As alot of you have seen already, my engine locked up a week ago. When tearing it down, I could not get to both of the cam gear bolts to remove the gear from the cam to get the chain off, since it was locked solid and I couldn't rotate anything. I ended up just removing the chain tentioner with the 2 allen bolts and pulling that out, then there was enough slack in the chain that everything came out easy. I heard that it should not be that easy to get it apart that way, Think my chain is too streched or has anyone else had the same thing happen?? There was enough slack to just lift it right off the gear and take the cam and gear out in one piece.

 

Sounds like it could be stretched but it's hard to tell without being able to see how well the timing marks line up. I would probably replace it though, there have been some with a little time on them that have broke.

 

I agree. For the price you might as well go ahead and replace the chain just in case.
Remember you also need to replace the top gear with the chain...just like all chain and gear combos.

 

Yeah, replace the gear and chain. It would suck to get it all back together and it break.

 

With it locking up like it did. It may have put stress on the chain. I'd replace it. I replaced mine after my rod blew and locked up for that same reason.

 

Thats what I figured, I am going to plan on replacing it and the gear, and the cam for that matter. It is going to end up being one expensive job. But it will be worth it at the same time to have all the upgrades. Thanks guys

 

do you have to split the cases to replace the chain? I realize he already has them split, but for those of us that may need to replace it in the future, I'm just trying to figure out how much labor is involved? With normal use, how long should the timing chain last?

Thanks,
ba01

 

thanks, I'm just too lazy to look it up in the manual.

 

I am still debating on what cam to get for that reason, I might just get a stage 1 so I can keep the stock springs and not put more stress on the chain, still not sure yet. How much difference would there be from stage 1 to stage 2 powerwise in a 686??? If its big, then I would say it might be worth it and just replace the chain once a year hopefully before it brakes or something like that...

 

Once a year? Geez. You'd think it would last longer than that. Oh well.

You need to remove the valve cover and the left side case cover, then remove the flywheel to replace the chain. May as well put in a LA Designs one way while your into that area of the motor.