LH6 Timing Chain Chatter
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TECH Apprentice
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From: Northern Indiana
LH6 Timing Chain Chatter Hey guys, I am more of regular in the Lounge, but thought I would venture up this way. I received some alarming news this morning because I dropped my 97x off at the dealership for them to check into some noise I was getting. I could only seem to get it to replicate noise upon decelleration down to about 15-18mph and then noise seemed to cut out. The dealer informed me it was the timing chain, and that it would be ~$1800 to fix. I've called several shops which half of them told me they wouldn't work on it because it would need special Saab tools. The other half came in at about the same or more to do the work. I realize that it is a very labor intenstive job, and I don't mind compensating people to do their work. That was just a very unexpected problem.
So here are my questions.
Other than the obvious noise that it makes, do you think that my problem is serious?
Do these motors/can these motors get this chatter? Is it a frequent occurence/design flaw?
Is it something I need to fix right away to keep from damaging other internal parts? It usually sits most of the time as my wife drives the car to work and I have a company truck.
Did Saab do anything different to the motor, that is any different from any of its' GMT360 counterparts?
Is there something else that should be checked that might be mimicking that noise?
I would guess on decel, or coasting it is kicking into DoD and on 4 cylinders. Is that something to consider, but I am guessing it is all tied to the same timing chain.
From what I have read, and talked to a friend who is a Chevy mechanic, the timing chains in those 5.3's will last longer than the truck does. He was almost dumbfounded to hear that diagnosis.
So here are my questions.
Other than the obvious noise that it makes, do you think that my problem is serious?
Do these motors/can these motors get this chatter? Is it a frequent occurence/design flaw?
Is it something I need to fix right away to keep from damaging other internal parts? It usually sits most of the time as my wife drives the car to work and I have a company truck.
Did Saab do anything different to the motor, that is any different from any of its' GMT360 counterparts?
Is there something else that should be checked that might be mimicking that noise?
I would guess on decel, or coasting it is kicking into DoD and on 4 cylinders. Is that something to consider, but I am guessing it is all tied to the same timing chain.
From what I have read, and talked to a friend who is a Chevy mechanic, the timing chains in those 5.3's will last longer than the truck does. He was almost dumbfounded to hear that diagnosis.
Last edited by BlackonBlackTA; Aug 8, 2013 at 12:33 PM.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 312
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From: Northern Indiana
I just talked to the service manager again, and he said they looked through the AFM service bulletins, and what they were finding didn't seem to match symptoms.
So yes, he said it was the timing chain, and he had 4 different techs listen and look at it, and they all agreed.
He did comfort me with "I've never really heard of a timing chain going bad on a 5.3." Sweet.
So yes, he said it was the timing chain, and he had 4 different techs listen and look at it, and they all agreed.
He did comfort me with "I've never really heard of a timing chain going bad on a 5.3." Sweet.
