I have a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500 V6 that will not start.

I have replaced many componets and today I checked the compression for the first cyclinder on passenger side. I got no compression.

I can see the piston going up and down.

Question if the chain breaks on this motor will the valves get bent?

If so should I not hear the pistons hitting the valves?

Also can you still get spark in if the chain is broken?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tomorrow I will remove the timing cover just wanted to get details before I actually start surgery.

Thanks,

Gary

 

Do you get no compression on all cylinders on that bank?

A broken Chain can cause major heck, but you'd also have heard something very wrong while crankng it.

 

broken chain will bend piston rods, valves, basically blow the motor to a no fix....

you'll know if the chain broke

 

hold on - don't remove the timing cover just yet.
if the timing chain is truely broken, then you'll have ZERO valve movement on all cylinders and most likely ZERO compression on several cylinders.

run the compression test on all cylinders and see what you've got.
you may have a valve or push rod problem on just one cylinder.
you can investigate this by just removing the valve covers.

as to whether your engine is damaged by slipped or broken timing chain, it would depend on whether its an "interference" engine design or not. i don't know whether it is or not. even if it is, some engines can still nudge the valves up without damage.

lets see - do you get spark to the plugs with a broken chain ? if the distributor gear drives off the cam, then no. if it drives off the crank, then yes.

 

^ +1 on the Interference head. you beat me to it.

I have fixed a few cars that wouldnt run because of broken timing chains. Time the cam, throw on a chain and collect the cash... take it, and go.

 

timing chains are very easy to do IMO, just need to know what your doing. get a haynes or chilton manual

also if you do replace it, get a double roller chain. Im getting one in the spring.