Slapping timing chain

One of the small fleets we look after has a collection of Fiat Fiorino vans that were all registered in 2012 and have covered around 80,000 miles. The other thing they have in common is that they have now all had their timing chains replaced.

This was a preventive measure against the loud clattering coming from their engines due to a stretched chain going beyond the limits of the tensioner. This is not a five-minute job, requiring the sump to be dropped, along with the engine mount and front cover being stripped off. The water pump also needs to be removed, as well as quite a bit of stripping down to allow the cam setting tools to be put in place. The crankshaft pulley bolt has a lefthand thread and, just to keep things fun, the sprockets are free-spinning with no keyway, relying on the pinching force of friction to keep them in place.

The old tensioner was fully extended with the worn chain and the difference with the new tensioner and chain was obvious.