I think this would be EXTREMELY conservative. Many on this list, including myself, have well over 200k miles on our engines on the original timing chain. Frequent oil changed seem to play a big diference in chain life. On a 2L engine I would not feel obliged to replace the chain unless it was showing obvious signs of wear such as noise. Even then, the noise can often be cured by installing a new tensioner and upper guide, or be traced to something unrelated like a noisy pulley bearing. The chain can also be checkd quite easily for wear by comparing the valve timing marks on the cams and heads simply by removing the valve cover. You can also check the extension of the tensioner. Now, the 2.3L engines are a little diferent. They have the addition of balance shafts which also contain chains and sprockets. On '91 cars and possibly some '92s (I'm not certain, hopefully someone can correct me) the factory sprockets were not hardened and are very prone to wear. These should be replaced with newer components fairly early in the cars life as a precaution. I don't believe it is possible to check for wear on of the balance shaft chains. On newer cars I would expect the chains to last a very long time and I would not replace one until signs of wear are shown either via noise or a visual inspection. There have been cases of chains breaking, often in the '91-92s with the weaker spockets, but also in other cars. It's almost a case of playing the odds. But if your car has been well maintained and you inspect the chain upon occasion as mileage get high I would not anticipate any problems.

Craig

• What is the interval for replacement of the time chain?, Gert, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 07:19:43
  • Re: What is the interval for replacement of the time chain?, Eddie Garrett, Mon, 5 Mar 2001 16:05:01
  • how about timing chain with open link?, dave n, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 20:08:02
    • Re: how about timing chain with open link?, Craig, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 21:40:58
      • Re: how about timing chain with open link?, Murph, Mon, 5 Mar 2001 02:25:28
        • how'd you turn the engine?, dave n, Mon, 5 Mar 2001 13:05:09
          • Dont do it on a Balance shaft engine, SimonJ, Mon, 5 Mar 2001 15:53:21
  • Well..., Craig, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 14:08:48 <-- Viewing This Message
    • How would I know if a '92 has "hardened sprockets" ?, Daren, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 18:41:07
      • Looks different..., MarkusJ, Mon, 5 Mar 2001 15:20:05
  • Still on the original chain at 252k miles.., Aaron Gilbert, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 14:00:22
    • Re: Still on the original chain at 252k miles.., claude, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 14:49:48
  • Re: What is the interval for replacement of the time chain?, Tom Remedios, Sun, 4 Mar 2001 09:12:28

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