How tight should the timing chain be?

[wablackwell]

I know thier is a lot of smart members of this forum so I am asking for your help. I have 93 ATX sho and it start making knocking noise , I think from the top of the engine somewhere. These are the steps I took so far. 1- I removed the serpetine belt then ran the engine. Noise was still their.2- Then I remove the top timing belt cover and the belt looked in good shape with no slack. 3-Then I removed the vacum lines from the butterfly assemblies. I ran the engine and the noise was still their. 4-Since the car has 162,000 mile I decided to replace the Rod Bearings. It did not fix the problem but needed to be done anyway due to the milage on the car. 5. Next I decide to take of the intake and valve cover to inspect the timing chains, valve shims, and the cam lobes. at this step the timing chain that closet to the fire wall seemed loose, but I am not sure because I have not done this before. Can you check out the link and tell me what you think? Is the timing chain loose or is this normal? Could this be making the noise?

http://s184.photobucket.com/albums/x6/wablackwell/?action=view&current=100_0585.flv

 

[ryan21288]

i would think thats ur problem. They should not be that loose and as you can hear when you move it you get a noise. Now just think how much its going to make it when the cars running. I think you found the problem!!

 

[HotRodKid]

the v6 timing chains have hydraulic adjusters ment to remove the slack you witnessed. the same passages that feed the cams w/ oil feed the adjusters.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

Yea that chain is too loose. Based on the look of the heads (varnish and gunk), I would say that tensioner could possibly have a cloggled oil passage. Remove the tensioner and look for the pinhole on the underside of the tensioner. If that doesnt solve your problem, then its new tensioner time. When the car is running, you should be able to put a screwdriver on the valve cover and the handle to your head and listen to the noise.

 

[wablackwell]

I want to thank every on your inputs. I finally figured out how to take off the chain tensioner. I hope I did it right, I took both of the gears out to get the tensioner out. I did not see any other way to take it out. Is this correct? Now when I install it back in how do I get the tension out. I know it work on hydraulics. Does it tight up by it self once I start the engine? Also, do I try to clean out the oil passage way on the block with gum out or a piece of wire? This has been a 3 week project for me. I will be glad once I get the car running again. Also, I could not get the chain out. Does the cam have to be removed to take out that part? I really do not want to do that. I was thinking about also replacing the chain too, a vendor on ebay has a brand new chain for $40. The link below is a picture of the tensioner I took out.
Thanks every one, Bill



http://http://i184.photobucket.com/a...l/100_0588.jpg

 

[1993MTXSHO]

I literally took my tensioners apart and cleaned them out internally. Remove the little pin and slide it apart, clean it with engine parts cleaner and reassemble. But if you want, I have some good tensioners and chains for sale in my parts ad here, pm me if interested:

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=76780

 

[sdpatt]

The timing chain tensioners are spring tensioned. They also tend to stick in position. The front bank is much easier to see because the rubbing pad and piston are located on the top. You can press down on the chain and rubbing block with your body weight to feel it compress a tiny amount. The rear bank piston may have gotten stuck in a compressed position. If you haven't already removed the rear sprockets and tensioners you can try to press downward on the bottom of the metal ****** at the rubbing block with a non-scarring device such as a wooden dowel to see if you can dislodge it.

 

[HotRodKid]

^^ are you saying JUST spring tensioned, or spring and hydraulic tensioned ?

 

[sdpatt]

The timing chain tensioners are spring tensioned.

There is no oil supply to the tensioner.

 

[HotRodKid]

theres definantly an oil passage that leads to the bottom of teh tensioner bolt pad, im looking at it right now. whats it for ?

 

[93rev2sev]

Picking up as though this was 10-04-08:

Since there's no gasket, there can't really be a pressureized oil supply, like would be needed to "pump" up the tensioner. I would assume that the piston moves up and down with the tension on the chain. If the hole in the piston is immersed in oil...it pumps itself while providing a damping effect.

I'm starting to suspect my cam tensioner...and I was stareing right at it.