Oh and yes the tensioner is set right now. I tapped it and its applying pressure to the guide

 

If its the oil pressure driven tensioner (new style) tapping it should do nothing as far as tension goes.

 

To release it.

Love your redline fyi.

 

My car is a 2008 cobalt ss and I have had a similar experience. My car was making weird noises from the front of the valvetrain where the timing chain is. It sounded like my timing chain was loose. At first I thought it was just the timing chain tensioner, so I bought a new one and when I went to replace it I noticed there was other damage. I took the engines front cover off and my timing chain guide was gone. If you were looking at the front of the engine then it would be the right side guide that was missing. The tensioner guide was fine. During all this my timing chain never slipped it stayed timed. The bolts that held the tensioner had sheared off flush with the engine. I bought a bolt extractor but didn’t even need to use it because I was lucky enough to be able to somehow take a fine nail punch and push and turn counterclockwise to get the screws out. The timing chain also rubbed on an oil nozzle and ate half the nozzle. I ended up replacing the timing chain guide, the two screws that hold it, the nozzle and the bolt that holds it. I also replaced my chain and tensioner. One thing you got to remember to do is if anything broke and is gone, it fell into your oil pan. This is not good it could possibly clog and or help clog your oil line in the future. I took mine off and all of the broken parts where in there. Some where even being sucked up onto the oil line and had it clogged pretty good already. I cleaned mine totally out and had to buy a sealant from GM for the oil pan. It came in a caulk tube and I used a caulk gun. After the fix there wasn’t any noises anymore, I have driven my car over 10,000 miles and it is still fine.

 

My car is a 2008 cobalt ss and I have had a similar experience. My car was making weird noises from the front of the valvetrain where the timing chain is. It sounded like my timing chain was loose. At first I thought it was just the timing chain tensioner, so I bought a new one and when I went to replace it I noticed there was other damage. I took the engines front cover off and my timing chain guide was gone. If you were looking at the front of the engine then it would be the right side guide that was missing. The tensioner guide was fine. During all this my timing chain never slipped it stayed timed. The bolts that held the tensioner had sheared off flush with the engine. I bought a bolt extractor but didn’t even need to use it because I was lucky enough to be able to somehow take a fine nail punch and push and turn counterclockwise to get the screws out. The timing chain also rubbed on an oil nozzle and ate half the nozzle. I ended up replacing the timing chain guide, the two screws that hold it, the nozzle and the bolt that holds it. I also replaced my chain and tensioner. One thing you got to remember to do is if anything broke and is gone, it fell into your oil pan. This is not good it could possibly clog and or help clog your oil line in the future. I took mine off and all of the broken parts where in there. Some where even being sucked up onto the oil line and had it clogged pretty good already. I cleaned mine totally out and had to buy a sealant from GM for the oil pan. It came in a caulk tube and I used a caulk gun. After the fix there wasn’t any noises anymore, I have driven my car over 10,000 miles and it is still fine.

 

to set the tensioner you have to push on it ounce it is installed. if you push on the tensioner guide with something rubber it should set it.

 

Thank ya sir

IIRC correctly I think I just pulled mine out by hand before I put it in Oops

 

I wouldnt change the acuators. I changed the solenoids and actuators and still have the cams parking wrong. Good thing to do is just put the tesioner in already extended. Especially when you have some miles on the chain. The timing will jump with ease as soon as you start to loosen the tensioner, one cam usually has alot of tension from the springs wanting to turn the cams over and causes the cam to rotate very easy with just a very slight removal of the tensioner. happens all the time.

 

So prepping it before I put it in was a good move then! lol

 

What valve springs do you have?

 

When I did my tensioner for a lnf cobalt it was a hydraulic tensioner that uses oil but it had a spring inside of the tensioner that pushes on the rod that pushes on the guide. When I bought mine it came ready to just screw inside the engine and then tap the guide chain. If I was to push the rod in and set it before I screwed mine in, I would never get it in because the rod would hit the timing chain guide. This is just from my experience. Also before you set the timing chain tensioner the rod will slide in and out of the tensioner, once set it won’t do this anymore it will be hard to push in. to reset it you will have to take it apart and reset it. There are special tools to do it but you don’t need them. I can’t really remember exactly what you do but it only takes 5 mins. You take the c clip out and the tensioner comes apart then just pull the spring back and it clicks into something.

 

I would say. John Powell recommends to just put it in as well. Already released.

I am on supertechs

 

Interested In a fix for this. I thought werks sold an upgraded tensioner...has anyone tried this? I went through three different chains this past summer...its getting old replacing these things. Bump.

 

sub'd

 

This is pretty discouraging considering I am about to be stepping up the game , it's paid off in a few months and I got this commission money finally.. Whats the deal with valve springs causing actuators to not work properly , is this on a certain type of tensioner , old chain , certain # of springs or brand, what seems to be the best approach to never having the problem in the first place.

 

Just out of curiosity, what did it sound like on start ups? And does it make that sound for only when you turn the ignition on? (Like 1-2 seconds)??

 

Also is this just with people with superchips valve springs installed?

 

Nope, Ford said he is on zzp's springs.

 

Mine happens while the car is running. Not just during startup.


Put the car back together tonight and everything was good. Let it idle for a minute and then I heard the chain start slapping again
.. now I am annoyed. Lash adjusters? Not sure what to look at next.

 

Ya know, I think I figured out your problem...

...Your car is telling you it wants the built motor now instead of later.

Kidding aside, out of curiosity, has your car thrown any codes? I don't know why a lash adjuster being off would cause chain slap so I doubt its that unless the noise you're hearing ISN'T chain slap and is valvetrain related or I'm misunderstanding what lash adjusters do (which is possible ).

Can you point a camera at the motor while its doing it? I'd like to hear it.

 

It didn't throw a code this time but before it threw a code for the exhaust cam position.

I ca possibly get a vid but I already started taking it apart again. I can easily take a video cranking it by hand to show you with the cover off though.

 

Oh and frog... I would love to just move on to the built motor but I want to ensure I fix this issue before I risk destroying a new build with the same problem.

 

Thanks for the reply an In for vid of what it sounds like.

 

The startup sound has been found to be a common issue with the Phaser solenoids(the two sticking out of the head) going bad. To answer your questions, when my chain guide broke, as blk_lnf_cobalt stated, the sound was constant. You could hear the chain rubbing and grinding on stuff.

Correct. Like you stated, anyone with stiffer springs can have this issue. I did what you said, once, and installed the tensioner already extended....and my issues continued.

Well, same thing happened to me man. The damage was done on the head and like you stated, the lash adjusters where the culprit after all this. Remember what I said about the head being f'd up? Well, thats what I meant. I cought the issue of the springs, actuators and solenoids needing to be replaced too late and by then the lash adjusters had been smashed by the cams turning so aggressively cause of the springs. Im pretty sure I tapped a piston but Im on Wisecos and you can barely see a mark on one where it happened. Like I said, I opted for a new stock head and be done with it.

Are you sure the CAM Actuators are ok? Did you try to wiggle them back and forth while on the cam without the chain on? Thats how I was able to determine mine were bad. Its not a case of the Actuator itself going bad, its the little dowel that fits into the CAM key where the issue lies. When timing skips and this whole chain thing happens coupled with the stiffer valve springs it can cause this:





And this is what my lash adjusters looked like when it was all said and done:



This was my cascading failure. Not necessarily your issue. I dont know if maybe those lash adjusters had been like that since after I first put the supertechs in and helped cause all my later issues or if this was a result of the later issues and that they happened about four times before I tore the head off to look at it.

Everytime I had a problem I fixed only one thing but then something else would happen. Chain guide broke so I replaced it. Then it happened again so I replaced it but also looked at other causes, thats when I found the actuator dowels all messed up so I replaced them. Then, it happened again so I replaced the chain(thinking slack), the guides, the actuators and solenoids yet again.

Then the last time it happened I said f**k it, Im done with this ****, I tore the head off and discovered the lash adjusters. By then I had tapped a valve somewhere along the way so I replaced the head with a brand new stock one with valvetrain, all new, bought new actuators and solenoids and all new bolts. Everytime I did this it would buy me about a month or so before it would break again so you can imagine my frustration almost all last year. Oh and not to mention that I had to drop the pan everytime to clean out the debris....

In any case, I wish you luck sir!

 

I truly appreciate your responses cubaniche. I am thinking this is where i am heading tonight when i tear it down. When i got home from my weekend job last night i was just too demoralized to tear it down the night after i just put it back together. Even though it takes me less than an hour to tear it down. Ripping the head off might take a bit longer but im thinking that's where i am at now.

As for the actuators, i remembered what you had stated about your dowels prior and was sure to check mine out. They look solid and feel perfect.

I worry i actually hit PTV the other night as well. Normally i just hear the chain slap but it started running like **** as well when it slapped this time. I hold out hope that was because i started the car after like 2 weeks on E85 in 25* weather though.

Like i said, i really do appreciate your feedback as it seems we are the few to have this issue so far. To think i was really just hoping to be done with that damn tensioner and drive off lol.

On the plus side, lash adjusters were cheap from what i saw. Although if the head comes off... guess i can start looking at girdling the block and putting those rods/pistons in.