard to tell from the angle, but the cam flats should be parallel (even).

 

You do have new secondary tensioners, but I am suspicious that the reason the bolt loosened is because it was not the correct bolt. The new tensioners require new, shorter bolts.

The old bolts are 46.25 mm end to end. I do not know the spec on the new ones, but they should be at least a couple of mm shorter. If yours are 46.25 mm in length, you have the wrong bolts.

 

The secondaries are the latest generation but contrary to popular opinion the primaries do fail and the long curved tensioner blade will rattle and beat itself to death.

Just because the secondaries are replaced does not mean the primaries were.

If the lower ones are the newer metal style then they have a ratchet mechanism to prevent the collapse without oil pressure.

If one or both have failed then you will hear a rattle (usually at low RPM).

bob gauff

 

Thanks for the help! I may go ahead and take off the front timing chain cover. Do you know of a way to hold the Crankshaft still without buying that expensive holding tool?

 

I would first install the correct bolt, if required, button it up and see if it sounds OK. But while you have the cover off, take a look at the primary chain guide and see if it's all in one piece.

 

I can't see the primary chain guide by following the chain down inside the front engine cover. How can I see it? Is there a better vantage point?