AT what mileage do you recommend replacing the timing chain on 3.9 liter V6 engine? I currently have 208k miles on my 2009 Impala LTZ with the original engine and timing chain.
Z71
The 3.9 is a 60° V6 evolved from the X-body V6 engines of the 1980's... 2.5, 2.8, 3.0, 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, & 3.9 Litre V6 engines are all the same family. Then there's the 3800 Buick V6.
All of them are completely different animals from the 21st century tech Direct Fuel Injection VVT 3.6L LFX engines.
The LFX 3.6 is reputed to have issues with the timing chain tensioner and guides. GM must've borrowed the engineers that designed the BMW Alpina engines.
I was unaware of any timing chain issues with the 60° V6 engines. In general they're mechanically pretty reliable. The plastic coolant elbows and the intake gaskets are failure points just like the 3800 Buick mills but they're pretty easy to replace and you typically get around a decade out of the gaskets and coolant fittings.
All of them are completely different animals from the 21st century tech Direct Fuel Injection VVT 3.6L LFX engines.
The LFX 3.6 is reputed to have issues with the timing chain tensioner and guides. GM must've borrowed the engineers that designed the BMW Alpina engines.
I was unaware of any timing chain issues with the 60° V6 engines. In general they're mechanically pretty reliable. The plastic coolant elbows and the intake gaskets are failure points just like the 3800 Buick mills but they're pretty easy to replace and you typically get around a decade out of the gaskets and coolant fittings.
Hi
I Own a 2012 chevy impala with the 3.6l lfx engine , I can tell you the chains do Stretch , I changed my chains at 150,000 miles it wasn't to hard just a lot of Procedures to Follow . I got my chains from the dealership , they look different they have more Links and look much stronger I'll post a pic if I can showing the difference between them and the Stretch side by side Comparison .
I Own a 2012 chevy impala with the 3.6l lfx engine , I can tell you the chains do Stretch , I changed my chains at 150,000 miles it wasn't to hard just a lot of Procedures to Follow . I got my chains from the dealership , they look different they have more Links and look much stronger I'll post a pic if I can showing the difference between them and the Stretch side by side Comparison .
The RH chain with every other link staggered has more in common with the chains you see in automatic transmissions and transfer cases. Should be less side to side flex at the pivot points so likely noticeably less wear and stretch prone than the one on the left even with the slightly thinner individual links.
Looks like a fair amount of wear where the old chain rode against the guides. How did the guides look?
Looks like a fair amount of wear where the old chain rode against the guides. How did the guides look?
Hi hatzie
How all this started was a p003 miss fire in cylinder #3 check engine light came and was blinking I was also getting reduced power message , I was about ten miles from home when this started once I got it home I was able to figure out it was a bad fuel injector , so I replaced all six injectors as I was doing this the chains were exposed so I check the tension on the right bank chain and it seemed fine , I then moved to the left bank chain it had way more slop so I decided to crank the motor by hand and as I did I could hear a popping Noise and could see the chain get Loose and the snap back to being tight In correlation with the popping sound I was hearing not only was the chain loose but also the upper left bank tensioner wasn't working correctly , I must have just caught this because I had no symptoms or sounds of chains Rattling Prior to the faulty feul injector as I took it all apart I noticed no wear to the Guides , I replaced the chains , guides tensioners , both Exhaust and intake cam phasers , crank sprocket , all four cam sensors and while I was in there I guess I wanted to spend more money I decided to buy a milling oil pump , and a carter high pressure fuel pump lol car is running great and currently has 180,000 miles on her I got all the information off line or utube videos and did all the work myself in my drive way and to be honest I injoyed every moment of it
How all this started was a p003 miss fire in cylinder #3 check engine light came and was blinking I was also getting reduced power message , I was about ten miles from home when this started once I got it home I was able to figure out it was a bad fuel injector , so I replaced all six injectors as I was doing this the chains were exposed so I check the tension on the right bank chain and it seemed fine , I then moved to the left bank chain it had way more slop so I decided to crank the motor by hand and as I did I could hear a popping Noise and could see the chain get Loose and the snap back to being tight In correlation with the popping sound I was hearing not only was the chain loose but also the upper left bank tensioner wasn't working correctly , I must have just caught this because I had no symptoms or sounds of chains Rattling Prior to the faulty feul injector as I took it all apart I noticed no wear to the Guides , I replaced the chains , guides tensioners , both Exhaust and intake cam phasers , crank sprocket , all four cam sensors and while I was in there I guess I wanted to spend more money I decided to buy a milling oil pump , and a carter high pressure fuel pump lol car is running great and currently has 180,000 miles on her I got all the information off line or utube videos and did all the work myself in my drive way and to be honest I injoyed every moment of it
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