Cam chain service interval

[Jota]

Hi guys

I have an '87 230TE with the 2.3 litre 4 cylinder engine.

I have heard that the cam chains on these motors can wear and fail. Is this true? What is the recommended service life of this item?

I suspect I have the single row chain, although I am a long way from the car at the moment and so I cannot physically check....

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes

Andy

VIN: WDB1240831F050798

 

[Uncle Benz]

In my experience the single row chains start to get noisy about 120,000 miles depending on how regular the oil changes have been. They are a simple job to change though. In short, you can split the chain, join a new one to it and wind it round the sprockets. It is a little more involved than this obviously, but even a garage should not charge you a fortune!! . If you remove the cam cover, you can grab the chain where it goes over the cam sprocket. If you can lift it up at all, the tensioner is all the way out and a new chain is required.

 

[Jota]

Cam chain

Thank you Uncle Benz, just what I needed to know...

Andy

 

[anyweb]

i've asked this before but just to be sure to be sure,

does the cam chain aslo apply to my merc c220 (1995) ? as I also notice a knocking sound when idling

cheers
anyweb

 

[tom7035]

The same applies anyweb.
Unlike timing belts as used on most vehicles now, a timing chain will give warning when it becomes badly worn, i.e. rattling and clattering, and it can also be checked for wear, or 'slack' unlike belts which give no warning at all. Normally the only time a duplex chain requires to be changed is when the engine has been stripped for another purpose. It is not uncommon for a chain to outlive the rest of the engine. This is all provided of course the engine has been cared for properly.
It's my own genuine opinion timing belts were a bad move in design particularly of course where piston/valve contact can be made when it does break!

 

[Jota]

Can chain trivia

Just a piece of off topic cam chain trivia...

The Mercedes 190 single row timing chain was used by Laverda motor cycles as their cam chain.

It had a pretty crude tensioner arrangement, ran very hot, to some fairly high rpms, so must be pretty tough!

Cheers

Andy