Timing Chain woes..

From: Christopher L Scott (clscott@cse.Buffalo.EDU)
Date: Fri Apr 16 1999 - 07:53:40 EDT


When I bought my 94 Dak Sport v6 about a month and a half ago, it had an
engine rattle, which the dealer said he would fix under warranty. Of
course it was determined to be the timing chain. He put on a new TRW
double-roller chain. This stopped the rattle for about 2 weeks. When it
started rattling again, I did some research and found out about the timing
chain tensioner kit that Dodge had come out with to retro-fit and cure
this problem. But the dealer claims that, since it is not original
equipment on the truck, the tensioner is not covered by the warranty. But
he'll "do me a favor" and give me half price on the labor if I buy the
parts. Now I'm pissed. And there's one more twist: the tensioner will
not work with the double-roller chain. It will have to be replaced AGAIN,
with a link-type chain like the original was. So i would pay $100 for
labor plus buy the tensioner and chain. I know this is a pittance, but
money is tight right now, and amyway I thought we had a deal that the
engine rattle would be fixed. I looked into doing it myself, I could
probably get it done in one day, but I don't know if I want to risk
screwing something up. Any thoughts??? I am thinking I should just shell
out the money, get it done, then never step foot on that slick bastard's
lot again, and tell my friends/family/the customers at the auto parts
store where I work/other dealers we deliver to who directly compete with
him/ etc. You get the idea. I suppose I should thank him for confirming
the stereotype about used car salesmen. At least now I won't have to
worry about giving one the benefit of the doubt ever again.
                                        Christopher Scott



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