How much is to much free play in the timing chain and how to you correctly check how much play there is?

1995 3.4L

Jordan

 

The "official" way to check for chain stretch is to turn the crankshaft one direction to eliminate all chain slop, mark the balancer position, then turn the crankshaft the other direction until the cam starts to move. Measure how many degrees the crankshaft has turned.
If you have the timing cover off, though, forget that. Just see if the chain is sloppy at the sides of the buffer plate between the sprockets.
My 94 had 130k miles on it when i tore it apart and there was a lot of chain slop. I installed a new chain and sprockets and that chain was *tight* and I mean *no* slop at all on either side. I'm sure things loosen up considerably within a few hundred miles but then stabilize.
You're in there now and a chain/sprockets are cheap so why screw around? Install a new setup now when you can for basically free labor.

 

That's basically what mine looked like till we put new sprockets and chains in and now its tight. Thanks for the info.

Jordan

 

I did mine 2 weeks ago so I know what you're going through! I had a broken guide so that was replaced too.

 

Finished putting mine together last night and had it sit overnight. Fired it up this morning and it was running great. Turned it off and we had a leak at the left corner of the water pump...

 

Awww man that sucks! Did you use the black silicone gasket maker and get a good 1/8 bead around it?

 

Turns out it was a leaky hose causing the problems. Forgot to clamp one, but all is good now. No leaks!

Thanks for your help everyone,
Jordan

 

I did that too! I forgot to put the clamp back on the top hose to the water pump! So, you're not alone!