VE Commodore - Alloytec Timing Chain - Just dropped off to the mechanic

[mthw]

Hey All, I've just dropped the car off to the mechanic and thought i'd share the price and performance of the car before-hand.

Price was inclusive off all gaskets ,oil, water pump, tensioners guides ETC (full kit) The part listings for the timing chain kit were all "GM". - Have also opted to do an injector clean ($200) (Worth it?) - TOTAL COST $2800

Car was running rough before-hand and had intermittent loss of power at WOT, it would slowly climb RPMS instead of having a kick up to the high rev range. (NO Limp mode came up)

Error code was (P0008), and the TECH-2 was showing obvious disobey of command vs action eg: command 2.0% - Action 0.40% (and fluctuating between 0.10%-2.00%)

Car will be away three days.

That's all off the top of my head, if anyone has any questions in regards to the lead up, let me know! as I'm sure alot of people are curious.

 

[ari666]

as I'm sure alot of people are curious.

how many kms?

 

[mthw]

how many kms?

148k ATM - The error code (P0008) came up first time around 120k, was software updated then it came back up around 147.5k with major performance loss.

 

[ari666]

lol, i thought as much. so basically you got 48,000 extra kms out of a chain at the extra cost of 1800 bucks.


yeah timing chains... wicked.

 

[mthw]

lol, i thought as much. so basically you got 48,000 extra kms out of a chain at the extra cost of 1800 bucks.


yeah timing chains... wicked.

Are you inferring it pushed me out of a statutory warranty which in turned forced me to pay the $2800 repair cost?

If so, that was my thinking and had me pretty angry that they would be so dishonest with an obvious factory defect and just push the parameteres which the code would pop up.

:bomb:

 

[ari666]

nah was nothing to do with stat warraty, was more to do with the fact the the ol' tried and trusted timing belt (which got a pretty bum rap over the last decade) was ditched in place of timing chains on most major engines, and everyone welcomed the chains with open arms. manufacturers making claims of 300,000km service intervals and customers lapping it up.

the most enjoyment i get from these new bold claims is the 5.4ltr ford V8 with a claim that the chain is good for 300K+ kms when i know for a fact that it chews out the chain guides after 150k kms. you replace the guides, may as well replace the chain too at the same time.

your average timing belt replacement is $300 in parts and 8 hours labour. your average chain replacement is $1k+ in parts (northwards of 1600 bucks in some cases) and 8 hours labour.

i wonder if more end users knew about this whether the market would shift back to belts or not. i know i would.

 

[profat]

straight cut gears sound good to me....although noisy no doubt more reliable in the long term.....pity not available as an after market option that I know of

 

[ari666]

good luck getting straight cut gears for OHC

 

[krzysiu]

Wow bit expensive. Holden quoted me $2600 for a full timing chain change including guides and all gaskets, oil change and filters etc... Also comes with a 50, 000k 3 year warranty on the repair

 

[Ian Johnston]

Its the same price as your quote, so is yours expensive too?? Have another read of his post.