Scary thought

[bdunegan]

this may be a little off topic, but has anybody had any problems with the timing chain on a caravan breaking or coming off? 3.3 v-6. the reason i ask, my brother has a neon with the 4 cylinder, and his was acting just like mine is, and the other day it just quit. come to find out, timing belt broke, and ruined engine. glad mine has chain, but has anyone had problems with theirs before? 97 caravan, 3.3 v-6

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[floorslayer1]

It is extremely unlikely to have a problem similar to a belt unless you get really high mileage. Sometimes as the belts get old and wear they will jump a tooth and the timing will change and the rubber band motors run very poorly. A timing chain that stretches or wears to that extent will make an ungodly noise as they wear through a chain guide or something for a long time before they jump time. Won't say it can't happen, but it is really not probable.

[minivanin]

i was running the piss outta mine all the time, & it has 203K on my 3.3, they are very strong, you ain't gonna hurt one

i did found a way tho, driving with a cracked flywheel for about 20K miles throws the balance off, stressing the crank snout area were the harmonic damper is, trying to cancel out the oscillations in th ecrank, finally fatigued & snapped off

i didn't know that was a flexplate noise, i always thought it was my loose converter bolts, then i tightened them up, & i still had that noise, & well about a week alter "click" it hear very lightly as my powersteering went away

-greg