Momentum V122

[W. WIllie]

IIRR, DAYCO was one of the parts suppliers?

 

[pistonboy]

To you people who have "had" to replace timing chains: Have you ever had a timing chain break? I have not, though I have had belts break.

I have seen chains slowly stretch but not to the point where it is a problem and required replacement. The only time I have replaced chain is when I rebuilt the engine for other reasons and replaced the chain while I was there. (Of course, I have had so many bad Chinese made replacement parts, I had actually installed "used" American made parts over new Chinese parts at times.)

I know some older V8 engines had plastic teeth on the timing gear which break off, but that is a problem with the gear, not the chain.

If a chain has lasted until the engine was worn out and had to be rebuilt, the chain has lasted the life of the engine.

 

[electroken]

Nope. Never had to replace a timing chain. I have had to replace the mentioned timing gears with the nylon teeth. When you drain the oil and get a bunch of plastic teeth it's good for a few f-bombs.

My '77 Chevette popped a timing belt about a mile past the recommended interval (60k miles). I spent a chunk of last Saturday changing the timing belt on our 2002 Ford Focus. It was 15 years old and had about a zillion small cracks in the back surface.

Knowing how much damage can result from a broken belt in a modern interference engine, I'm surprised more people don't take that design choice into consideration when selecting a car. The parking lot at work is loaded with old Honda Accords. If that belt breaks the cost of repair will exceed the value of the car. Maybe I'm not seeing the same Honda Accords...

 

[Mel]

To you people who have "had" to replace timing chains: Have you ever had a timing chain break? I have not, though I have had belts break. I have seen chains slowly stretch but not to the point where it is a problem and required replacement. The only time I have replaced chain is when I rebuilt the engine for other reasons and replaced the chain while I was there.

I've replaced timing chains that stretched enough that they wore through the cover thereby dumping oil. Obviously if the chain has stretched that much, valve timing, and performance has suffered.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Timing Belt: You WILL have to replace it during the normal life of the engine.
Timing Chain: You will NOT have to replace it during the normal life of an engine.

So why belt over chain.

Money.

Frankly, I'm deeply disappointed.

The ONLY way Elio can make up for this is to make the timing belt RIDICULOUSLY easy to swap out.

As my finances get better and my faith in this program decreases, Tesla is becoming more and more an option.

 

[Ty]

Timing Belt: You WILL have to replace it during the normal life of the engine.
Timing Chain: You will NOT have to replace it during the normal life of an engine.

So why belt over chain.

Money.

Frankly, I'm deeply disappointed.

The ONLY way Elio can make up for this is to make the timing belt RIDICULOUSLY easy to swap out.

As my finances get better and my faith in this program decreases, Tesla is becoming more and more an option.

The timing belts are pretty easy to swap out. Plus, they are more quiet under the hood. Like mentioned before, it'll be 5 years before you have to worry about the timing belt. If the Elio engine lasts 5 years/100,000 miles, it'll be a miracle anyway.

 

[Samalross]

To you people who have "had" to replace timing chains: Have you ever had a timing chain break? I have not, though I have had belts break.

I have seen chains slowly stretch but not to the point where it is a problem and required replacement. The only time I have replaced chain is when I rebuilt the engine for other reasons and replaced the chain while I was there. (Of course, I have had so many bad Chinese made replacement parts, I had actually installed "used" American made parts over new Chinese parts at times.)

I know some older V8 engines had plastic teeth on the timing gear which break off, but that is a problem with the gear, not the chain.

If a chain has lasted until the engine was worn out and had to be rebuilt, the chain has lasted the life of the engine.

I have six cars averaging about fifty years old. Never had a break. Blew a belt on Subaru cost thousands, around twenty five years ago

 

[Donnyboy]

If the Elio engine lasts 5 years/100,000 miles, it'll be a miracle anyway.

Man that is funny!! I've been saying it for years...I'm not expecting a Lexus here....just cheap point A to B transportation. They could stick the old Geo Metro engine in the Elio for all I care....just give me something to drive. They're spending money on this thing like their competition is Toyota or Honda. Their only competition is my Schwinn World DBX commuter bicycle. Pretty easy to beat that for commuting.

 

[Donnyboy]

As my finances get better and my faith in this program decreases, Tesla is becoming more and more an option.

Right now the Tesla is an overpriced toy that gives someone the ability to add a license plate that reads "no oil", "no CO2", or "lol gas" to let everyone know how righteous and obnoxious they are. And basically giving up on the Elio to consider a Tesla is like saying Timex never released the watch I wanted so now I'll go buy the Rolex instead. The Elio's projected competition isn't Tesla...it's motorcycles, 20 year old clunkers, bicycles, and public transportation.

 

[Johnny Acree]

Wasn't anyone encouraged that variable valve timing is still going to happen?