Timing chain snap

[WongFeiHung]

What kind of damage can result from a timing chain snapping during driving?? ka24de

[240_Keyy]

bent valves and possibly fubared pistons I suppose...

[Big Perm]

Well all I can say is that you are f*$#ed. I was lucky enough to find my 240 from a guy who did the same thing. Makes it a real nice canidate for a SR swap though! Those are my plans! :ylsuper :pimp

[corn322]

I'd like to hear the sounds it makes when that happens

[240_Keyy]

I imagine it is crunchy. I will probably hear that sound pretty soon in old blue, she has a rattling timing chain...

[GroundZero]

yeah my timing chain just started making noise, like it's grinding through the tensioners. but don't our cars have a fail safe that if the timing goes too far out of whack (or if the chain breaks) the car shuts off, before any major damage is done?

[Hijacker]

it'll shut off all right. probably only after your pistons bend all your valves. when it comes to the mechanical aspect of the cars, there aren't many "failsafes". i used to joke about how running way old engine oil and way low engine oil would trigger the failsafe of shutting your engine off. my dad corrected me "that's engine seizure, son"

btw: Big Perm, i'm from roanoke too!

[Big Perm]

Cool man! I live right underneath the Star! Been here all but 1 year of my life! Good to see others from my hometown!!!

[Hijacker]

i appologize for the momentary hijack

i'm out bent mountain, about a mile past back creek. been in roanoke about 19 of my 22 years. give an IM at VvEthenvV if you ever wanna hang out

[Altiman94]

I had the timing chain "cackle" for 40k miles on my 1st gen altima. I never had any problems, there are guys on altimas.net who have had the timing chain noise for over 100,000 miles.

[Thecollector]

You have an interference engine, which was stated above that bad things can happen. Possibly it might not happen depending if you were at 5,000rpm or in idle.

[Hijacker]

interference engines will bend valves and dent pistons no matter what speed your going, but the pistons are more susceptable to damage at the higher speeds where as your more likely to bend a few valves at the lower RPM speeds.

[Thecollector]

interference engines will bend valves and dent pistons no matter what speed your going, but the pistons are more susceptable to damage at the higher speeds where as your more likely to bend a few valves at the lower RPM speeds.

I had a Xr4ti that I believe is also an interference engine and snaped the timing belt. I was lucky and didnt hurt a thing.

[JJ240]

The car makes no noise at all when the timing chain snaps. It just dies. Same as running out of fuel. You will definetly bend valves as well. There wont be any major piston damage, but you will be replacing valves. I know this from experience

[Hijacker]

i would say a cracked piston is major damage. when your piston is flinging itself upwards fast enough to do it 4000 times in a minute, it stands a good chance to beat itself up badly when it nails the valve. it may not crack, but that valve will leave some kind of mark on the piston.

collector, you were lucky. it's a rare freak occurance to come out like that. the guy i bought my 240 from is getting ready to help a guy replace 9 of his valves on his 16 valve engine cause he snapped the chain on it a few weeks ago. i'm so terrified of popping the belt or the chain off, that i check it as often as i can. my old 1G eclipse had the belt cover off ever few thousand miles just so i could check it.