From the workshop
It came in on a rattle. Elliot explains what a stretched chain looks like once the cover is off, and why it got there.
33 seconds, with captions. Full transcript below.
So this is a Vauxhall Corsa, 2018 plate, 1.4 16-valve.
Customer noted there was a rattle coming from the engine.
Upon diagnosis, we found that the timing chain was worn, stretched, just due to lack of maintenance really.
So got that changed, oil and filter, and they’re on the way.
Unlike a belt, a chain does not have a replacement interval, so nothing tells you it is due. The rattle is the warning, and it only gets louder. This customer had it looked at rather than waiting to see whether it settled down, which is why this was a chain replacement and not an engine rebuild.
Chains get treated as fit-and-forget parts because they have no service interval, but they depend entirely on clean oil at the right level. Elliot is specific about the cause here: lack of maintenance. Stretch it far enough and the timing drifts, which is why a new chain goes in with fresh oil and a filter every time.
You cannot tell a stretched chain from a noisy tensioner, or either from something else entirely, by listening from the driver’s seat. What you can see in this clip — the chain, the sprockets and the state of the oil around them — is what a diagnosis actually looks like, and it is what we do before quoting.
Belts, chains and wet belts are three different jobs with three different prices. The timing belt page tells you which one your engine has, and what each costs.
Belt, chain or wet belt? Find out which you haveEvery one filmed in the Dudley workshop, with the mechanic who did the work explaining it.
See all workshop videosDon’t wait to see whether it settles down — it won’t. Send us the registration and what you’re hearing, and we’ll tell you whether your engine runs a chain or a belt before anything is booked in.