Is there anything in particular in an S2 head which can be a problem? It seems I read somwhere that there is something which can break and should be replaced on higher milage cars.
Thanks,
Alan

 

Yes, it's the cam chain tensioner. Only one of the two cams (can't remember which one... intake or exhaust) is driven by the belt, and the other cam is then driven by that one cam by chain between the two.

The chain is kept tensioned by a hydraulic device. If you remove the valve cover (this should be really easy, but I haven't done it myself) you'll see it...

From what I know, most of the time the breaking item is a small plastic pad, which sits on top of the tensioner device. The actual chain then runs on top of this pad. When the pad fails, it effectively jams the cams and you get the total destruction - ouch!

The pad should be quite cheap (<20$ from the dealer) while the entire tensioner unit is something like 200$. I believe many owners replace the entire unit...

I had a bookmark to a page with lots of pics on this subject, but for some reason I can't find it at the moment. I'll look some more, it really clears everything up..

edit: ahh, <a href="http://boerger.golden-tech.com/images/cam_chain_tensioner_replacement.htm" target="_blank">here it is</a> !

 

Yeah, btw it is the exhaust cam that is driven by the timing belt.

More important: The chain can stretch and start to chew the teeth off of your cam shafts. If it was my car I would replace the chain while replacing the tensioner.

 

Thanks Sami and Tabor!

Alan

 

How often do you think is a good idea to change this? I know my PO replaced it after it broke and took everything with it, but I was just wondering.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Tabor Kelly:
<strong>Yeah, btw it is the exhaust cam that is driven by the timing belt.

More important: The chain can stretch and start to chew the teeth off of your cam shafts. If it was my car I would replace the chain while replacing the tensioner.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">The chain is not required maintance, I would just replaced the tensioners

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Ethan:
<strong>How often do you think is a good idea to change this?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">I think it depends on how hard you drive you car, but I'd say 70-100K if the car doesn't see the track or autox, and 50K if it does. I did mine at 55K and the ramps were worn, but didn't seem brittle. Since it's easy to pull the cam cover and check the conditon, I'd make checking the condition part of any major service.

 

Tom, thanks for your reply. My car had new ones at 110k and now it has 115k on it, but it's still good to know. Thanks again. While I'm on I just want to say how much fun these cars are!! There is nothing I would rather drive for the money than it. I need to find a scanner to put up some pics of my old '44 and the new S2. Have a good weekend everybody.

 

Better safe than sorry with these sensitive heads. If you put off replacing the chain, pad and/or tensioner for too long, the chain will wear and stretch, which will also wear out the gears on the cam. Then, when you put a new chain on worn-out gears, that chain will quickly wear out.