Longitudinal
True Classic
Keep going. You'll find it.
How did you even decide to look at the timing chain?
I seem to remember that the Achilles heel on the K series is the poorly designed tensioners that can lead to chain failure. May not be the result of a defective chain? I think one of the aftermarket vendors has an upgraded unit to eliminate the issue, but I don't remember where I ran into the info originally. Info has got to be somewhere on one of the Honda forums.Even though it's probably my fault, since I didn't buy a Honda OEM timing chain
I seem to remember that the Achilles heel on the K series is the poorly designed tensioners that can lead to chain failure. May not be the result of a defective chain? I think one of the aftermarket vendors has an upgraded unit to eliminate the issue, but I don't remember where I ran into the info originally. Info has got to be somewhere on one of the Honda forums.
I'm glad that you found it, but not so glad about what you found. With that being said, anything is better than a mystery that you can't solve.
Looking back, do you recall that the sound of the engine cranking wasn't right? IME, when an engine loses its timing belt/chain, cranking sounds irregular.
Yeah, hindsight is always 20/20.Man that is such a bummer. A huge amount of work to resolve. When I first saw your pics I focused on the broken link sticking up and didn’t register the chain had a beginning and an end…
Sorry to see this bite you, I have found that for certain things on Hondas one needs to spring for their OEM parts if one wants actual reliability (based on my experiences with the three Elements I do maintenance of).
Does this require an engine pull to resolve and find all the broken parts?
Sorry wasn’t dinging you on your choices, one would think a part intended for a 300000 mile capable engine would be good for at least half that.Yeah, hindsight is always 20/20.
I figured that since I wasn't going crazy with output or rev limit, a chain is a chain- after all - why would a company sell a kit that will fail within a few thousand miles, right?
I've ordered an OEM Honda chain & tensioner. I already have most of the other replacement items, since the block needs to be swapped out anyway. I just hope I don't have all kinds of carnage behind the cover & in the head. I cranked it over many times checking the test procedures.
Entire drivetrain has to come out, which means suspension removal, all trunk access & exhaust removal & everything else. Takes a solid day if I'm lucky to remove it all & find places to stow it. The engine cover & trunk need space to prevent any damage, I'm running out of that...
Tell me again how much better timing chains are than belts?
Found these so far...
340-05-0002 - Skunk2 Racing
<div id="magicdomid18"><span class="author-6hOG0xVBAmdz">The Skunk2 Racing K-series Timing Chain Tensioner is the ultimate safeguard for all Honda K-series engines. The Pro Series Tensioner body is machined from high-quality steel which allows for greaterskunk2.com
Hybrid Racing K-Series Timing Chain Tensioner
Dual ratchet design. Tighter tolerances than OEM Honda chain tensioner. More durable than OEM unit. A must have if your using aftermarket cams and valve springs. Description Vehicle Fitment Technical Data Included Install Guide Despite being a fairly robust motor, k series engines have been...www.hybrid-racing.com
Really hard to say, but the various Honda forums have lots of failures noted. One never knows because many of these forum posters are far from professionally trained mechanics, so you have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. I'm certain more than a few failures have been self-induced. On the other hand the tensioner is a little complicated. It utilizes a ratchet, spring pressure, and oil pressure - all of which have their specific failure issues. The common thread through many of the posts were swapped cams, swapped oil pumps, cam sensor cel shortly before failure, low oil pressure reading at idle, and on and on. A chain can certainly be defective, but it's on the low tech scale of things so failing at 5,000 miles would be unusual even for an aftermarket part. It very well could have been the root cause, but to go through all the agro involved tearing this down and getting it back together, I wouldn't feel too comfortable until the actual cause of the failure is identified.I don't know at what point people actually run into trouble with the factory tensioner
Really hard to say, but the various Honda forums have lots of failures noted. One never knows because many of these forum posters are far from professionally trained mechanics, so you have to take a lot of it with a grain of salt. I'm certain more than a few failures have been self-induced. On the other hand the tensioner is a little complicated. It utilizes a ratchet, spring pressure, and oil pressure - all of which have their specific failure issues. The common thread through many of the posts were swapped cams, swapped oil pumps, cam sensor cel shortly before failure, low oil pressure reading at idle, and on and on. A chain can certainly be defective, but it's on the low tech scale of things so failing at 5,000 miles would be unusual even for an aftermarket part. It very well could have been the root cause, but to go through all the agro involved tearing this down and getting it back together, I wouldn't feel too comfortable until the actual cause of the failure is identified.
Not sure if I will be able to discern cause - the tensioner will have extended fully. I really feel it's the chain, there are multiple single links that are broken, I can't see what could possibly cause that besides the chain material. Would a weak tensioner cause 'chatter' that stresses the chain? I dunno - none of the Honda people I know have seen this specific failure before