timing chain

how do you know when timing chain has fail or broken. will the engine turn but not crank or will the engine not turn over at all. oh yeah i have a1997 chevy lumina 3.1. with 240,000 miles on it.

Car will crank and not start, is there a point to this question?

The way I found out my timing gear and chain had failed was when I drained the oil..bits and pieces of it came out into the drain pan.

my lumina wont turn over at all. i was wondering about what could cause this. i change my starter, tested my battery, the security light did not flash when i turned the key to the start position. battery cable are tight and clean. the engine is full of clean oil. could the engine be seized. i didnt get a oil light when i last drove the car.

Unless the chain wadded up in the cover and is binding the crank gear, a broken timing chain will not cause a car to not turn over. That is usually caused by a seized crank bearing or battery/starter issue. The best way to see if the timing chain is broken is to roll the engine over by hand and watch the rocker arms through the oil cap hole to see if they move. If the crank turns but the rocker arms don't move, the timing chain has left the building. If the crank won't turn by hand, you may have a seized crank bearing.

my lumina wont turn over at all. i was wondering about what could cause this. i change my starter, tested my battery, the security light did not flash when i turned the key to the start position. battery cable are tight and clean. the engine is full of clean oil. could the engine be seized. i didnt get a oil light when i last drove the car.
Do you have 12v to the purple wire on the starter solenoid in the crank position, basic diagnostics here.

wait, you found bits of the timing chain in your oil? Did you change the chain, or find out where the bits came from???

wait, you found bits of the timing chain in your oil? Did you change the chain, or find out where the bits came from???



Ohh yeah, I was lucky actually because my wife always took it to have the oil changed somewhere but I decided I would do it myself and was glad I did. When I filterd the oil thru an old shirt, there where LOTS of small pieces of the timing gear teeth to be found. Took the time the following weekend and tore it down and sure enough, it only had a few teeth left on it in just enough places not to have slipped yet. Thank God for that. That was on an 87 lesabre by the way, with the original timing gear that had nylon teeth. The replacement gear was all metal.....go figure. I cleaned all the bits and pieces out, replaced the chain and all, cleaned out the oil pan and I changed the oil and filter in short intervals a few times to keep an eye on it to be sure there was no more pieces circulating around and its ran almost 100,000 miles since then.

nylon timing gears. Gotta love things like that. Job security. Kinda like all these new cars with 4 camshafts and a very long timing belt. Makes regular maintenance tearing down half the engine and if the belt isnt changed and breaks means buying a new motor. Like this one person that brought her car into the shop. She couldnt believe that because she didnt change the belt, now its gonna cost her over a grand to rebuild her Piece of Shit Eclipse. Also whats the deal with the older GM 3.8's? I tore one down once, and it had grooves on top of the pistons that the valves had made. I thought they wern't interference style motors???