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What are some of your opinions on this? What's better and why?
I ask because I have a high mileage car (97 Sidekick Sport 1.8l) and I have been worried about the timing belt snapping because it has over 150k and I don't know if previous owners ever replaced it. Now, I did my research online to find that my engine actually has a chain and not a belt.
The car runs strong with no engine noise. I don't know if I should worry about getting this done or not. Suggestions?
Also, are many auto makers still using chains, or are most using belts now?
After losing a car engine due to a timing belt, and going through the subsequent research after, I will always vote for a timing chain. If I ever get a new car, it will have a timing chain. I will never buy another car with a timing belt.
Timing chain is supposed to either last longer, or not break. (At least not in the same way that a timing belt will wear down and break.)
As far as what auto makers are using, I know that some makers are moving towards putting timing chains in all of their models. Those are the makers I'm going to support because they realize just how weak a timing belt really is.
I would not agree. We don't do Euro vehicles at my shop, but our experience with Asian and domestic vehicles is that timing chains are lifetime and not considered a maintenance item by any vehicle manufacturer I can think of. There are some exceptions -- certain Ford PUs had lots of bad timing chains simply due to weak design. A Toyota or Nissan 4 cyl engine from the 80s can develop timing chain slap and rattle at high mileage. But, by and large, keep the oil full and clean and don't worry about timing chain replacement on a modern vehicle. Before a timing chain does break it generally gives plenty of warning by non-rhythmic low rpm rattles -- particularly on start up.
Don in Austin
timing chains stretch and break, timing gears wear out. for ohc engines, tensioners wear out. are timing chains more reliable than belts? yes by far. do timing chains last longer than belts, again yes by far. but having had many cars where the timing chains broke at high miles, usually above 130,000, i generally replace the timing chain in just about every car i buy that has one. and i replace those chains and gears with upgraded versions so they will last even longer than the stock parts did. my old 83 grand marquis quit on me one day, broken timing chain. my old 71 catalina quit on my one day, broken timing chain. my 66 mustang quit on me one day, broken timing chain. see a pattern here? timing chains are not indestructible, and should be replaced when the mileage climbs up above 125,000 miles.
Spoken like someone who's never been around high horsepower cars.
Yes, if you put enough miles on an engine it could break the timing chain eventually. This isn't news. It's more likely to break due to rapid acceleration and deceleration of the engine.
Spoken like someone who doesn't know anything about my underhood experiences. I don't claim to know everything, but know what I know.
I've been building, racing, and blowing up small and big block Chevrolets and Mopars for over 35 years. Ranging anywhere from 400 to 700+ naturally aspirated horsepower. Is that high horsepower enough for you? I've thrown rods, broken cranks, broken valvetrains, even blown out the side of a block on a couple of occasion. The one thing I have NEVER done while racing is broken a timing chain. I've broken the chains on a couple of my 200,000+ miles daily-mobiles, but never racing.
Spoken like someone who doesn't know anything about my underhood experiences. I don't claim to know everything, but know what I know.
I've been building, racing, and blowing up small and big block Chevrolets and Mopars for over 35 years. Ranging anywhere from 400 to 700+ naturally aspirated horsepower. Is that high horsepower enough for you? I've thrown rods, broken cranks, broken valvetrains, even blown out the side of a block on a couple of occasion. The one thing I have NEVER done while racing is broken a timing chain. I've broken the chains on a couple of my 200,000+ miles daily-mobiles, but never racing.
i have seen a broken timing chain on a race engine. many years ago at tucson dragway, a top fuel engine spit out a timing chain on a qualifying run. the resulting broken intake valves allowed a huge backfire that shot the blower 250ft into the air at the 1000ft mark. it was a spectacular sight to see. shut down qualifying for two hours while the cleaned up the track.
"Lets save $20 manufacturing this car, just to cost the various owners multiple thousands of dollars over the course of its lifetime"
I think the $1000 service every 100K miles on a Honda V6 is bad. What's worse is the vehicles that specify 60K. That's just unacceptable. Especially when sometimes they do not make it to the specified interval (Chevrolaewoo Aveo, Daewoozuki Forenza) or aftermarket parts are junk.
I really like the Honda J30 and J35 ... completely ridiculous and unacceptable that they use timing belts. Honda needs to step up their game and get out of the early 90s penny pinching.
I refuse to own anything with a belt for my primary or secondary form of transportation.
"Lets save $20 manufacturing this car, just to cost the various owners multiple thousands of dollars over the course of its lifetime"
I think the $1000 service every 100K miles on a Honda V6 is bad. What's worse is the vehicles that specify 60K. That's just unacceptable. Especially when sometimes they do not make it to the specified interval (Chevrolaewoo Aveo, Daewoozuki Forenza) or aftermarket parts are junk.
I really like the Honda J30 and J35 ... completely ridiculous and unacceptable that they use timing belts. Honda needs to step up their game and get out of the early 90s penny pinching.
I refuse to own anything with a belt for my primary or secondary form of transportation.
Truth.
Then again, VWs were snapping belts at about 60k miles when their interval was 100k miles about a decade back.
So, I guess other makers got itchy trigger fingers with their intervals.
I guess belts are supposed to be quieter, but if you're buying a low-end car, that's the least of your concerns. You buy a ride with meat on it if you want quiet.
My old 94 Ranger had a belt, but at least it was non-interference.
I've been a licensed driver for 46+ years. I've owned numerous cars, pickups, motorcycles and boats with straight inboard engines. I've built cars for drag racing and have had cars with over 200K and never had a timing chain fail. I've had them stretched and I've had some timing gears pretty worn but I never had chain come apart. Now I know it can and does happen, but in my case, NEVER.
Ford's new 1.0L Ecoboost has a non-maintenance timing belt. The rotates through a pool of oil so that it doesn't dry out and crack. So it combines the benefits of a chain (lower maintenance) with the benefits of a belt (lighter, quieter). It'll be interesting to see how well this works and if the rest of the industry will follow suit if it proves to be successful.
Spoken like someone who doesn't know anything about my underhood experiences. I don't claim to know everything, but know what I know.
I've been building, racing, and blowing up small and big block Chevrolets and Mopars for over 35 years. Ranging anywhere from 400 to 700+ naturally aspirated horsepower. Is that high horsepower enough for you? I've thrown rods, broken cranks, broken valvetrains, even blown out the side of a block on a couple of occasion. The one thing I have NEVER done while racing is broken a timing chain. I've broken the chains on a couple of my 200,000+ miles daily-mobiles, but never racing.
Of course you haven't broken a timing chain racing... none of those engines have a high enough rpm limit, and they're NA engines, running out of steam after 5-6k rpm.
Just because YOU have never done something doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
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