Reply to: Ouch, timing chain snapped on the motorway

[Churchill]

Had the chain snap on my three year old C-Class mirc (out of warranty) I got a local garage to strip it down to take a look, and there was metal everywhere! (Chain must have got snagged up as the top pulley on one of the camshafts had snapped in half)

I opted for a replacement engine from a crashed car instead of risking a rebuild will all those metal fragments, from memory the biggest cost was the labour charge... (I was living in West Kensington at the time, so local garages were not cheap!!)

I sold the car about a year later to an old mate of mine and its still going strong as his daily drive... the old gal, must have done well over 200k miles by now!

Complete bollocks.

You own a Mercedes and can't spell "Merc"?

Where the hell are all these sockpuppets coming from?

[Joeman]

Had the chain snap on my three year old C-Class mirc (out of warranty) I got a local garage to strip it down to take a look, and there was metal everywhere! (Chain must have got snagged up as the top pulley on one of the camshafts had snapped in half)

I opted for a replacement engine from a crashed car instead of risking a rebuild will all those metal fragments, from memory the biggest cost was the labour charge... (I was living in West Kensington at the time, so local garages were not cheap!!)

I sold the car about a year later to an old mate of mine and its still going strong as his daily drive... the old gal, must have done well over 200k miles by now!

[PAH]

If I'd spent a fortune on an overpriced piece of marketing I'd be livid if it wouldn't start

True. If it's so well engineered they would have put in place redundant systems (like in aircraft) so such failures are almost impossible.

Then the only thing stopping them running would be if the wheels fell off. Yet even that could be overcome by those large brake discs if they stuck a bit of rubber around the circumference.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

It's fairly common when the car has been serviced correctly as they want to avoid bad reputation when the customer has done everything they can be expected to do.

Skipping oil changes isn't likely to receive the same level of sympathy and co-operation, though still worth trying, as it gives them an excuse even if it didn't directly lead to the failure.

Unlikely to bother BMW though - BMW is a bit like Apple - people like me avoid BMWs for the same reasons their customers buy them (not least the me-too ubiquity) and they'll keep buying no matter what issues occur.

One of the reviews of the 1 Series on Parkers website was a bloke waxing lyrical about how BMW sent a transporter to collect his car when it wouldn't start - highly revealing. If I'd spent a fortune on an overpriced piece of marketing I'd be livid if it wouldn't start - not grateful to BMW for coming to get it.

[PAH]

My flatmates Honda snapped its timing chain at 80,000 miles and 7.5 years old. Honda replaced the engine out of warranty FOC.

It's fairly common when the car has been serviced correctly as they want to avoid bad reputation when the customer has done everything they can be expected to do.

Skipping oil changes isn't likely to receive the same level of sympathy and co-operation, though still worth trying, as it gives them an excuse even if it didn't directly lead to the failure.

[Sockpuppet]

My flatmates Honda snapped its timing chain at 80,000 miles and 7.5 years old. Honda replaced the engine out of warranty FOC.

[Spacecadet]

The warranty ran out 100,000kms ago not 6 months Shirley?

Should have bought a Kia Cee'd, he'd have had 3.5 years left and just scraped in under the 100,000 miles too.

HTH.

WHS

Why anyone who buys one of these big german cars whose manufacturers can't even back up the quality of the car with a decent warranty is IMO asknig for trouble.

[Sockpuppet]

Well it stands to reason a truck driver and some cabbies know more about this stuff than the amassed expertise of the automotive engineering profession. That's why truckies get the big bucks and engineers have to work long shifts living in a smelly box.

Bear in mind truck engines are guaranteed for a million km with service intervals of over 100,000km.

[gingerjedi]

12,000 mile oil change intervals.



6k max & change the filter at the same time.

I'm doing 2,500 a month and put a litre in every 6 weeks, been doing that for a year.

Are you talking petrol or diesel engines?

[gingerjedi]

ouch,

a friend's x5, 3.5 years old, consequently 6 months out of guarantee, 160,000kms

he was driving up the motorway,

and the timing chain snapped

fecked the whole engine

new engine's gonna cost about 12 large

apparently the timing chain will last the life of the engine, guess that'll be 160,000kms then


I must add, as far as I understand he missed an oil change, this means he went twice as long on his oil as he was mean't to

Milan.

The warranty ran out 100,000kms ago not 6 months Shirley?

Should have bought a Kia Cee'd, he'd have had 3.5 years left and just scraped in under the 100,000 miles too.

HTH.

[Fred Bloggs]

he went twice as long on his oil as he was mean't to

That's why it has broken. HTH.

[d000hg]

Well it stands to reason a truck driver and some cabbies know more about this stuff than the amassed expertise of the automotive engineering profession. That's why truckies get the big bucks and engineers have to work long shifts living in a smelly box.

[Sysman]

Ah Milan. rhe missed oil change is bad news.

Mines a diesel and subjected to a rigorous oil change regime - could those cars with failures be petrol or neglected service intervals?

When I got a new diesel a neighbouring truck driver told me to change the oil and filter twice as frequently as the manufacturer's recommendations (and do it myself to keep costs reasonable). He reckoned that by doing so the engine would probably outlast the car. There's a lot more friction in a diesel due to the high compression ratios.

I didn't keep the car long enough to find out, but it made sense to me. I later heard the same advice from taxi drivers, for petrol engines too.

[Paddy]

Do you mean tensioner?

On the Toyotas the tensioner was the sprung one and the slippers were the two passive ones.

[milanbenes]

Fook that is worrying- I've heard of belts going but never chains <gulp>

My trusty 15 year old 4x4 has now done 240k miles on the original chain - the word on the street <owners forums> is that they last the life of the vehicle and never need replacing - moot point if the life of the vehicle is the life of the chain.

Mines a diesel and subjected to a rigorous oil change regime - could those cars with failures be petrol or neglected service intervals?

Troll,

I neglected to mention, and you're reminded me, and I updated the original post in the fairness of representing the whole situation,

as far as I understand, he missed an oil change, this means he went twice as long on his oil as he was mean't to

oops

false economy eh

Milan.