Re: alfa-digest V8 #62 - lower timing chain question

[AlfaNeely@domain.elided]

       Sounds like they want to sell you a bill of goods.  The timing chains 
on Alfas are quite reliable.  However, with that many miles, it could be shot.
       Pull the valve cover and examine the lower chain as best you can with 
a flashlight.  Roll the car back and forth in gear to see how much slack 
there is in the chain.  Maybe take a long pry bar and try to flex the chain 
sideways.
       If you decide the chain is gone or going, you will have to pull the 
head, the oil pan and front cover to replace it.  If you go in that far, just 
as well overhaul it. The labor will be about half done and only the parts 
will cost extra.
       If the engine has that many miles, an overhaul is probably warranted, 
just for safety sake.  It is hard to believe you have that compression 
readings that high for that many miles.  Maybe you should just take a chance 
and run it.  If the chain breaks it will probably bend all the intake valves. 
 But you may want to take that chance.

Ciao,
Russ Neely
Oklahoma City


In a message dated 09/19/2001 9:51:47 PM Central Daylight Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:



> Date: 19 Sep 2001 14:37:02 -0700
> From: <lutkin@domain.elided>
> Subject: lower timing chain question (74 GTV)
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> I have a 74 GTV with ~210K miles on it.  I recently had it smogged and in 
> doing the work to pass the smog test the shop informed me that I have a 
> loose lower timing chain and that this is a significant potential problem 
> that requires major engine disassembly to fix.  They presented this as a 
> potential reason to rebuild the engine, they also told me that other than 
> this there is no real need to do a rebuild as the engine runs strong, 
> compression is good (150-170 on each cylinder), etc.  I have not had the 
> engine apart since I've had it (~150K miles and 13 years) so as far as I 
> know the bottom end is all original, bigger valves were put in by the PO.  
> So my question is am I driving around in something that is likely to either 
> have a catastrophic failure or create big problems down the road.  Thanks 
> for you opinions.
> 
> Eric

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided