I just pullled off my front cover...my findings

[d0n_3d]

Well I originally didn't want to take off the front cover because I figured my timing chain and gears were OK for another year or two until I get this whole motor totally rebuilt from top to bottom...but then people told me since I have basically everything else out of the compartment I might as well replace the chain anyways...so what the heck...

I pulled the front cover off (wasn't too bad actually...following the instructions on GNTTYPE.ORG) and to my surprise the timing chain and gears look BRAND SPANKING NEW even at 100k miles...the chain barely had any slack

well now the question is...which chain and gears? I don't want to spend 100 bucks on a set...like I said this is gonna last a couple years at the most until I get the motor rebuilt from top to bottom...I heard people say stay away from the Autozone brand...what about Advance?

http://www.partsamerica.com/SelectParts.asp?PartType=163&PTSet=A&SearchFor=Timing Chain

they have AE Clevite gears too...anybody use these??? or is the Autozone stuff OK?

one other thing...I accidently moved the cam a little bit when pulling the gear off...did I just mess up the timing? Do I need to get a cam sensor setting tool now??? I still have the motor at TDC #1 piston...

 

[turbofish]

autozone anything sucks! thier products thier service and thier store setup. Im a manager of a different parts store if you cant tell. If you have an Oreillys in your area go there otherwise the clevite stuff is a very good product.

 

[scottyb]

I bought a Melling set from a local parts warehouse. I would even dare keep the plastic original, or replace with plastic no matter how good it looks. I'm very happy with the sound from under my hood, or lack thereof since I did it.

 

[2QUIK6]

A stock steel replacement will do just fine, I did not notice any difference in noise with a steel gear, and no worries about getting brittle plastic teeth in the oil pickup or in worse places.

Hopefully you marked the positions the cam gear and cam sensor were in before removing anything.
If you had it a TDC, then the cam gear can only go on 1 way and just line the dots back up to TDC, make sure the cam dot is in the same orientation (top or bottom, 12:00 or 6:00 position) as the original before removing, crank should not have moved.

On the cam sensor, I just marked were the "window" was and the position of the screw holes for the plastic top. when putting it back together, I just stabbed the sensor in until the "window" was lined up with the mark..took a couple of stabs...then rotated the sensor until the screw holes matched up to the marks, then tightened it down. If you didn't mark it, I think there are some directions on how to do it with a volt/amp meter on gnttype.org, otherwise you might need to invest in a cam sensor setting device.

Oh, and be sure to replace the tensioner when using a stock replacement, do not use the tensioner with a double roller as it will chew it up...double roller not recommended with near stock lift cams and lighter valve springs.

Stock steel replacement should run you about $20-$30.