97 Cav 2.2L, Timing Chain or belt ????

[Frank G]

Hello all,

I am wondering as my cavalier is at 108,000 miles and all the maintanance has been performed by myself to keep it a reliable commuter car for my daily 120 miles(4times a week) of driving to work.

Does my 1997 Cavlier w/ the 2.2L have a Timing Chain or Belt????

I did check the search and various post list both, so I am stumped.

If it has a chain when would it be necessary to replace???

if I has a belt I assume at 108,000 miles now would not be a bad idea on replacing it now (opinions?)


Thanks as always,

Frank G
1997 Chevrolet Cavalier RS
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (4.7L v8)
1996 Jeep Cherokee Laredo (XJ)

[Classicrocjunkie]

drive chain and serpentine belt.... look at old posts and i spent 30 min writing up a whole thing on this subject.

[public]

And an excellent write up it was/is. I have refered people to it.

[Frank G]

Originally Posted by Classicrocjunkie

drive chain and serpentine belt.... look at old posts and i spent 30 min writing up a whole thing on this subject.

I searched under your username but only found a post in regards to the serpentine belt, not the timing chain.

Since you did answer my first question, my 2.2L does have a timing chain not a timing "belt", When will it be adviseable to replace??? As mention my 97 Cav has 108,000 miles on it.

Thanks again,
Frank G
1997 Cavalier RS
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (4.7V8)
1986 Jeep Cherokee Laredo (XJ)

*2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee WK on order (11/22)

[dwalmop]

Timing chains are designed to last the life of the car, you shouldn't have to replace it unless you're having a specific problem with it.

[Classicrocjunkie]

Do'n't worry about the chain... like dwalmop said.. it should last the life of the car. But look at your serpentine belt. Thats more important since it controls many fucntions on the car from power steering to your water pump.

[Cavalierguy2000]

Ok other than what everyone is says your car has a timming chain and it is recomended to be replaced every 60,000 miles. there is also a tensioior on there that goes bad after a while. at 140,000 i found myself rebuilding almost my entire motor cause i jumped time. the tensinior was damn near comletely out and the chain had some issues. it's not the easiest but if you do it yourself it is cheap. but that is just my opinion. not alot of people agree with me. chains themselves are designed to last a long time but gm was their normal self and fucked up the cavalier. anyone dealing with head problems will know what i mean. they made the heads wrong and screwed up the the timming process from like 93 ish and the last 03 i tore apart still had the same stupid design. just replace it in my opinion it's worth it