timing chain replacement

how do you line up the timing marks on the sprockets. Should they be at 12 oclock and six or at 12 oclock on the upper and 6 oclock on the lower? My auto has a small dowel mark on the lower sprocket and a larger dowel mark on the upper spocket.

If you have a 2.2 ohv there is a mark on the crankshaft timing gear and one on the cam shaft gear ,...these marks should line up or point to the little tabs on the timing chain tensioner bracket located between the two gears(there are 2 tabs one for cam, one for crankshaft gear) i think the cam is near a 5 oclock position, and the crank is near 11 oclock position. Hope this helps...Good luck.

if it's a 2.3L and you have never done it before go to the dealer. one tooth off and you could destroy the whole motor. if you feel froggy, then the manual shows the best way to line all the sprokets up for timing.

since this topic was brought up, I also wanted to ask... my mechanic told me that I have a prob w/ my timing chain (my car makes a noise. Can't really describe it. Sort of like a truck). Anyways, he said it's okay if I don't replace it. I'll just hear a sound, that's it.

However, today i was talking to my friend and he said how the timing chain is eventually gonna cause my sunfire to die out.

Any truth to that statement? I just want this car to last until June/July 2005 at least? :P Too many problems to fix one by one so might as well make do with what i have until I can buy a new car ^_^

when the valves hit the pistons it WILL die.

both the quad 4 and 2.2 are zero tolerance engines. IF the timing chain is stretched, or installed a tooth or two off, Mr Piston will meet Mr. Valve in a bad way, turning a once nice motor into a fashionable boat anchor. No timing noise is acceptable in these engines.

ouch. Yea my car is starting to make a worst noise now. As if it's scratching against something
*sigh* more money's gonna have to be put into my sunfire.
Thx~

you can , however get the pistons "notched" for valve clearance, which I may do in the near future. just for added security and to ensure that if the chain breaks, I'll just stall out and have to retime my motor, instead of replacing the whole thing.

Sorry to hear your troubles. I however have had to replace the timing twice with in a year at $325.00 each time. this, i have heard, is a GM blunder in engineering. if you dont replace the noisy timing it WILL go out on you and you WILL have one hell of a bill to pay to repair your car. my sunfire is on its last days due to the very problem you are having. Fix the timing before you are in my shoes.

Today i was getting new tires done and decided that I might as well get them to do an oil change too so I don't dirty up my driveway. Anyways they noticed a cracked coolant belt so I got that replaced. The noise is much less than before but it's still there. I guess it's still the timing chain making that noise.

It's very expensive though. I've already spent a LOT on this car. The body is pretty much gone (i.e. rust, crooked trunk, problematic WINDOW...yes WINDOW, and the list goes on), just replaced slave cylinder a few months ago (clutch fluid leak, a major prob apparently that would cause my sunfire to die out), had an overheating problem which I got fixed, wobbling problem, was told that I should get new axles or tire rods or something along those lines summing up to $600 which I never ended up doing, signal lights going out on me...i think i'll stop now :)

Anyways my point is, I think I'll let the timing chain stay the way it is until it decides to give up on me. Then I'll just buy a new car lol. Because honestly, this car has too many clicks on it. 227,000km right now.

What do u guys think? Do I make any sense? :P
After this, i'll go and buy myself a nissan or toyota or something. Pontiac's nice so might consider the grand prix or something along those lines but NEVER AGAIN will I buy a sunfire or even a FORD.

ummm 227,000km is still alot on the miles for an entry level car. if it's a 2.2L then it would run you far less to replace the motor than to piece and part it back to health. 2.2L came in a lot of GM cars and will bolt right onto your tranny. they may (depending on year and your willingness to swap sensors) even use the same computer you currently have.

so let's say I leave the timing chain the way it is and one day it decides to damage my engine. I could just easily get it replaced for a decent price if i felt like it right rather than trying to fix this timing chain prob?

If the car's body was fine I would have no objection to going ahead with all this but the body itself isn't very good either so....It's more like the car that taught me how to drive stick and didn't mind me stalling every two mins in the beginning :)

well, if you don't mind being stranded out in the cold (i'm assuming you are in Canada with the KM's instead of miles). if you have the motor replaced by someone, you might just as well buy a new car for the amount it will cost you. if you do it yourself, about $400-$600(US) for the motor in good or rebuilt condition from a salvage yard. the chains on the 2.2L are very stout, the one on my 91 Cav is still going, and I sold it at 200K miles, the kid drives it like it's a camaro with a drag motor in it.

as long as it doesn't stop working during my test days or exam days, i'm fine :)
Unless it decides to stop in my driveway. Then i have no problems.

Yea I can't do this myself so exactly, I was just considering buying a new car after this car decides to give up. Well hopefully it'll last through the winter at least. And yes, i'm in Canada. Not in Quebec thankfully. Ontario hehe~

You could just trade up for a newer J-body. you'd have a payment (bad for a college student), but a more reliable vehicle (good for a college student not living on campus). look into the newer models on the lot still, as sometimes you can get a year end Cavalier (j-body) for less than $10K(US). Brand new car, not so bad a payment.

yea that's the prob. I'm a uni student lol. We'll see how long this car lasts. No signs of it breaking down for now. If i had $10K US, i'd seriously just buy another car :P