This is one of the basic jobs you have to perform at one stage if you own a SAAB or even any ECOTEC engine equipped car. It could be due vibration complaints , noise or other reasons. Enjoy the video
I am very grateful for your video! Had a ticking sound from my Cadillac BLS at cold start. It turned out to be a totally broken balance-chain guide. Very helpful video that is easy to follow. Now my baby runs as new!
Thanks for this video. Watched it to fix an over-tight tensioner after replacing the water pump. I did things slightly differently to access some bolts and not cut the gasket but overall this is a very excellent video and near 1:1 with what i did. Thanks again
I couldn't get off the belt tensioner, because the screw is too long. Also, the bottom E18 screw is extremely hard to loose. I don't know how you can remove it so easy.
Flying Mech, when replacing my water pump, one of the bolts from the chain gear fell out of the magnetic socket and inside the engine so I had to take off the timing cover and decided to replace the balance chain tensioner and chain guide while I was at it. After I tightened the chain guide bolt and the 2 tensioner bolts to 7 ft lbs and released the pin, I put my hand on the chain guide and could feel a little bit of perpendicular play allowing it to float inwards towards the engine and away from it, not left to right where the tensioner takes the slack out of the chain. I thought maybe I didn't tighten all the bolts down all the way so I torqued them a second time and they were all at spec - 7ft lbs. I felt the play again - it was between an 1/8th to 3/16th of an inch of movement. Since I didn't have a frame of reference I thought maybe it was supposed to be that way so I put everything back together and the car's been running fine, but wanted to know if you experienced the same amount play in your chain guide. It looks like you did at 10:05 - 10:07 in the video. That would give me some peace of mind. Thank you.
D P thats totally normal, to allow the guide to rotate around the bolt, the bolt actually holds the metal bushing not the guide itself, and the guide rotates around the bushing with some minor in/out tolerance . Im glad my video helped ..
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY You made it look really easy. That job took me several days. My new water pump is leaking into the timing cover so I have to do that job all over again and it's nice to know if I drop another bolt in the engine I can remove the bracket along the top of the timing cover for more room. The WIS was silent on that. Also, I noticed you marked where your engine mount was in relation to the bracket. I didn't do that out of ignorance. I moved my engine in every direction to get all the bolts out of the timing cover and then tightened everything up after I was done. Any idea if that could cause a problem? If so, any idea what I can do next time I jack up the car to correct it? Thank you.
D P well, its too late now, u probably noticed the bracket for the engine mount has bigger holes than the bolts, so there is room to move the engine around, saab uses engine centering tool but ive never seen it, thats why i mark and reinstall the mount at the exact same location, my guess is if noticed vibration or excessive torque steer that mean the powertrain sitting in an odd angle .. thats all
Can you tell me how to lign up the timing sprocket to put on the balance chain? My chain came off and I saw that the small sprockets have to be at 6 and 12 but what about the timing sprocket?
Just working on mine today and have it all apart. It's all timed up with the camshafts locked into place with the proper tools etc and No. 1 piston is at the top however my balance chain exhaust sprockets aren't at 6/12 O'clock (more like 9 O'clock). When putting a new chain on should these be left in their current position or adjusted to 6 & 12 positions ? (I assume to these points are to match up to the coloured markers on the new chain ?) Mine is a 2008 B207R engine. Thanks for your advice in advance
Im sorry i just noticed your comment, youtube is skipping notifications to me. If you are installing new chain, colored links will match up to the arrows which will put them @ 6 & 12, if you r not changing the chain, they absolutely must be @ 6 & 12 when the engine in its timing mark, to do so, remove the tensioner and the left and right guides to have enough slack in the chain so u can rotate the shafts and align them.
Just finished replacing the tensioner and the guide the tensioner pushes on. I'm scared and excited to start her up, I had the chain completely off the pump so I did my best to set the timing right, 6 and 12 but I wonder if I'm off by a link on either side will it still work? Great video either way. Could not have even tried without it.
Need help so I did the water pump and accidentally moved the sprocket causing the it to move a couple teeth so it doesn’t really line up with the tensioner how should I go about this
208K on a 2009 2.0T SportCombi 6sp. I think I have at least a balance chain issue as I have an engine vibration that started recently as I pass through 2500rpm and also upon decel around the same rpm. Does that sound like the balance chain tensioner broken? Also I saw your comment about "is the rattle on start up"? Once about a year ago upon start up, I had a horrendous clatter/rattle that sounded valve like but honestly thought my engine was totally shot. However, it smoothed out in about 10 seconds even thought it sounded like it was an eternity. Subsequent to that, I have asingle "clank" upon startup only for an instant then it goes away almost instantly. Might that be the top timing chain guide broken plastic piece? I'm thinking that I might have both timing and balance chain issues. Thoughts?
Hey there, if I suspect that my balance chain tensioner has gone bad or that the guide for that tensioner has broke, should I consider replacing the entire balance chain itself? I believe it has ran on a broken guide/tensioner for about 900 km now. Also, when you turn the engine, can you do it with the serpentine belt in place? Thanks!
900km usually will not cause any significant damage, however it is better to check visually for any damage on the chain or the sprockets. U car rotate the engine with the belt in place, although it is going to be harder on u
So when you replaced the small gasket, you check those two wheels 6 oclock and 12 oclock and then at 4:32 you place this big wheel at the marking and it's good to go?
This is only to check if you have correct balance chain position, if u suspect previous repair by a non-qualified mechanic that could've mis-aligned the chain, or if u have vibrations from the engine .
Hello, so you didn't replace the crank pulley bolt and all is fine? i'm about to do the same job and is a very hard to find part. I'm thinking using the old one. Thanks for the video by the way, very well explained
Saab did not leave any mark for that purpose, there is a mark at the balance chain crank sprocket that usually points toward 6 oclock when engine is timed, but this is just a coincidence and it will not be accurate if it was used for timing .
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY ok. I had the camshafts out of the head and I took the timing cover off to replace the timing chain guides and forgot to put the timing chain tensioner in the head and tried to turn the engine over 2 revolutions and I think the timing chain jumped so now I think I need to make sure the crank sprocket is timed correctly.
Is it necessary to put balance shafts at timing marks if all youre doing is replacing a broken chain guide and the tensioner? Or can I just pop the timing cover off, remove the broken guide and tensioner, install new parts, and button up?
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY i really appreciate the quick reply. I dont think it jumped, it just makes the noise on startup in the morning but I've still been driving it putting it off because I thought it'd be more a time consuming job.
I'm going to change my timing chain guide on the top of the engine right under valve cover. If this doesn't fix the rattle than it's probably timing guides underneath ???
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY im a year late but hopeful, i have a tick on start up that goes away. already bought a complete kit to do the whole timing chain but now thinking i should just do tensioner and guides?
Ed Wilson thats what i do usually, in few cases upon inspection u might find some damage to the chain and the sprockets, this is where u want to change everything
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY So I finally got around to pulling the cover and fishing out the bolt and my exhaust/intake balance marks aren’t at 6/12 they’re at around 7/3. How do I fix it? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you
@@chrisdavies3686 with the crankshaft pulley 100% on the timing mark, remove the balance chain tensioner and guide, then u have enough slack in the chain to rotate the balance shafts to the correct 6/12 position , if there is no enough slack to do so then remove one of the other balance guides and that should do it
If u decide to take it out and then reinstalling, it is a MUST to reset it. If u r putting a new one, it comes in the reset position. They last anywhere between 100-150k
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY Hey thanks. Last question if you have the time. Did you have to remove the sub frame? if so do you happen to know the socket size for those bolts?Is it really needed to replace those bolts? Thanks! Happy Saabin
I hope I don't break my car when I do this. I think my timing cover gasket is leaking. The serpentine belt is getting oil and spewing it all over the alternator and other parts.
my balance chain tensioner guide (against tensioner) is broken (common problem) and missing prolly in the oil pain. what do you recommend? i see folks have just added the new bal tensioner and guide and its fine.
Joeybabbs .BABBS if it went as a big chunk in the pan, that should be ok to leave it in the pan. If it went small pieces then as from a service point of view i would drop the pan, although i offered few people (due budget) just to do an oil & filter change (inspect ur filter for deposits) if the filter is full of deposits i would again recommend dropping the pan
So I replace the balance tensioner against the guide I replace the black plastic timing chain guide I replace the plastic on top of the timing chain chain tensioner guide I replace the timing chain tensioner I replace the balance chain tensioner basically it's out of time because of course Saab has no timing marks on the cam sprockets so I put them both up and in. Meaning number one cam lobes with crank top dead center but it doesn't like that, rough idle, so I'm about to purchase the specific cam tool alignment for that engine. Do u have any other ideas 4 ways to set this correctly without the cam tool or without pulling the timing cover back off?
Joeybabbs .BABBS did u activate the timing chain tensioner ?? I tell u the truth there is no way around it, i do my own marks when taking everything off and put them back the same way, make sure the tension is in the front part pf the chain, then activate the tensioner. Saab has used 4 different tools, 2 for the -2007 cars one for the B207R and one for the other B207, and then 2 for the 2007+ one for the B207R and one for the other B207. So make sure which tool u r using. If u r located in USA, u can rent the tool for cheap
Yes I activated it with the slap of a hammer on the chain with soft tip (taped end) punch. I should have marked it but I assumed they had marks on the cam sprockets. I think I'm gonna buy the tool tomorro. Yes I'll get the specific one. Do u know how exactly it works? It looks like it just locks the cams down but how do u know where to lock themy down in what position. I assume u u would set the crank at TDC. Then take out the tensioner and thus allow the cam shafts to move to be locked in the correct position? Without breaking the cam bolt loose
Joeybabbs .BABBS that should work if u r one tooth off, otherwise u have to set the crank at timing position, remove the tensioner, sprockets and chain , install the tool, and then reassemble, make sure the chain slack is in the tensioner side, and dont forget to reset the tensioner
Hey i have a saab 93 1.8 turbo from 2005 with 250k km on it. Now when cold its rattling like crasy and specially when over 1800ish rpm its rattles alot but when hot it goes away. I removed valve cover and timing chain seems loose. I read that chainging the tensioner and top chain guide possibly fix. Would this be worth trying?
U need to open the timing cover and inspect for damaged components, no way around it. If nothing visually damaged, then replace both tensioners and the noise might go away, but keep in mind the chains might be stretched .
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY yeah I have taken valve cover of and top guide os not good. But the rhe only place the chain seems loose is after the gear in the top front the oppisite side of the tensioner. So guess the chain is stretched
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY u Are right good sir! Got my way to the chains today and rhe front chain guide kind of exploded when I barely touched it. So will Settle with changing all the guides and tensioner
I have one more question. 😅 I decided to change both chains and all cause I had to but the whole set to get the guide that was destroyed. How do I make sure that the timing is set right before taking chains of? Every video shows a mark on the cam sprockets set on 10 and 2. But mine doesent show anything on cam sprockets? Is it possible without special tools?
Joeybabbs .BABBS ofcourse, this video is just a demo, u can replace the tensioner, guides, and i usually don’t use any sealant if the condition of the gasket is good otherwise i just replace it
How did you get on doing this Joeybabbs? I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it myself due to the ridiculous amount a garage wants ! Superbly detailed video. Much appreciated Flying MechanicDIY
It's a pain for first time doing it, but I'm replacing all the typical bad parts. The timing guide black piece was about to break. So I replaced that and timing guide tensioner etc. I don't see any alignment Marks on the cam sprockets so it has to come all back apart. If u are unsure always turn engine by hand carefully first and check compression before firing up.
You said at 4:37 - "Rotate the engine counterclockwise..." First, it is NOT recommended to rotate (turn) the engine against the direction of rotation , meaning counterclockwise. Secondly, You said "counterclockwise" , but You rotate clockwise, hmm, which that way it is correct way.
@@TheFlyingMechanicDIY - I do appreciate , yes it was just typographical mistake. You gote my respect because You have a good hands and good working brain in Your head . For such People we used to say "hat down" .
So unnecessary to cut the gasket and bend the metal like that. I disassembled mine without having to do any of that. Took a bit of jíggling back and forth to get the last bolt to the engine mount out but it's certainly possible.
