New member here , I have a 1997 1 ton van 360 ( 5.9L LDC) w/ 85 K miles . Sprung a leak from the upper left side of the timing chain cover. I have bought a rebulit factory water pump to install and a gasket kit for the job. I have it torn down to the timing chain cover. I have a puller tool for the balance behind the crank pulley. Since I have never worked on a Dodge before I need a little advice. I was reading a thread question posted by Dodge 33 who had a similar problem, and have learned a lot by the answers and advice in that thread . Here are my questions:

1. re: replaceing timing chain in above mentioned thread . One guy said in the thread that factory timing chains are junk . Most replies stated that the chain will be shot by 150 K . So I am leaning to replace it along with the water pump even though it only has 85K on it. All thoughts for or against are welcome ? How long should a replacement chain last?

2. Tips/ advice on time chain cover replacement with or without removing the oil pan.

3. I am not an experienced wrench on much of anything except Model A Fords ,( Oops Sorry about saying the F- word on a Dodge forum), so I anticipate running into some problems and so I thought I would open up a dialog here. Any and all tips, photos, diagrams etc, for this job will be much appreciated. I bought the Haynes repair book but it isnt much help especially with the 360 engine. No way i can afford 100 dollar shop rates so I am going to learn to do it myself no matter what. Thanks in advance
Jeremy ( 1 ton dodge 360 )

 

Welcome to the site. I would ask the guys in the Van section,
FF

 

OK thanks for the welcome, ill see if I can navigate to the van section and repost this.