Hi memebers,
do need you help on this one. Got cold the other day. Car started up and everything is fine. Bu twithin 5 minute, all of a sudden i lost oil presure. Nromally, it pegs at 3 bar. Then it slowly came down to 1 bar. Nurse the car home. then at night, try starting up, 0 bar register on the guage. Also the timing chain is noisy. Just got in the shop the other day. Up till now, guage is fine so what can be wrong? Thanks.

Mitchell Huang

Mitchell,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this doesn`t sound good. Has the chain and tensioner been replaced lately? Worse case is that the chain slapped around and broke a piece of rail off that was sucked up by the oil pump. ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$) Is the chain noisy on start ups or all the time? I caught mine in time and replaced all the potential problem pieces, but Benzmac had a 16v that did exactly what I previously described. The cheap solution is a bad sender or guage. Let us know.

Be sure to TOW this to the repair shop. I had this happen and it blew the engine up! The engine parts are not that expensive IF you don't run it without pressure!

On my car, the timing chain ate the lower rail PINS and caused the pins to drop into the pan. The oil pump then sucked them up past the screen and POWWWW!, the engine was gone.

Timing chain and tensioner replacement
 

Benzmac,

How hard is it to replace the timing chain tensioner on a 16V? My timing chain rattles when starting cold and needs to be replaced. I'd like to also replace the tensioner with the updated version, that holds the chain until oil pressure is built up. So, does the engine have to be removed to replace the tensioner, or does just the head have to be removed. I'm having the guides replaced and valves ground this winter anyway, so could the tensioner easily be replaced at the same time?

Thanks in advance!!

Daniel

Daniel,

Don`t wait to replace that tensioner. If it is rattling you need to address it IMMEDIATELY! I had the same situation, except someone drove mine for a while with a rattle before I acquired it. That little rattle ended up breaking the upper chain guide. Had a nice discussion with Benzmac who stated that if the upper rail is broken..so is the lower. Sure enough the lower rail was broken and two of the lower pins were cut in half. If you plan on doing the work yourself, GOOD LUCK. This is the worst car I have ever worked on BY FAR! In order to get to the lower guide most of the major pieces of the motor need to come off. Needless to say it was a nightmare. If you replace your tensioner NOW and avoid the broken rails you will save yourself much money and time. Replace it with the latest style ratchet tensioner and make sure you reset it and install it correctly. It is one big nut next to the alternator. Tinker