Timing Chain Life

[92saturnsl2]

It's really only an issue on problem engines whose design is flawed.

In some cases manufacturers have moved from a duplex chain to a single row chain for the usual modern reason of shaving factions of a % off emissions and fuel consumption.

It's got so I would now much prefer a belt because at least they are easier to diy replace than a chain and you won't need to replace the sprockets as well. The cost of Professional timing chain replacement on my 15 year old car would write it off.

I agree with this, I've always had good luck with belt driven engines. Spend a few hours and a couple hundred bucks every 100K and you're good to go.

Sadly once everyone adopted VVT/cam phasers and/or GDI, they all switched to chains, which is a mixed basket. Some are known for crapping out early, others go the distance-- usually the life of the engine. Some engine designs, the chain drive is horribly complex and I know of very few that are easy to work on.

 

[OilStainedNapkin]

Have you ever seen a maintenance schedule include timing chain replacement? Especially on a Toyota like yours? I think that’ll give you your answer

 

[TomYoung]

If It's a simple, relatively short chain, like on my 1999 Alero V6, it will most likely never need to be changed. If it's really long and goes around a bunch of pulleys, change it. By change it, I mean change it when the water pump it's powering goes out or when doing some other maintenance in the area.

What exactly makes a longer chain more prone to wear?

 

[hrv]

Not sure how long they last but on my 07 Accord with a 2.4 I had 386000 with no issues at all...

 

[zzyzzx]

What exactly makes a longer chain more prone to wear?

More parts = more points of failure.

 

[tblt44]

A lot of the timing chains jobs I have done are not necessarily due to worn chains but broken plastic guides. What suck is pulling the engine out just to get to them and finding out the aftermarket has high quality aluminum ones for not much more.
View attachment 251679

That looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
I like my simple/short 5.3 timing chain design

 

[ElectroMechanoMan]

If I were working on something in the area of the timing chain, I’d inspect it for wear at the minimum and replace it if the vehicle had high mileage on it. Do good maintenance and chances are the timing components will last.

 

[dfarr67]

Most chain issues I have read about for the K24 are maintenance related-read oil changes.