Timing chain has started in, how long have I got?

[Dante]

I've ran a search on this, and it turned up nothing useful.

Car is an '89 240 which I swapped a 'new' (120,000mi) KA24E into at around 185,000 miles. When I got the engine the chain was tight and the guides looked fine, but I do think they were the earlier plastic ones. I changed the oil when I installed the engine.

Now I am at around 187,000 miles, and I'm hearing a smooth rattle that I can only surmise would be the chain at most all RPMs greater than 2000. The car has been driven around 500 miles since this started occuring.

I am at school and I have to park on the street in baltimore, so doing any big jobs on my own is out, unless I find someone with a garage and tools. It kills me to have to drive it anywhere, because my last engine died from this too, and I know what I'm doing to the timing cover.

So my question is, does anyone have any knowledge of how long I can go before my timing cover gets eaten through, assuming I keep the oil topped up and shift around 2000 rpm? I'm trying to see if I can wait till I get home for the summer to work on it.

TIA:)

[IveBeenBad]

It's immposible to say exactly how long youve got, but I've seen cars do it for a LONG while and not die...

[Dante]

thanks, that's what I'm looking for. As long as it lasts long enough to get me home it's ok with me.

[Touchdown038]

Mine's doing the same thing, except I have about 5000 miles put on since I replaced the chain. Does yours make an noise that gets louder for about a second, then drops back down in volume level, and repeats?

[Dante]

Nope, mine just makes the noise of a chain running over metal, and it does it from roughly 2000 rpm on up until I can't hear it anymore from engine noise. I can hear it much louder if I roll down the windows or open the sunroof, but it's just a constant noise at any rpm above 2k. I'm just going to drive like a grandma below 2k rpm, and then hope it does ok for my drive home (500mi.).

[Touchdown038]

Same here, except my drive is only 300.

I think that the rattling is just coming from the chain against the guides, though, so as long as you have guides in there, then the chain should be fine, at least until it eats through them. Just pull the oil cap and check to make sure the guides are still in place.

[Dante]

Are the guides all plastic, or part plastic backed by metal? I thought they were all plastic, so I wouldn't hear the chain wearing through them and would only hear it when it started in on the timing cover. If it's just the guides then that's great.

[Touchdown038]

The old style guide on the driver's side was completely plastic, with the only metal being the two bolts holding it in. The updated design has plastic on the outside of it, with a metal backing bolted to the block.

Just for curiousity, I pulled my valve cover off today and looked at the guides, and they looked to be in fairly good condition, just a low oil pressure condition to cause the chain to be loose until the engine is warm. So this leads me to believe that the chain is just rattling against the guides until it eats through them, then starts on the front cover.

Still not a good thing, but not as bad of a thing as before.