Thread: K-cars
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Old 05-10-2018, 10:15 AM
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maxhifi maxhifi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMan View Post
You might get lucky sometimes. I've been the own who's written off a lot of those cars. It's still a big expensive job, the head being at the machinist's is about $400 by itself, then all the R&R at a decent shop is another $600-$1000. So yeah, depends on the car's value.

Oh yes... much less relevant. Now more cars are using timing chains... riding on plastic guides that become brittle in the heat and oil of an engine by 100k miles and break and destroy the valves just like a broken timing belt. I've already dealt with several of those. In general, they're much more labor intensive. You're honestly better off with a rubber belt. You'll have to do the maintenance either way, and a belt is typically easier. I suppose the one advantage a chain design has is the absence of camshaft oil seals.

On occasion I've been able to do a chain job preventatively. It's hard to catch though, because it's not as easy as just peeking behind a plastic cover to look at the condition of a belt. :/ It's also not a 'recommended' maintenance, nor is it something the ordinary motorist (or indeed, mechanic) would even consider to be a maintenance item.

Any brands/engines specifically prone to failure? I've seen plenty last a lot longer than 100k, miles, but if that failure prone it sounds like gambling.

Sounds like a reasonable case for pushrods, that style of engine lasted great, no fancy cam drive system..
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