I was driving around and went to pass someone at about 1/4 throttle and all of a sudden the car just starts a constant backfire. Im almost 90% sure that the timing chain jumped...how big of a job is this and how should it cost to fix it? The car wont start and had to have it towed. thinking of probaby haveing F-Body Central in Maryland fix it for me, throwing on some exhaust and dyno tuning it all at the same time. Is there anything else i should be worried about as far as like...bent valves...etc. When the car quit it quit for good and it wouldnt even begin to start. I only tryed 2-3 times to start it. and the car was running so good at that time too...guess thats just how things work.

 

Cam swap!

 

Did it sound funny/make a different noise when trying to start it? The sound the starter makes.
I would almost count on bent valves but ya may be lucky and it didn't jump but 1 tooth.

It could be the opti also as mentioned below.

 

The Opti Might Have Gone Out!! See If It's Gettin Fire At The Coil If Not Start There. If Your Car Has Over 160,000 It's The Opti Or The Mass Air Flow Is Bad. The Car Will Not Run If Maf Is Out. Hope This Helps.

 

The car will run without the MAF, just not very well and it'll throw a code. Could very well be the opti and not the timing chain.

 

Well for one, i just changed my opti not 5000 miles ago, and my car only has 94k on it. When i tried to start it, it sounded normal except when it acted like it wanted to start and then just backfired and quit. i think i only jumped one tooth cuz it would kinda still run for lik 30 sec, running very crappy and backfiring on every stroke, but still running. Ive gotta talk to my bank today and see if i can get some money out to fix this as i dont have the money right now to get this done and this is my DD.

 

If you have to have it apart anyway, that would be a great upgrade

As for the timing chain replacement; unless you feel extremely confident,
I wouldn't do it in my driveway as a learning experience on my daily driver.

Water pump comes off (Excuse to install an EWP?)
Opti comes off
Timing cover comes off
Rotate crankshaft using timing marks. (here's where you see if/how far it really jumped)
Water pump driveshaft comes off (driveshaft assembly tool)
Crankshaft gear comes off (gear remover tool)

The chain probably has some play in it (they do tend to stretch over time)
Replacement sets are not to horribly expensive. Summitracing has em.
(MAKE SURE you get the one for your engine and car make/model)

I agree with 1racerdude, if it jumped (especially more than 1 tooth)
you probably have some valvetrain damage. If so, the head need to come
off as well.

I'm betting you are looking at dropped some cash on labor and parts.
Sorry man
On the bright side, it's a perfect excuse to upgrade heads/cam and install those headers.
Let us know what you find out; if it's just the opti, you may not be
in for quite as much pain.

 

i went to the bank and took out $6000 do do some upgrades and fix the problem hopefully that will be enough. im hoping to only have to spend $4000 cuz i have some other things that i need to do as well. Im gonna call Fbody Central on monday and see what they will quote me for a hotcam, headers and exhaust, timing chain and possibly new valves installed will cost.

 

If your gonna spend that much money, might as well buy a short block and le1 heads cam kit.

 

Agreed, hotcam is a waste of time, IMHO, but I don't wanna get into a debate about cams. Never replace, always upgrade. That's my motto.

 

well, while i agree with you, i also dont think i have they kind of money to dump on this right now. If i bent a valve is there a good possiblity of my heads being damaged? I hope not but you never know. I might just do a h/c swap and put the headers and exhaust on while im at it...then have it dyno tuned. the cam needs to be somewhat mild because, this car will eventually become my wifes car when the 09 comes out. is the LE1 mild enough?

 

Well as i think about it more and more, i really want to get the LE1 Package. if the idle is somewhat like the hotcam and it makes that much more power it has to be a good package. just want it to be drivable. Im gonna sell these POS heads that i have now. i didnt gain any power with them in fact my car dynoed lower than most stock motors. Thanks every one for your input.

 

Wow, so you didn't have money to spend, so you took out a $6000 loan to fix your car when it has not even been diagnosed (could still be the opti, don't care how new it is). Plus, you need it repaired quick because it is a DD, but you are now talking about major performance upgrades that won't be so quick. That's a big shotgun you are using!

 

Well heres the deal i have 3 cars right now. An 89 Caprice with 60000 miles on it that i was not driving, my wifes cougar and the camaro. i figured since this winter i was going to park it and pull the motor anyway i might as well just do it and get it over with now. Im obviously gonna have it diagnosed first before i go throwing parts at the car. Im gonna have it checked out by a local garage do see what is definitely wrong with it and once i find out what exactly is wrong with it, depending on the severity i will bring it to Fbody Central and do what i gotta do. If i bent my valves to the point where it damaged my heads then in comes the LE1. If i didnt bend them at all then im just gonna throw headers and exhaust on. So in reality i guess im just prepared for the worst. I took out the 6000 for more reasons than just the car, i have a couple other little things that i took out money for but in this case the Camaro takes presidence as we are about to sell my wifes cougar soon. I know it seems like im going from one side of the spectrum to the other but with my luck the heads will be damaged and i try to prepare myself for the worst....Im gonna make a point to check the opti before anything else, cuz i know how much of a pita they are, and it would defintely suck to tear the whole motor just to find that the opti is bad.