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Timing belt/chain: When to change?

110K views 21 replies 16 participants last post by  JBob 
#1 ·
Hi

My 9-3 Aero 2.0T Auto is approaching 93,000 miles, on what I presume is a standard timing belt/chain.

At 80,000 the mechanic informed me that it did not need changing yet.

What mileage should I change it at?

Cheers

Russ
 
#5 ·
+ 1 to the AKS post.
chains, in theory, aren't replaced. Belts are...

that rattling you're hearing could be a number of things. Do you have a manual tranny? Could be clutch plate thingy-majigger. Try depressing the clutch all the way and see if the rattle disappears.
If its auto, then could be something exhaust related. These cars rattle non-stop :roll:
 
#7 ·
In the ng900 (and I suspect SS's, given the similarity of the motor) you could check the chain health by taking the chain tensioner out and seeing how far it had ratcheted out. I'm sure the WIS will give a spec, can any WIS owners confirm this?

Mostly, I agree with the others who note that the chain should be OK for well over 100K, and most of us will never have a need to replace one. However the ng900 folks do have failures and it's worth ruling out. To read more, search on "rattle of death" in the ng900 forum.
 
#9 ·
Cosmicflash said:
Both engines have a timing chain--no service interval. Pretty much the life of the engine.
"Both" engines? There are more than 2 over here :cheesy:

To clarify, the petrol (gasoline) engines use a timing chain. As suggested above, I'd get them to check the top tensioner as it may require adjustment. Chains normally give plenty of warning that they are failing, unlike timing belts (though this is not always the case - VW VR6 engine for example). As Cosmic says, there is no fixed change intervals for timing chains, and in fact they can last the lifetime of the car without trouble.

Although the OP was asking about the 2.0T, for info, the diesel engines do have a timing belt and not a chain, and the change interval is every 60K miles I believe.
 
#10 ·
I had some noise as well, ended up being the tensioner not "fully engaging" which was causing chain to bang against the guards, thus damaging them. Luckily still under warranty (CPO) so all was covered, and even changed the belt while they were in there, for the cost of the belt only.
 
#11 ·
cheers guys.

The car is an automatic, petrol.

It's mainly at idle you can hear it rattle.

Oil is changes at 10,000 miles. Plus change it last week and its still rattling a bit.

I guess you could describe it as similar to a diesel engine noise (from inside the car) but a lot quieter.


Thanks
 
#12 ·
OK, well I agree that it's definitely worth checking out. It could be something minor, maybe an accessory or shield that rattles when cold. Check on the ng900 forums, perhaps someone has posted an audio file with chain rattle. Because their cars are older, they're more likely to have experience with this. The motors are reasonably similar.
 
#14 ·
I apologize for posting to a very old thread--

but I came across this and I have a similar issue (hindrance more so.)

I recently purchased a 2004 Saab 93 2.0t Linear @ 58k miles... and it has the same 'rough idle' almost diesel sounding noise that 'rg627' mentioned. It doesn't sound like a diesel truck outside of the car, but inside it has a very distinct diesel idle sound.

Any idea on what it could be?

Thank You and sorry for bringing up such an old post.

Mike
 
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