Why Some Cars Have a Timing Chain Instead of a Timing Belt

Nice educational video...maybe additional info you forgot to mention is that belt is supposed to be changed periodically...so will not break if done as recommended and quite cheap to replace compared to chain which has no clear indication about when replacement should be done

I had a 2006 Toyota Sienna with a timing belt and was an interference engine.

Engines with belts are very easy on the oil, you can go extended OCI, but with chains, you gotta keep that oil changed, or it will shear.

because the engineers that made them with timing chains know that no onw changes a belt until it snaps. saved you 6 minutes

thx

I'm working on a Isuzu truck from the 80s that still has timing gears. Amazing how things are now more cheap and less reliable and how people think the opposite.

Wait a minute, is this Ozzy Ozbourne, and if so, how is he speaking so clearly?

So why do car manufacturers continue to produce interference motors? So they can cash in on the timing belt damages that will cause costly repairs of their motors at their shops!

Very informative, thank you!

Scotty I'm with ya on this one. I have a 2004 hyundai sonata with the 2.7 engine. I has 156000 on the engine. Doing the normal maintenance has convinced me that only the minimum was ever done on this car. Which leads me first of all to the timing belt which I seriously doubt has been changed more than once if that. These naturally asperated v6 engines can get 300 or more and it uses no oil so far but these are interference engines. Both my sister and I have lost engines in the past due to TB failure although they were different car manufacturers . This is not an easy engine to work on and the water pump is behind the TB so you really must change it while your there. The cheapest est I could get was $740. I'm retired and will do it myself. I've never had to mess with any engine which had a timing chain ever over timing related engine failure and I've owned many, You just never even worry about it. With a belt you better pay attention and change it every 60.000 to be sure. I don't want to have to worry about a radical up or downshift, in an emergency snapping my belt and taking the engine out

Timing chain guides are plastic though and of particularly poor durability, at least on European cars they are.

Scotty should talk about the gm 2.4 liter ecotec timing chain.

IS a Nissin NX coupe interference engine ? its a 2.0L 1994 chain driven engine so it should be algood xD

Recommenced only 100K miles for timing chain on my Nissan as timing chain plastic guide wears out, same mileage as for Camry belt. Belt of the Camry is doable for the DIY where Nissan chain replacement need to dismantle most of the engine surrounding parts.

Buy a German Opel Corsa D and You're going to change your mind about chains. The car has 160000km and had third chain, second since 140000km. No one can tell me why it is so noisy, no one can and want to repair it and if someone does it costs a fortune. In almost every modern car chain are made of trash and owners manual recommend to replace the chain after same amount of km as a belt. Belt makes no problems if the engine is correctly made. If you get a problem with chain You're broken or as in my case someone will tell you to replace the engine cause it will be cheaper than change a chain for a fourth time and look for a problem. Proudly belt owner since 450000km

Just changed my rubber t belt in my 2008 accent yesterday first replacement way over service limit 178 000 old belt was in perfect condition visually anyways. But was stiff. So just saying you can put it off for a while if you pwn a accent Its costly to replace if you dont have the knowhow yourself TY Scotty for all your Knowledge :) Get Er Done

Which exact Toyota engines were non interference with a timing belt? No doubt there were plenty but in my experience most low km major engine failures of Toyota vehicles are caused by timing belt failures. Of course quantitative engineers said chains and belts will lead to a cheaper build and far more maintenance income for our dealers!

Great video what your thoughts on converting a belt driven engine to a chain driven engine???

Accept if that’s an Audi / VW tsi engine their chains / tensioners well whole engine is crap

The timing chain on my 2012 elantra broked at 165 000km the car would have been good for so many years if not of that. For me hyunday's never again.

Hi Scotty. You got any tips on inspecting a used 2004 Citroen Jumper van
2.2 HDi with 320000km e.g do those timing chains last even with regular engine oil changes or do they have a bad rep regardless?

2010 Hyundai accent , timing belt broke . While I pulled drive way … is my car no good no more @scotty

Glad my truck has a chain. I loved our old Highlander but swapping that belt every 90k was a dent in the wallet.

Shouldn’t complain though, it’s literally the only maintenance we had done on it for 300k miles

I love this. You are the high school teacher I wish I had back when I was a teenager :-)

Timing belts is a bad idea and design. I dont trust them.

I had two cars the were destroyed after 100,00 miles with a timing belt breaking. Now I have a nissan versa with a timing chain and it now has 230.00 on it and runs great

My 96 Nissan Altima timing chain broke at 160,000 miles

So if you change belt 5 times it's already way more expansive than having chain from the start

Always about cost savings not technical improvements

Great video scotty! Thank you.

Timing chains was used on old engines with low RPM where precision was no big deal. On a modern engine with high RPM and double cams you need a longer timing belt because it weigh less and dont stretch. A belt is easier to speed up from low RPM to high RPM compared with a chain etc etc.....

#1 way to make sure that timing chain goes for hundreds of thousands of miles without needing to be replaced.... FREQUENT oil changes! Ask any experienced auto mechanic that has dealt with the GM timing chain issues, the majority of early replacements they do are on cars with owners that "trust" the oil change indicator light as to when to change the oil which tends to light up at 7000 (or more) and the EGR systems on those engines are recirculating so much combustion byproducts, loading up the motor oil with suspended soot, which because of the different dynamics involved with timing chains (versus the sliding action of pistons) that accumulated suspended soot (and lower oil levels due to excessive EGR recirculation as well) sands those chain link contact points right now as well as wearing on the guides. These same mechanics will tell their good customers that buy one of these time chain driven cars to ignore the knucklehead oil change light and instead change their oil every 3000 miles with a synthetic motor oil. The customers who actually listened to that honest mechanic are going hundreds of thousands of miles on those same GM chain models that the people who insist on going by the oil change light are having to pay to have the chain replaced at 80k miles or less, or even worse, expensive repairs from timing chain jump.

My 89 Toyota truck nearly broke me with timing chains breaking and eating the water pump. Toyota seems to have moved away from belts completely now.

Scotty I just paid $2100 nzd for a new camchain and tensioner on my little Toyota I think I got ripped off there charging $90 a hour to work on it and new sparkplugs as well for $54 each 😂

my mazda 3 2012 need a new timing chain at 130K miles

porsche 928 😳

Thanks Scottie.

Mine is chain 2001 Nissan Xterra

blimey i have a 3.2 audi tt and the timing chain on that looks like it's come off a kids bicycle one row of links!!

Push bike chains don't last that long .

I love the 🐍 under the hood. That made my flipping day. Good explanation on the Timing belt and Timing Chain Scotty. Keep it UP!!!!

had a diesel car with a belt, had absolutely no problem...
have a petrol car now with a chain, always makes strange noises, I always stay with fear that something is broken with it.

I'll never buy another Honda!

NEVER buy a car with timing belt !!! I have had it stap 3 times on one car, strech and miss 2 teeth on another (after only a year on a brand new car) and on my last car it snapped and ruined the entire engine...

My timing chain is a loud clattery piece of crap. Been waiting for something to break 😂 I plan to put a bigger engine into it anyway it's only a 04 Toyota allex but cosmetically it's like brand-new condition I'm 2nd owner

now look at bmw. unlike nissan they skipped the belt-phase on their engines and went from chains straight to cheap unrealiable chains