Timing Chain Question

[jasonmoz]

Hello,

my Mrs was driving our 2008 3.2 yesterday when she said it went clunk and then the engine stopped, having experienced a couple of timing belt snaps in my time I thought it sounded like this could have occured.

Anyway as I found out its a chain on this model so I was hopeful it might not be this, not being very mechanical I just looked through the oil cap to see if I could see any damage and I can see a chain in there at the front of the engine, is this the timing chain? it would appear to still be on the gears but I can get my finger on and move the links up and down easily, hence is it supposed to be loose or would this indicate its probably snapped somewhere.

Its off to the garage tomorrow to be looked at but would be good to have an idea if that is the issue and then I can start to cancel xmas!

The car has done 225Kms so its high mileage but had full Mitsubishi history up until 200K, recently its been serviced by a local mechanic and it was overdue a recent service.

Cheers

[TheTaipan]

Hello,

my Mrs was driving our 2008 3.2 yesterday when she said it went clunk and then the engine stopped, having experienced a couple of timing belt snaps in my time I thought it sounded like this could have occured.

Anyway as I found out its a chain on this model so I was hopeful it might not be this, not being very mechanical I just looked through the oil cap to see if I could see any damage and I can see a chain in there at the front of the engine, is this the timing chain? it would appear to still be on the gears but I can get my finger on and move the links up and down easily, hence is it supposed to be loose or would this indicate its probably snapped somewhere.

Its off to the garage tomorrow to be looked at but would be good to have an idea if that is the issue and then I can start to cancel xmas!

The car has done 225Kms so its high mileage but had full Mitsubishi history up until 200K, recently its been serviced by a local mechanic and it was overdue a recent service.

Cheers

Mine snapped around the same Ks A few months ago.

Damage..$8,7000.

[pajflareo]

Heres the how-to on changing the timing chain guide. Probably not extremely helpful now but this is the most common way that the chains fail. Anyway the pictures in the thread are great so you can really get an idea of how the chain looks and its visual slack etc and compare it to yours or just give yourself a better idea at what your looking at.

http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/...ad.php?t=17446

[jasonmoz]

Thanks for the doco, as I am only looking through the oil cap I cant actually see any chain tensioner at all and its that loose I suspect its not there as I think I could actually lift the chain off the tooth if I wanted too which doesnt sound great.

As I wasnt there yesterday I just gave it a quick turn of the ignition and it actually sounded normal but just not firing, so fingers crossed, should know more tomorrow.

Thanks

[Morville]

The chain tensioner is down the side of the chain, you won't see it through the oil filler, you need the rocker cover off. If the top chain guide is missing the chain would not be so loose. I suspect it is the lower chain guides or the chain tensioner is damaged.
Peter

[jasonmoz]

Update

Spoke to my local Mechanic who took a look this morning.

Looks like the chain has not actually broken but something has definately given way as there is no tension whatsoever on the chain, so he thinks its probably jumped some teeth.

He's not a diesel mechanic and hence says he doesnt want to touch it.

What is a little odd is the Mrs says she stopped when it happened, then put it in drive (not Neutral!) and coasted round the corner to a safe stop, which I think is probably the worst thing she could have done, however she says there was no noise or any hesitation from it when she did that which I was surprised at given it was effectively in gear, not sure if thats a good or bad thing, any thoughts?

So im hopeful now that if its only jumped a few teeth it may not have done a massive amount of damage.

I need to find a good diesel Mechanic in the Moorabbin Area now, does anyone have any recomendations? otherwise will have to take it to the Main dealer who doesnt seem to have the best rep and will no doubt have $$ in his eyes.

[bilgeboy]

Don't take it to a dealer.

My guy in Eltham is pretty good but that is probably too far for you.

[Axis]

Hi Jason,

I have used a local 4WD place in Moorabbin for genneral servicing but they didn't seem to know much about Pajeros and weren't interested in valve adjustment on the NS (ended up doing it myself).

Don't know of any local places that know the NS. Have seen recommendations in Melb but they are further away.

Good luck, interested in hearing what it is... Hope it is not too bad.

James

[DGM]

Just sent you a PM

[pasniny]

Spoke to my local Mechanic who took a look this morning.

Looks like the chain has not actually broken but something has definately given way as there is no tension whatsoever on the chain, so he thinks its probably jumped some teeth.

He's not a diesel mechanic and hence says he doesnt want to touch it.

What is a little odd is the Mrs says she stopped when it happened, then put it in drive (not Neutral!) and coasted round the corner to a safe stop, which I think is probably the worst thing she could have done, however she says there was no noise or any hesitation from it when she did that which I was surprised at given it was effectively in gear, not sure if thats a good or bad thing, any thoughts?

So im hopeful now that if its only jumped a few teeth it may not have done a massive amount of damage.

I need to find a good diesel Mechanic in the Moorabbin Area now, does anyone have any recomendations? otherwise will have to take it to the Main dealer who doesnt seem to have the best rep and will no doubt have $$ in his eyes.

If the car started and coasted around the corner
I don't think it's snapped or jumped a tooth
I think either the tensioner or guide is budgeted

Unless yr mrs pushed it around the corner

[Morville]

If the car started and coasted around the corner
I don't think it's snapped or jumped a tooth
I think either the tensioner or guide is budgeted

Unless yr mrs pushed it around the corner

He doesn't say if the motor was running when his wife coasted around the corner. It should still coast in drive without the motor running and not turn the motor over, so no more harm should be done if the motor was stopped.
Peter

[jasonmoz]

wasnt running, it stopped when it went clunk! She was in traffic so low revs, so im hoping for limited damage!

[jasonmoz]

Just spoke to Mechanic who confirmed chain has definately snapped.

He says he has called around a few engine builders and they have all told him the same thing 'replace the engine' as they do untold damage when they let go, says one guy rebuilt the top end and 3 weeks later engine siezed due to bent conrod so he reckons thats the safest opion.

Can get a 2nd hand engine with 90k for 5K and he reckons another 1.5-2k to fit and service up.

I was hoping for less than 5K :-(

Still our motor had done 230K so one at 90k sounds like a decent option, just need to confirm if it comes with injectors now.

[TheTaipan]

Hang on. In another post you said the second hand motor was $7,000.

$7,000 plus $1,500 to $2,000 to fit equals $8,500 t0 $9,000.

Now you have the cost of the chain guide plus the labor remembering it's a common rail injector system meaning the injector lines and rocker cover have to be removed, that will add close to another another $300.

Mine was fully rebuilt with new injectors and glow plugs for $8,700

[jasonmoz]

Ooops sorry, 2nd Motor is 5K, fitting 1.5-2K so about 7K in total

Mech says Mitsu quoted $100 for top guide which differs from the $25 mentioned on here but for piece of mind i'll get it done.

On the +ve side for us is the new Motor is complete with fuel pump which we was told probably need replacing last year when we had a fueling issue at a cost of about 1750 so hopefully this fixes all issues.