I went to the Saturn dealer over lunch to have a look at the old parts.
The good news is the chain appears to be intact, and the gears look to be
in good condition as well, so I feel confident that there is not a major
problem with metal particles in the oil. The true failure appears to be
in the chain guides and/or the tensioner. One guide had plastic clips/tabs
broken off, and chipping on the pivot end. Each guide is a two-piece
part, consisting of a plastic+nylon channel that the chain glides on, backed
by a metal part that bolts to the block. On one side of the engine, the
tensioner pushes against the back of a guide to take up slack in the chain.
What looked odd to me was grooves worn on the face of the tensioner, and
on one of the metal backing plates, as if something (the chain?) had been
riding on them.
Also, the tensioner itself was extended, possibly to its limit, I couldn't
tell because I couldn't move it at all.
Anyway, the service manager agrees that this is a very unusual failure and
he says he will submit a claim to Saturn as soon as I provide documentation
for the oil changes that weren't done by Saturn, to show that routine
maintenance was performed. I am hopeful that Saturn will reimburse the
cost of repairs or at least a substantial portion of it.
I am, however, still a bit insulted at the service manager's insistence
that oil changes be done every three months regardless of mileage. That
is just excessive pollution. He also said Saturn doesn't recommend using
synthetic oil. When I pressed him for a reason, he said people run it
10,000 miles before changing it, and then have oil-related problems.
Well, I might not go that far, but I can name people who do, and have
200,000 miles on their cars. Oh well, as long as he stands behind us on
the timing chain, I can humor the guy. Thanks for all the support.
--
Jeffrey D. Blankenship Senior Technical Consultant
jblanken@itds.com ITDS - TRIS
neon enthusiast #478 Champaign, IL, USA
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