Timing chain

[raymievr6 0]

HI all was having a look at my coilpack for cracks, and have noticed a slight rattle from the timing chains, you can only hear it when the bonnet is open, and goes away after about 2000 rpm, the car has just over the 100k and has a full sdervice history.

Do you think if i changed the upper tensioner it would cure it? also the car had the head gasket done in 2004 at 72153 at a cost of over £500 at the main dealer, do you think they should have changed all the chains and tensioners at this point?

Cheers in advance

[The Monk 50]

If you check the reciept for when the HG ws done, they should have a list of parts used. They should have done it, but they also might not have....only the reciepts will tell

[raymievr6 0]

Thanks checked the invoice and NO the haven't changed the tensioners guides or chains, being done by VW themselves i would have thought this would be common sense, but there it is.

I have read on another forum that the upper guide and tensioner seems to be the culprit, and the lower doesn't give much trouble, so i will opt for the easier one at the moment and see how it goes.

[The Monk 50]

Matey, you'll have to remove the gearbox and bottom chain covers anyway.....as it is an arse ache to do that anyway, you may aswell do the bottom chain and bottom tensioner.

If you do it all at once, you don't have anything to worry about really......if you needed to do the bottom in say a year, then you'd have to remove everything again and reset it all....my advice and the advice that everyone else will give, is to replace it all while your doing it.

[raymievr6 0]

sounds about right i got a thread with a walkthrough on how to change them from another forum so i will have a look at that

[thegoth 5]

Thanks checked the invoice and NO the haven't changed the tensioners guides or chains' date=' being done by VW themselves i would have thought this would be common sense, but there it is.

[/quote']

it's not in their interest to do jobs in a 'time economical' manner. They will do what they are told and if they then have to go through the same steps a little down the line it's extra man hours for them. For Dealers read Stealers!

[ip 0]

Before you pull the gearbox off there is a halfway measure that, 'sometimes' helps. The main component to fail is the upper chain guide. It can be replaced without removing the gearbox. You just need to remove the inlet manifold, rocker cover and top chain cover. When this part wears out, the bottom section of the guide often breaks loose and the chain bounces off the metal housing beneath it and wears out too. This may be the noise you are hearing and is the main reason for top chain failure. If the guide is replaced before failure or even shorty after (before the chain gets too mashed up) the chains can run much longer (my mate has his on £180k and they are silent).

Looking at how it mounts, you'll notice that the upper guide is the only component in the chain assembly which has been deliberately designed to be replaced without having to remove the gearbox etc. The thought is that this is the main component they expected to wear out. The part is about £11 if I remember.

While you are in there, though you can't replace the upper tensioner plate, you can examine it for wear and replace the oil pressurised tensioner bolt that applies the force to the plate (these can get sticky and fail to correctly tension the chain). If the plate is not too worn or cracked, it should be okay to leave in there.

It's a bit of a fiddle to get the manifold etc off to inspect the guide but compared to £500 for chains replacement, it might be worth looking into.

ip

[raymievr6 0]

Thanks for the advice, i have read that the upper guide does break up quite badly i will have a look and see if it has broken, for the sake of a couple of hours and about £20 it might be worth it.

A local garage has quoted me £710 inc vat to do all the chains, guides etc and a service

[raymievr6 0]

got these pics from the walk through guide on changing the chains, showing the upper guide damage