2001 Eurovan Timing Chain Replacement

jmmoore2 · 09-21-2005, 04:10 PM

An engine light came on in my 2001 Eurovan w/60,000 miles. The following was diagnosed and perfomed:

"Customer report service engine soon light is on. Client reports hesitation at times on freeway and onramp. Check and advise"

"Found fault codes P1347 camshaft position sensor and P1330 camshaft position sensor. Ran scan test. Found 2 DTC's. Tested sensors and wiring from engine computer to sensors and determined vehicle possibley has timing gear or timing chain wear. Advised customer more time was needed to remove valve cover and check basic engine timing."

"Need to remove valve cover gagsket and intake manifold. Checked basic timing specs - OK. Needed to remove transmission and timing cover to inspect timing gears. Worn timing chains and intermediate shaft gear."

"Removed transmission, reoved timing cover on right side and inspected timing chains and gears, found intermediate shaft gear has too much wear. Replaces timing chains and tensioners. Replaced intermediate shaft gear and time chain guides. Reinstalled in reverse order and road tested vehicle. Working as designed by the factory."

This totaled 3732.78 in parts an labor. I've heard that it is impossible to do an electronic test to test for timing chain or gear wear on a eurovan and that tensioners (at $560 a piece) don't wear out at 60K and should not have been replaced. Wany thoughts? Was I taken for a ride by the dealership?

In the last 1.5 months my fuse box needed to be replaced ($800) and my AC compressor is blown ($1,500).

60,000 miles...any thoughts

Thanks,
Jess Moore

veedubmechanic · 09-21-2005, 10:53 PM

there is a known problem on 2v vr6 2.8L where the chain adjusters wear and set codes for cam sensors. There is a tech bulletin for this. Unfortunately you own a eurovan which is the hardest to replace those parts. A/C compressors fail common on eurovans, especially those with rear ac. (same compressor doing 2 times the work)

boschmann · 09-22-2005, 08:56 PM

If you were original owner most of that would be covered, if not it costs.

jmmoore2 · 09-23-2005, 11:45 AM

I am the original owner. They say it's not covered under warranty. This is the only model with 50K drivetrain warranty. All others have 100k. What kills me is that they replaced 1k of tensioners that were most likely fine saying they always do that so nothing goes wrong later.

veedubmechanic · 09-25-2005, 11:45 PM

The tensioners are the part that causes the code to be set.

toddyoung · 10-06-2005, 06:37 PM

RockAuto.com lists timing chain tensioners for $21.79. All the parts for a complete upper and lower timing chain replacement total $100 there, and there is no sales tax. (AC Condenser is $152.79 by the way). You need to find a mechanic in your town you can trust who will do the work with parts you order online rather than pay dealer prices for parts and labor.

My timing chains are starting to rattle on my 99 Eurovan (that's why I priced the parts).

Has anyone heard of replacing the chains without dropping the engine? Somone else asked this question in another post, but it never got answered.

veedubmechanic · 10-06-2005, 10:56 PM

you have to drop the transmission because the chains are on that side

toddyoung · 10-07-2005, 01:54 AM

Thanks for the info, bummer... I just ordered the timing chain kit from pap-parts.com for $160. They had a couple extra parts they didn't have at rockauto and they offered free shipping if you mentioend vwvortex, which is where I found their kit.

I called my mechanic here in Seattle, Louis Foreign Car. They are great guys. Dan there said he could drop the engine and transmission and do the timing chains in 16 hours. So he will charge me $1,280 plus tax. So, Total is going to be $1,550. I guess that isn't too bad, considering what a dealer would charge. I'm going to save up for a month or two and have him do it.

Based on the post I saw at Vortex of how to do the job on a GTI VR6 engine (25 photos, 10 pages of instructions), which doesn't include the small bit about dropping the engine... I don't think this is something I'll be trying on my own.

surferfletch · 11-11-2005, 08:10 PM

Holy smokes! I've been toying with the idea of picking up one of the 2 Eurovans on the dealer's used lot here. Both have about 40K miles and they are asking about 18K. The main thing I wanted to research further is the difficulty of working on the vr6. I've done the timing belt on the 2.0L, but you just convinced me to avoid the vr6 due to the complexity of changing the timing chain. I'd think a chain would last longer than a belt?

veedubmechanic · 11-13-2005, 12:05 AM

the chains do last longer on vr6, but for some reason (problably the use of towing or need for more torque to heavy vehicle) the eurovan ones last 100k or so

surferfletch · 11-13-2005, 09:43 AM

Makes sense. Is the auto tranny upgraded on the Eurovan, or do they fail prematurely, too?

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