3.2 timing chain noise

[David 84 911]

I am no expert but from my previous research and from what I can understand, you need to pull back on chain on the sprocket and on lower chain to gauge the amount of play. Can you move it up and down with your fingure? The teeth seem good. It may be your auto chain tensioner that is not applying enough pressure when running. They rarely but sometimes do fail.

[2.7RACER]

This is what a new unstretched timing chain looks like.
Your timing chains are all stretched out. Time to replace.
Carefully inspect the sprockets, they may need to be replaced as well.

[Zef]

As I can see, the piston's lever has more play than mine at the upper side of the housing...

[Patton]

Also, your tensioners are nearly fully extended, more on the right it appears.

[Zef]

Patton...Do I need to change the tensioners along with the chains...How to see if they are serviceables to continue theirs job...?

[sithot]

As noted you've run out of travel as the chains are stretched.

Master link swap not hard but make sure your cam(s) are "locked down" before you do the swap.

Upgraded Idler arms are nice if not already in place. Change all the ramps too. You're there, why not go all the way?

If you change out to new oil fed tensioner remember to "drown them". Place them in oil and pull the pin. This allows oil intake and they will be a much safer tensioner to start the car with. Yes, they are oil fed but they don't have much if any in them when new. You can compress them and re-fit the pin when the time comes to install in the car.

Plan on an afternoon (all) and take your time.

Good luck,

Tom

[Patton]

You basically test how easy they are to compress. They should be tight (relatively hard to compress). Read as many of the previous threads on this subject which will help you determine.

I reused both of mine when I replaced my chains after testing them. Also, remember gunter's advice.

[Gunter]

My take on it: The chains are stretched to a point where the tensioners are approaching max travel. The tensioners may be good; the resistance to compression will tell you; tie up the chains to maintain cam timing and use channel-lock pliers to compress. Stiff is normal, soft is no good.
Chain-stretch over a long time is normal; what is your mileage?
Along with chain-stretch comes sprocket-wear.
The cam sprockets, and idler sprockets, are "driven" and can be accessed, inspected and replaced with the engine in place. They usually can be re-used.
The chain sprockets are the "drivers" on the Intermediate Shaft and can only be replaced by splitting the case meaning: A complete rebuild.
That is the time when you find out what kind of P/C's you have which makes a big difference on how to proceed. Porsche used 2 types of P/C's without any sequence. It’s the luck of the draw!
If you have Mahle (Nikasil) within specs, good, just get new rings and you just saved about $3k.
But, if you find Kolbenschmidt (Alusil) re-ringing the pistons is almost impossible; very few people have taken a chance. Do a search on this!
The cost of new Mahle 95mm P/C's is almost the same as going to bolt-on 98mm P/C's to convert your 3.0 liter into a short-stroke 3.2. I have 2 engines now: One 3.0 with 95mm Mahle P/C's and a 3.2 SS with Mahle 98mm P/C's. Planning to swap soon.
Along with the larger P/C's, regrind your SC-cams to a 964-profile, install SSI's and now you added a respectable ~40 horses.
Some people take a chance and feed a new chain onto worn chain sprockets contrary to mechanical principles.
While rebuilding my 3.0, I was talked into doing that. What a costly mistake! What a disappointment when you have to tear down a freshly rebuild engine after 15K miles when you find the teeth from the chain sprockets on the bottom of the case. Sh$t!!

The decision is yours. Keep in mind that, when the chain is that stretched, along with sprocket-wear, it also means that the bearings on the I-shaft are worn meaning: the big Alu-gear on the I-shaft can be damaged because it's getting too close to the steel gear on the crank; not enough backlash!
(These 2 gears determine the 2:1 ratio between crank and cam)
I suspect that your engine has high mileage?
As you can see, a stretched chain means that the engine run for a long time, other components need to be changed, time for a rebuild.
Your tensioners may be alright, check how they compress according to the books. (I use large channel-locks)
Get a Bentley Repair Manual, and Wayne's book on engine rebuild, and then make an intelligent decision.
New chain on worn sprockets? Never again for me.

Hope this helps.

Let us know what you decide.

[Zef]

Thanks a lot for advice Gunter...the car\engine show a 92000 miles or 140000 km. I will give a look to the tensioner and the sprockets tonight.