timing chain

hi, i was wonder how many miles is a 96 sl2 with 58k miles on it i think it has the orginal timing chain on it. when would be a good time to change it and what are some signs of it going bad? and how much do you think a mechinc would charge to but it on.

I think I've read around 100k is a good time to do the chain. My car has 117k on it, and I'll bedoing the chain this summer for sure.

Most companies and mechanics recommend every 75,000 miles for some cars. Not sure about the saturns though. I have 24,000 on my 2002, I will do mine around 75,000.

Most companies and mechanics recommend every 75,000 miles for some cars. Not sure about the saturns though. I have 24,000 on my 2002, I will do mine around 75,000.

yea those are for belts not chains though

Those were for chains, I talked to one this weekend who said belts need to be inspected around every 50,000.

people can say around 100,000, but timing chains can last A HELL OF A LONG TIME. i put 160,000 on mine and still looked new, nice and tight, had alot of life still. the typical noise telling you its time will be like a rattle/ticking noise only noticed on the passenger side. i have also heard a horrific squeal come from the timing tensioner on these things. it makes you think a bad water pump or pulley yet its the timing tensioner.

id say your good to go for at least another 75,000 miles depending on how its driven, hell you could get another 200,000+ out of it.

My first Saturn went for 212,000 miles and I never touched the timing chain. My current Saturn is nearing 80,000 miles and there are no timing chain related problems. My mother, brother and sister all have had one or two Saturns and none of us has ever had to replace a timing chain. You should be able to go a lot longer before you need to replace the timing chain.

the timing chain on a PROPERLY MANTAINED engine should never need replaced. but last time i priced out the job i think it was in the area of $800?

alright thanks ,i firgured that since it was a chain it could last alot long but like everytime i get sometiming for my car like i just got new tires on it (michlien hydroEdge) and he was all like well lets hope your timing belt does not go ( i think his 70 something thunder bird that was his first car the timing belt went and he had to scrap the car.) do you know how much it would cost for a mechinc to just check it?

the only difference between the cost to check and the cost to replace is the cost of the parts, and at that point you might as well replace it while your are in there anyway.

yeah, all you need is to maintain your car the right way and it shouldnt need a chain for a very long time. for instance a friend of mine has had two or three saturns (two with the same motor) and had never touched the timing chain and he runs the car pretty hard. however a girl i know never puts oil in the car. she has a '96 sc1 and had to put a timing chain in at 98K since it started to run horrible and the chain was stretched some. if i remember right it was about a 1/4 link longer than the new chain was. once the new chain was put in the car runs great again. so like i said and other have said, just take care of your car and it will take care of you by giving you less problems.

I had on old blazer that I replaced the timing chain on at 200,000 or so miles. Waste of time. It was running kinda rough, and we were told by some folks that as a last resort it could have been a bad timing chain. It wasn't, but we did it our self and it was much cheaper, just took a while. But anyway, at 200,00 miles, the chain had very little wear and looked almost new. I wouldn't worry about it, ever. BTW, why do they put the belts on honda/toyota cars? Seems like something else to have to maintain, and from what I understand, when they go, it all does.

I had on old blazer that I replaced the timing chain on at 200,000 or so miles. Waste of time. It was running kinda rough, and we were told by some folks that as a last resort it could have been a bad timing chain. It wasn't, but we did it our self and it was much cheaper, just took a while. But anyway, at 200,00 miles, the chain had very little wear and looked almost new. I wouldn't worry about it, ever. BTW, why do they put the belts on honda/toyota cars? Seems like something else to have to maintain, and from what I understand, when they go, it all does.

well saturn also has one model that has a belt i think it is the v6 vue since that is a honda engine. when the timing belt/chain goes the engine does go becuase when it is not in time together it destorys it self i belive thats what happene.s