How long should a timing chain last?

[Thales of Miletus]

I am curious about how you guys feel about an issue a friend of mine is facing.

Her car had it's timing chain replaced at the dealer 30,000 kms ago.

The chain needs replacing again and the dealer won't fix it for free.


Now the question I have is not about the morality of the dealer. But rather " How long should any reasonable person expect a timing chain to last?" Oil changes, etc... being done as recommended.

[realazy]

How long in terms of time did this 30,000 km take?

BMW has a parts warranty of 2 years after the service. I'm not sure about other dealers.

[94boosted]

Why'd you switch from 80K km's to 100K miles? How long a timing chain lasts depends on manufacturer.

Why does it need to be replaced, did it fail, stretch, skip a tooth, did the tensioner fail?

[mr2mike]

You said timing chain?

Keep oil changes at good intervals and you'll never need to replace it for a daily driver at 30K.

[beyond_ban]

Sounds like a B6-7 Audi S4 with the 4.2L V8.... Which if it is the case, that really sucks since the job costs ~$10k

[Thales of Miletus]

Originally posted by 94boosted
Why'd you switch from 80K km's to 100K miles? How long a timing chain lasts depends on manufacturer.

Why does it need to be replaced, did it fail, stretch, skip a tooth, did the tensioner fail?

The tensioner is defective. The auto company put out a technical bulletin but didn't warn it's customers. I was wondering what people thought a reasonable rating was for a chain, because the auto company seems to think 30,000 ks is acceptable.

I switched from Ks to miles, because I am old and think in both imperial and metric.

My 5.0 liter went 450 thousand Kms before I changed the timing chain. Perhaps I was negligent, but I didn't care if the car blew up, and it just kept going. When I did take that 5.0 apart, it had hardly any cylinder wear. I could have re-ringed it and drove to a million kilometers. Instead I was dumb and stroked it into a 347.

[FullFledgedYYC]

I had a car with 240,000km with the original chain, I also had one with 170,000km.

I would say AT LEAST 140,000km. The only issue here is that a dealership is really not going to care what a bunch of guys on a forum say.

[Wrinkly]

Originally posted by beyond_ban
Sounds like a B6-7 Audi S4 with the 4.2L V8.... Which if it is the case, that really sucks since the job costs ~$10k

PLEASE tell me you're kidding......


OP:
Had my A4 (the stolen thread one) done at Tunedub not too long ago, that did 100,000km, Audi recommends 85,000km. Cost was $1200.


(Off topic: The car has a brand new battery ($130) in it all brand new Audi Rotors and pads just replaced and not driven on until the thieves took it ($1000 in parts alone ) and now it looks like a write off...such a waste)

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Wrinkly

(Off topic: The car has a brand new battery ($130) in it all brand new Audi Rotors and pads just replaced and not driven on until the thieves took it ($1000 in parts alone ) and now it looks like a write off...such a waste)

I don't know about insurance here, but a long time ago I had a write off with ICBC, and they allowed me to increase the cash value due to recent maintenance, providing I had the receipts.

Edit: Actually, come to think of it, it was the other guys insurance paying, and he was insured with someone in Alberta.

[Wrinkly]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


I don't know about insurance here, but a long time ago I had a write off with ICBC, and they allowed me to increase the cash value due to recent maintenance, providing I had the receipts..

I did have the receipts - but I believe the bastards took those, too

[RickDaTuner]

Normal driving and regular maintenance, a timing chain should last 300k +
hard acceleration, constant high rpm down shift, and just huge rpm changes is general, will cause the chain to stretch very quickly. The stretched chain will cause the tensioners to reach max travel, which is quickly followed by a seal failure on the tensioner.

OP if you had two chains fail back to back on a car, I would definitely be looking at the dealer to fix the underlying issue of low oil pressure, starvation to the chain oiling port, or look into what is causing material to degrade the timing components.

For a dealer to reject work that was just done is down right douchey and wrong, as a person in the trade, that sounds more like they screwed up, but are willing to take the blame, because any way they look at it, they are the ones who are going to eat the cost of repair.

name the make and model of the car.

[turbotrip]

Originally posted by Wrinkly


I did have the receipts - but I believe the bastards took those, too

If u got it done @ Tunedub, they can print u new copies

[bjstare]

Originally posted by Wrinkly


PLEASE tell me you're kidding......

Nope. Which is precisely why I don't own one of those cars. I was set on getting one until I found out about the cost of that.