I noticed the infamous timing chain rattle coming from under the valve cover of my 91 240. When I took the cover off I discovered that the upper timing chain is slightly loose and is hitting the upper chain guide. I estimate it being loose enough that you would have to remove 1/2 to 3/4 of a link to make it tight. Is this the normal tension, or has my belt stretched or is my tensioner shot? Also the two upper guides are extremly worn and starting to get cracks in them.

all 240's have this timing chain problem... you have to pull the engine apart and replace the plastic guides. should take less than 15 hours if you know what your doing.

I am going to do the guides and tensioners, but do I need to do the chain too? If the chain stretched, will the tensioner take up the slack?

I realize its a big job and thats no problem for me. Should I not worry about the chain, or should I just replace it too, while I have everything else off?

if your timing chain hasn't been changed yet, I would recommend getting the timing kit, which includes all the sprockets, the chains, new tensioner, and guides.

If it has already been changed, then just replace the chain and guides, but I'm not sure if they sell these seperately.