Think on young man!!

[harryhill]

As there has been a lot of posts on this site regarding the timing chain noise i have just thought of a useful suggestion a day late.

Basically my car is in the garage now getting it changed and providing that it does help emitt the noise i am thinking wouldn't it have been useful to record the noise before and after? I dunno if you can record sound on this site or whether it would transfer well but the next person getting their chain done on this discussion board could perhaps do this.

What i will try and do is get the old chain and sprockets and post a photo showing any wear if visible. That providing it isn't in the bin along with the car!!

[devonutopia]

There's only one way to settle this..... FIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHT!

(sorry, couldn't resist with your username)

Looking forward to some pics. Always useful for everyone else to get a little more knowledge.

[daverapid]

Some pics I took when I replaced the chain and sprockets on my wife's Felicia 1.3 last year.

BEFORE



AFTER

[Lummox]

Blindingly clever idea having a timing chain with no tensioner, allways baffled me tbh.

[TeflonTom]

the vr6 engine doesn't have a tensioner either!!! just some silly little piece of plastic which normally breaks up when you try to remove it

[Skippymon]

How much should it cost to get the timing chain replaced?

[philje123]

Originally Posted by Skippymon

How much should it cost to get the timing chain replaced?

Depends really... youd probably pay over the odds for a garage to source parts and fit it for you... or you could get the parts yourself off ebay (cost me £37 for all the bits needed, except oil) and then either fit them yourself or get a garage to do it for you.

Should take a garage around 2-3 hours labour to fit.

[philje123]

Originally Posted by daverapid

Some pics I took when I replaced the chain and sprockets on my wife's Felicia 1.3 last year.

Just wondering how long it took you to do the job and how easy/hard you found it... though i belive your a pretty competant car diyer...

I would be undertaking the job with my partners step dad who is pretty good with engines.

[harryhill]

Ah well there are the pics.

If it is any use it is costing me £90 labour for my garage to do it which i think is fair enough really providing that it works

[WoodieGuthrie]

Originally Posted by Lummox

Blindingly clever idea having a timing chain with no tensioner, allways baffled me tbh.

I remember starting a thread about fitting atensioner...

Where though? its a tiny wee chain!

[anewman]

I asked a Skoda dealer for my favorit 94 glxie and was quoted £200. Asked another garage which many moons ago used to be a skoda dealer and was quoted £160. Considering getting the parts I need together and doing the job myself if I get the time and feel confident enough with removing all the bits and being able to get it back together I suppose if I do it once on my favorit, if my next car is a more decent felicia I will feel a bit happier replacing the chain on that if I have already done it once.

It's amazing how loose that old chain in your pic is Dave

[harryhill]

Well timing chain is all done and wow what a difference it is silent halleluljah!! with no lumpiness on idle.

The garage showed me the old chain which was not damaged but according to the mechanic was the most stretched he had ever seen!! It was basically hanging on although i guess many are!! The sprockets were also ok. Unfortunatly i didn't retrieve it as it was at the bottom of this huge oily bin!!

From my point of view after weighing up the pro's and cons of it all it is worth changing the chain as it has transformed my car especially when idleing. The cost altogether has been around £150 including parts and labour which i feel was worth the cost as i use it everyday and do a fair few miles. I am also unconvinced that it would have held on much longer but i guess that one is open to debate!!

[surprising_skod]

Originally Posted by philje123

Just wondering how long it took you to do the job and how easy/hard you found it... though i belive your a pretty competant car diyer...

i should hope so, given he manages a garage in cambridge

[daverapid]

Originally Posted by surprising_skod

i should hope so, given he manages a garage in cambridge

Hertfordshire actually!

It's easy enough, fairly time consuming though. It's more difficult on Felicia's with power steering. An average DIYer with an average tool kit, a jack and some axle stands should be able to do it in half a day.

A tip for those with the distributorless MPi engine.....fit the "dummy" distributor into the timing cover BEFORE you fit the oil pump. If you try it the other way you'll know why!

[Jaymz]

Originally Posted by harryhill

Well timing chain is all done and wow what a difference it is silent halleluljah!! with no lumpiness on idle.

wow i know what im going to do then

[GeoffStone]

my idle is a bit off and my 1.3mpi is noisy but i like it, its a reasuring tank noise.

The idle only gets bad when warmed up though, as long as this sounds like the chain and it will last (im only on 31k mls) then Im going to leave it, let people know im coming.

[philje123]

Hopefully getting mine sorted this weekend.... will make a recording of the noise before and then after...

Will position mic at the bottom of the drivers side front bumper as this is where the noise is most prominant.

[ap0gee]

What sort of mileage are we talking about? I don't think the chain's particularly noisy, but it's on 50k. Maybe it's already been replaced - will have to check the service history...?

[philje123]

The haynes manual recommends replacing the chain every 30,000 miles... my engine has now reach around 63,000 and there is a pretty prominnant rattle coming from the chain... although they're generally ok to drive like this (as long as your not redlining all the time as not a good this with a dodgy chain/belt) it is recommended really that you replace them i'd have though around 45,000 - 50,000 as this is probably the point where they start to get noisy!

All i have is one word to say to the people who developed the skoda.... Tensioner!!!

[philje123]

Just do it!!

Have got my new chain on and all is running well!

Fitted it with a friend over in bridlington, took about 4 hours ish to do and what a difference it makes... no more rattly noise coming from down there and tick-over/general running is so much smoother too.

Also got my new distributor on which also made a huge difference to the spluttering and hesitation.

I didnt get chance to record the engine running before though.. but will still do so with an after sound though... so people can listen and compare and so they know what a 1.3 should sound like with a nice tight chain.

Old chain was very "flexible" from side to side and had a lot of sag in the middle and also the sprockets were quite worn.

Had a nice 150 mile run home with it too and had no probs!

p.s. also have my Briskoda stickers on windscreen and rear window... so keep an eye out for me!!!