yesterday i noticed a strange rattling sound from the motor. ive traced it to the timing chain (i think they have a chain not a belt?) it is rattling on the alloy timing cover. it only does it a certain revs and not all the time. it is loud enough to hear inside the car. i put a screwdriver on the timing cover and you can feel the chain hitting the cover through the screwdriver. how hard is it to replace the chain or adjust it? does the motor have to come out?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Ian, you are correct in that you have a timing chain. No need to pull the engine to replace the tensioner guides which are failing and causing the rattling noise that you hear. The job is not for a beginner by any means. If you know your way around a car and have wrenched on cars before, and have a decent set of tools, I'd say you can tackle the job yourself. I'd rate the difficulty of the job as moderate. Search on here and Youtube for tensioner guide replacement, and you should get plenty of threads, tips and tricks to accomplish this job.

 

Thanks for the advice mate, ive always done the work myself on the car. I have a very good set of tools and know my way around a motor. built many v8s in my day and in the process of building a 408 stroker. i had a look online and by the looks of it there is a cover i need to take off to get to the tensioner. doesnt look that hard so ill give it a go over the next couple of days.

Cheers,
ian

 

Before you move forward with tackling the TC and/or the TC tensioner and guides, be certain it’s not simply the belt tensioner.