Timing Chain

[Goodbar]

Hi I just bought a 1988 Buick Park Ave.I bought it from the original owner.It has 63,000 on it.I was in doubt about the mileage when I read the add. But once I met the seller who was the owners son in law I was convinced the mileage was right.Original owner was 94 and they were taking her car away as she was starting to hit things with it.Well aside from little dingers and some scratches the car seemed sound.Well my question is do any of you PRO's think changeing the timing chain will help with slugish off the line performance ? I have changed plugs wires [the wires were OEM] fuel filter pvc valve.On the hiway I get about 30 mpg in the city about 20. So the mileage is fine I am just concerened with the slight hesitation when you step on it from a dead stop.Also how hard is changing the timing chain. I had to chainge the heater core when I bought it that was a supprise when I went to put on my defrost one cool spring morn.I would love to hear from any knowledgeable persons out there idears. Thanks for your time Goodbar

[HotZ28]

The slight hesitation from a start could be a lot of things. i.e. EGR, TPS, fuel injectors, vacuum leaks, IAC, or throttle body needing cleaning. I can just imagine, the dear elder person who operated the car, probaly drove it on very short trips and never accelerated over 1/8 throttle. This would place most of the wear on the TPS in the initial TB opening position. The timing chain should be fine with only 63K on it. I am sure the car was never abused; however, routine maintenance may have been neglected. I would hook it up to a live data scanner (not just a code reader) and monitor sensors so you can see what is going on. There is no need of throwing parts at it until you know what the problem is. BTW, while you are pondering a solution, run several tanks of fuel through it with a good fuel injector cleaner such as Sea-foam or Lucas.