md21722,

I personally have NEVER not had MY marks line up. I am an oil change maniac, so this has not been a problem for me. In engines that don't get what many consider to be excessive oil changes, there is microscopic particulate that circulates in the oil and wears the chain pins, thus "stretching" the chain.

Even at 380,000 miles the 240D marks still perfectly aligned.

William,

If you are seeing this much stretch by visually aligning the marks, then it is indeed stretched. The textbook procedure is using a dial indicator on one of the number one valves and turning until the valve is at a specific lift, then reading the damper. When it gets to 8 by such method, it's time for a chain or an offset key.

Hope this helps,

Larry,

I don't get any timing chain stretch on mine either. Whatever's there is there when I bought the car. How can you can say its not accurate to line up the marks? Have you experienced this inaccuracy on others cars? Do you use a dial indicator to set wheel bearings?

Brian

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Brian Toscano

The marks are there to get the right teeth when assembling the engine, but as far as I'm concerned are close enough that if they are aligned it's close enough that you don't have to worry about it.

I have never used a dial indicator on wheel bearings, but I've been packing and adjusting wheel bearings for forty years, so I think I have the FEEL for it. If freshly packed, I torque the heck out of the nut to squeeze out the grease then back off and lightly snug the nut while turning the drum/rotor and lock.

This method works for me as I've never had slack at the time of packing and I've never lost a set of wheel bearings.

Have a great day,