156 replies to this topic

[AliM]

Following the death of my car mid North Wales run yesterday, i've had the cover off and unfortunately my timing chain has snapped, it's an 02 plate with 67k on. later this week the car will be going into a garage, get the clam off and have a look at the full extent of the damage. Clearly I am no mechanical wizz so I was wondering what the possibilities/options are for sorting this out. Am i right in thinking that best case scenario i'm looking at new chain kit and valves? worst case is an engine swap? What i really need to know is, is it just part of the engine I'd have to swap or is it a whole new lump? If anyone has any experience with this, any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks guys and gals.

[Zoobeef]

This depends on quite a few things, easiest would prob be if you can find a new engine for cheap as then you can just swap it and jobs a good un, altho you may want to do the chain on the new one while its out so its done and you wont need to worry in the future. If you dont want to change then you can get a new head with valves and stuff already in then put that on, but this is hoping theres no damage to your pistons or anything else, with this too you would need a head gasket kit and head bolt? (not sure if there stretch ones) cam chain kit and maybe new oil jet kit as if its not done it may be why it snapped. I'll add more things as i think of them

[Zagadka]

Commiserations mate I'm worried about mine too and have just Pm'd 'Benny the cam chain man' this afternoon. If you haven't already , visit www.z22se.co.uk. Lots and lots of threads on there regarding this. If the revs were low it seems you might get away with next to nothing higher and it doesn't look good. Valves and valve seats at least , maybe pistons too. Also , and I'm sorry to be the bearer of further bad news, but the consensus seems to be if there is a fair amount of damage it might not be worth repairing as engines damaged this way never seem to fully recover. People who've had extensive repairs seem to find they never run as well, are smoky and use a lot more oil. IF (and it's a big if) it seems bad it might be best to look at sourcing a new lump. Fingers crossed for minimal damage though. Was there any warning sign? Besides the rattle? All the best, Kev

Edited by Zagadka, 07 September 2009 - 06:59 PM.

[FLD]

You have PM!

[starlight]

Vocky

[Zoobeef]

Just looked and yes you would need new head bolts

[haggi961]

sorry to here about your bad news mate , and hope it doesn't cost a lot to get fixed. can anyone tell me how often you have to get this changed and what sort of miles.

[Zoobeef]

Some rough prices for you


Engine, done 69k, buy it now £600
ebay

Timing chain kit
Around £130

Head kit, includes head gasket kit, head bolts, 16 valves
Ebay

[AliM]

Thanks for the fast response and the info guys, i will have a look over on z22se aswell.

Was there any warning sign? Besides the rattle?

A few miles before i conked out it started making a ticking noise (not the diesel tractor noise everyone's asked me about) then i lost a bit of power, then before we could find a safe place to pull over the car had died.

[JimmyJamJerusalem]

Pray to the omnipotent lord Vocky. Sure he can give plenty of advice on what to do next. Also worth speaking to Cliffe. He's just dropped a new lump into his VX, so will know a bit about cost etc. Really sorry to hear this Al, you've had a rough run of luck

[AliM]

Some rough prices for you


Engine, done 69k, buy it now £600
ebay

Timing chain kit
Around £130

Head kit, includes head gasket kit, head bolts, 16 valves
Ebay

maaaaaaan, this sucks I really, really hope it's not done too much damage. I was going about 15mph if that because there was no power.

[jules_s]

Following the death of my car mid North Wales run yesterday, i've had the cover off and unfortunately my timing chain has snapped, it's an 02 plate with 67k on.

Snap (no pun intended) that's identical mileage to when mine went, and mines an 02 too.

Personally, i would wait and see what caused it to snap in the first place before making any decisions. This may be possible without taking the clam off, so well worth considering.

Mine suffered oil pump failure/seizure which isn't unheard of in our engines. If that is the case with you I'd suggest an engine replacement.

My bill came in at £3k+ with a new clutch and lightened fly.....roughly broken down:

Replacement engine £1500 +vat
Labour 500+vat
Parts circa £800+vat

A painful experience without doubt...FWIW my clam stayed on throughout

[Zoobeef]

Some rough prices for you


Engine, done 69k, buy it now £600
ebay

Timing chain kit
Around £130

Head kit, includes head gasket kit, head bolts, 16 valves
Ebay

maaaaaaan, this sucks I really, really hope it's not done too much damage. I was going about 15mph if that because there was no power.

If you got the engine i put up there you wouldnt need the head kit, and the timing chain kit is just if you want to change that while its easy to do to make sure its new

[vocky]

my advice would be to replace the engine, at 67k it's just not worth spending money on you will have bent some/all the inlet valves, every valve which is bent will have cracked the valve guide, any piston contact usually means the engine will burn oil, so another set of pistons/rebore etc. a brand new exchange engine is about £1500 from the dealer, beware of labour costs, they can easily exceed the engine price if you buy a secondhand engine have the chain kit replaced before the engine is fitted. get a written quote before letting a garage do the work.

[Zoobeef]

Mine suffered oil pump failure/seizure which isn't unheard of in our engines. If that is the case with you I'd suggest an engine replacement.

Just out of interest did you pressure warning light not come on?

[Zoobeef]

Shame i'm not in that part of the country, I also remember saying that when you were struggling with your brake pad pin, maybe you should move down south

[AliM]

Just out of interest did you pressure warning light not come on?

No warning lights at all

[jules_s]

my advice would be to replace the engine, at 67k it's just not worth spending money on

That was my conclusion, combined with the oil pump causing it.

Same with a second hand unit, the thought of spending major ££££ to fit an engine with similar miles just didn't make sense even at £35/hour.

Zoobeef.

Nope, not once......it started 'ticking' (chain skipping at the top end) then snapped on the way to the garage to have it looked at.

[southpaw]

[NA Jimbo]

Ali, if you do a search for "cam chain snapped an hour ago" you'll see all you need to know from when mine went last year, 8 weeks after I got the car. I managed to swap the engine with no prior experience. If someone could put up a link to thread that would be cool. James