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Originally Posted by 86560SEL
I am hoping that with this high mileage on my car, that they have been changed before, or they would have surely went by now? It is a 21 year old car and I am really not wanting to sink a lot of money into it. I was quoted $525 for the chain replacement and was told it would be "significantly more" to change the rails/guides, as it required even more tearing down of the engine.
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If I were not willing to sink a lot of time and/or money in a car, I'd replace the tensioner (only). It's only about $70-$80, and replacing it really only involves taking off the alternator (maybe), the water bottle (very easy), the valve cover (so you can see what you're doing), and the tensioner itself. Mechanical skill requirements are not very high, but like anything in this area, no mistakes are permissible. I prefilled mine with oil before installing - old MB manuals say to do this, newer ones don't. I couldn't help but notice my tensioner in a box marked THIS SIDE UP (shipped upside down, of course) in a bag full of oil, and the tensioner "piston" loose...
I think that a lot of these catastrophic problems START with the tensioner allowing the chain to slap, because the one-way valve gets old, and it drains back oil and loses tension quickly when the engine is stopped. That's why when this happens, it often happens when a car is started. I'd say that chain stretch would have to get really, really extreme before reaching the limits of what a good tensioner can compensate for.