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Broken Ecotec timing chain guide shoulder bolt Posted by Chadwick [Email] (#569) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Chadwick) on Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:29:43 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Had a weird one today.
'04 9-3SS 2.0t, 80k miles. Intermittent rattle from timing area. Engine ran fine. Figured balance shaft issue so pulled timing cover. Balance shaft lower guide broken, but in addition I found a broken timing chain guide bolt laying below the lower balance shaft chain guide (luckily it didn't fall in to the pan so I saw it!).
Front timing chain guide was broken in to three pieces. After removing the cylinder head plug it was apparent the bolt had broken and ripped out of the head, leaving the entire right side of the chain very loose (1.5 inches of play in the chain on the right side, still tensioned on the left).
Crazy to me that the engine didn't jump time and was running fine with these issues. After googling 'ecotec broken timing chain guide bolt' it appears this is a common problem among the saturn and chevy guys. An individual has made a kit that replaces the plug with a version that screws in to the head and has a support the size of the broken bolt that will go in to the timing chain guide and support it instead of the bolt. Pretty slick.
I'm going to try the kit and reset the tensioner... hopefully all is well. If so, this fix takes a huge job and downsizes it significantly. First time I've seen it.
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