Here's why you shouldnt buy InnerFireGear timing components from eBay

[Neil]

I tried to save some cash and bought a new timing kit from Innerfireengine on eBay. The parts looked OKAY... the materials didnt appear as nice as OEM but I decided they were decent enough. Ever since my father and I replaced the originals with the Innerfire stuff there's been a noise. Recently, the noise has been getting horrendous and was accompanied by sporatic engine behavioral problems; shifting idle, random power loss, etc.

2 weeks ago we took the cam cover and upper timing cover off to investigate my problem. We noticed that after a few hundred miles, the tensioner looked as bad as the original one did after 135k.

The original tensioner has an oil squirter that lubes the chain before it makes its pass on the pad. On the innerfire piece, this was mis-drilled and was spraying straight onto the back of the aperature the pad is attached to and NOT the chain (we tested this by spraying brakleen through the oil feed on the backside). Thinking this was the entire problem, We downed the car and ordered a new 'revised' style (innerfire manufactures '91 style parts even though the kade is still made and has undergone revisions) tensioner and chain from S.A. Gear. side by side the S.A. stuff looked much nicer. We waited the week to get the parts and installed them this past Thursday.

I drove the car to work on Friday and as soon as the car warmed up, the exact same symptoms were back. it really made my heart sink and put me in a bad mood for the day.

Soo, today, with my day off, my dad and I researched a way to get the timing covers off with the motor still in the car and without having to drop the subframe. After getting the covers off, the first thing i noticed is that the lower tensioner was pushed all the way in. The tensioner itself I believe was fine, but what was keeping it pushed in was the guide it pushes on.

When we had the motor out to do the timing kit, clutch and head gasket set, upon reassembly we tightened the guide down and didnt think to check weather or not it could pivot like it's supposed to. It could not. This meant that even though the tensioner was trying to do its job, it didnt provide enough force to move the guide which was essentially bound against the block. The chain was free to flap about since it had NO force exerted on it whatsoever from the tensioner.

Here's a photo showing how the bolt / pivot point fits in both the OEM (background/window) and innerfiregear pieces.



look closely at the difference. The innerfire (foreground) is letting the bolt sit nearly flush with the outside of the guide. Its actually raised above a little. In the little pasted window is how it sits in the OEM one. Its supposed to be recessed like that... That bolt is not supposed to bottom out inside the guide when you tighten it down onto the block. I measured the innerfire piece with a caliper and found it was almost exactly 0.1" too shallow, so when the swivel/bolt got tight, it was sandwiching the guide against the block and NOT letting it sway back and forth to take out chain slack.

sigh. So much for wanting to save $50.

At least i found out what's wrong. Ive got a complete S.A. gear timing kit on order right now. Even though i already have a new upper chain and tensioner and really need just the lower guide and could possibly get away just fine reusing the original, im re-re-re-using my cam gear bolts which i dont feel good about since they strech. the S.A. kit comes with new bolts. Besides, i want to get the innerfire tensioner, chain, and other guide out of there. We used S.A. on my last S13 and had great results.

Long story short, dont buy the chinese **** from innerfireengine on eBay because they have tolerance issues. I wish so bad that i'd waited to install the parts before giving positive feedback. im going to write up a formal complaint to see if i can get any of my money back. I'll tell them that I 'had to pay my mechanic for new parts and labor just to replace the kit i supplied for him to install one week ago.' I could even ship them their old ****ty parts if they wanted.
Modified by Neil at 4:45 AM 1/11/2005

[MaxType 240]

Here's a thread I started on the topic of timing chain kit quality w/ some useful contact/company info: http://nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=88310

Sorry you had to go through this, the "value" is tempting, but we cannot cop out on this stuff. If it's too good to be true, then...

Jesse

[2Fass240us]

Sorry you had to go through this, the "value" is tempting, but we cannot cop out on this stuff. If it's too good to be true, then...

Jesse

I could not agree more, especially on something as critical as a timing chain kit. I purchased the "improved" SR20DE kit for my DET, including the S15 timing chain tensioner, and I think it's one of the best engine investments I've made. Timing chain reliability is key.

[sanioll]

Long story short, dont buy the chinese **** from innerfireengine on eBay because they have tolerance issues.

you simply never buy anything that says Made in China. Never.

Quantity over quality. Everything i bought so far in my life that were made in china, broke into pieces before I knew it.

[Red coupe]

Is their even an OEM timing chain kit? Every place I find that sells only oem parts doesnt sell kits, and Ive never actualy seen a kit that says its oem, have any of you? and if so do you have a link?

[2Fass240us]

Is their even an OEM timing chain kit?

For SR or KA? Because I bought a kit for my redtop that's for the FWD SR20's.

[Red coupe]

oh, I was talking about the KA, but were did you find the oem kit for the sr?

[2Fass240us]

oh, I was talking about the KA, but were did you find the oem kit for the sr?

http://www.BarnettPandD.com Phone contact is best.

I am pretty sure he gets it from a dealership, but I haven't looked into it any further.

[Neejay]

What does the "S.A." stand for? Ive been trying to research this Inner Fire timing chain kit for about 2 weeks now.

Im glad I found this thread. But it seems that the only way to get quality parts is to piece together OEM stuff which is ridiculously expensive.

Whats S.A. stand for and are there anymore namebrand kits?