Hi , i have an 04 cavalier with approximately 60,000 miles on it , how long do timing chains last. Will i end up selling the car long before it breaks or is there a certain interval that needs to be done any help would be appreciated thanks.

ive only seen ONE timing chain ever break on a Jbody...if i were you the chain would be the last thing i worry about..its pretty strong and SHOUDNT give you any trouble for the life of your car.

Thanks, i know we used to have another chevy and it had almost 200,000 miles on it and the original timing chain had yet to break , i'm hoping to get 200,000 if not more out of this car time will tell.

i dont think its so much that they break, its the guides that break and they get slack in them so aftr awhile i suppose you car could run like crap i just changed mine at 120k but it looked good though

if the guides break, does that leave you at higher risk for the the chain itself falling off or jamming up etc, also how long do the guides themselves normally last or does it vary

my chain broke at 50,000 miles. i dont drive my car hard at all. just a daily driver for me. so i guess its just the luck of the draw.


i'm baaaaack!!

kurt when your chain broke did it take the engine with it, how much did the whole thing wind up costing you in the end more than it was worth. ive got 60,000 on mine right now, but i've heard horror stories, one person said it cost him as much as $2500.

I'm curious also.

There is no timing chain. It's a serpentine belt.

I just replaced mine at 107k's because it was making noises. Nothing wrong with the belt, it was just dirty :p but at $18 I replaced it anyway.

Myles O'Howe wrote:There is no timing chain. It's a serpentine belt.

I just replaced mine at 107k's because it was making noises. Nothing wrong with the belt, it was just dirty :p but at $18 I replaced it anyway.

That is absolutely wrong, there is a chain, on all the J-Body engines. Just because you can't see it on the outside of the engine, doesn't mean it isn't there.





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whoa whoa whoa there are timing chains AND belts. on the 2.2 OHV motor there is a timing chain.the cam is not in the head.now on an OHC motor such as the 2.0-2.4 or eco, there is a timing belt.the cam is in the head. see a pattern yet? but yes i worked at a gm dealership and if memory serves me right you should have the chain ch34cked and or replaced at 100,000 miles and the belts replaced at 70,000-80,000 miles. now if u have a twin cam, check your belt even sooner


People say that what doesn't kill you in this life
will make you stronger. I'm not sure if that is true
or not, but i do know one thing-You have to learn from
it and it has to make you better.......it has to.......

strohlly7 mine is the ecotec 2.2, should i go ahead and have that done around 100 110,000 because i was thinking i had heard somewhere right in that ballpark was when it should be done others have said it will last 200,000 or more i have also been told the tensioner has the potential to go bad and the guides sometimes break does anyone know how long the lifespan of the guides themselves are or does that vary

Quote:

2.0-2.4 or eco

ok first off ..whats this "OR eco"?

Quote:

now on an OHC motor such as the 2.0-2.4 or eco, there is a timing belt

well 2 of the 3 arnt even jbody engines..and the 3rd runs on a timing CHAIN..here is an interesting read
http://www.ny-jbodies.org/library/engine/ecotec/ecotec.asp
and if you look at number 3 here youll see the chain
http://www.ny-jbodies.org/library/engine/ecotec/views/timingassembly.htm

Quote:

well 2 of the 3 arnt even jbody engines

ok..i was mistaken i saw the 2.0-2.4 and immediatly assumed newer ones..not thinking about the older ( my bad) but they still dont have timing belts..all chains...just wanted to jump myself before someone else did

strohlly7 wrote:whoa whoa whoa there are timing chains AND belts. on the 2.2 OHV motor there is a timing chain.the cam is not in the head.now on an OHC motor such as the 2.0-2.4 or eco, there is a timing belt.the cam is in the head. see a pattern yet? but yes i worked at a gm dealership and if memory serves me right you should have the chain ch34cked and or replaced at 100,000 miles and the belts replaced at 70,000-80,000 miles. now if u have a twin cam, check your belt even sooner

I'd love for you to open up my engine cover, the part labled by GM, "TIMING CHAIN COVER" and point out a belt. The Eco also has a CHAIN, the 2.0 (a long forgotten engine), has a CHAIN. NO BELTS





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SHIFTED-are u serious?the eco is an overhead cam engine i thought. and as far as i know almost all ohc motors use the belt and not a chain.now don't get me wrong twin cams have been known to use the chain. i guess j-bods are diff then the turbo mopars i'm used to. oh well i guess i learn something every day.


People say that what doesn't kill you in this life
will make you stronger. I'm not sure if that is true
or not, but i do know one thing-You have to learn from
it and it has to make you better.......it has to.......

Yes, its OHC, but there's a D in front of it, for DOHC, dual overhead cam, and I'm very, very very very sure that it is a chain, very different than mopar motors, GM very rarely used a belt in any of its engines.





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both the Eco and 2.3/2.4 use timing CHAINS. even most of your Japs are going to them...theyre far superior to belts. on another note..i know 2 people (out of the 8 or so i know with Ecos) who have had timing chains fail. a guy who comes to our weekly meet/hangout(03 or 04 sunfire) and a guy at work (04 classic/malibu), both have had chains fail, and yes...it WILL cause alot of damage.






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Ian you said you know some people who have had the chains fail , yes they fail how common is it . Do They Fail prematurely one guy in one of the replies above said his broke at 50,000 miles, yet shifted says he has seen people go well over 200,000 that have never even had to touch the chain. Which is the more common i've also been told the guides have a tendency to break and the tensioner can go bad though have also been told that the tensioner is more an issue with the 2.4's than with the ecotecs

GM produced well over a million vehicles with either the 2.4 or the Eco, If 2% of those go bad, would you consider that common?

Point being, for the number of vehicles GM produced using the chain, it is EXTREMELY uncommon, regardless of who knows who that had a chain go bad, for one to fail.





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SHIFTED:thanks for correcting me, guess i gave out bad information based on my assumptions.i wasn't trying to argue w/ you though, was just trying to learn so i know for next time. i'm still fairly new to the whole j-body world since i've tinkered w/ turbo dodges most of my driving life, mainly turbo shadows and daytonas, and i still have one. but thanks for jumping in and correcting my sorry a$$

and to everyone else, still get your chains checked once in a while. belts too lol


People say that what doesn't kill you in this life
will make you stronger. I'm not sure if that is true
or not, but i do know one thing-You have to learn from
it and it has to make you better.......it has to.......

Niteowl wrote:kurt when your chain broke did it take the engine with it, how much did the whole thing wind up costing you in the end more than it was worth. ive got 60,000 on mine right now, but i've heard horror stories, one person said it cost him as much as $2500.

yes it did take the whole engine with it. it ended up costing me about 1800 bucks to get the thing fixed.


i'm baaaaack!!

im not sure of the mileage of the cars, but neither are very low. id say the Classic is easily in the 50k+ range..the guy with the sunfire i dont know, but id say its got at leas 25-30k if i had to guess. i think saying its the luck of the draw is the best way to think. other than changing it at high mileage(100K or so) theres nothing that can be done to prevent it if its destined to happen to your car. oh...keeping the oil changed so the chain stays lubed is a good thing too.









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Well i change my oil every 3,000 miles or so , but like you said even that's no guarantee and if it's destined to happen your pretty much up a creek