I had the same (metallic rattling) noise last year at 60k miles on my 96 V6
and it was my timing chain. I took it to the Dodge dealer and he said that
it would be $500-$800 and I that I should just wait until it got worse. I
took it to I mechanic I know and he found a TSB about it that said that
there was a tensioner to add that would prevent it from wearing out so soon
(he got this extra part along with the timing chain replacement set from
the local Dodge dealer). It was a pretty big job, it took him 2 1/2 hours
to complete so I glad I didn't try to tackle it myself. It costed me about
$200.
>Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 13:06:46 -0500
>From: "Davidson, Kevin" <ked@iti-oh.com>
>Subject: DML: timing chain
>
>Hey all, time for me to probe the knowledge base again. I've got
>a 97 V6 with close to 70k miles. I am fairly certain that my
>timing chain has started making some noise. Should I be concerned
>about this? ie, should I expect it to fail anytime soon?
>
>(if the answer is yes.....)
>
>With the removable radiator crossmember in our daks, it looks like
>you can get excellent access to the front of the engine. In my
>Haynes manual, it talks about re-aligning the cam and crank timing
>marks when doing this. Is this really necessary? If the timing
>hasn't jumped, can't you just remove the old stuff and install new
>as long as you don't turn anything? Or is that even possible? And
>can we get away without replacing the oil pan gasket?
>
>Those of you who have changed out your timing chain, any info is
>appreciated. I'd imagine it's a pretty penny to have the dealer
>do this, and if I can handle it I'd rather do it myself.
>
>thanks
>kevin d.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:57:58 EDT