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V6 timing chain replacement- how bad is this?

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Mike Dobbs

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi everyone. I've traveled over 230K miles with my beloved 2007 Rav4 Limited, and yesterday the timing chain snapped (or jumped the sprocket) when I started her up in the driveway.

How bad is this? My mechanic said he wouldn't even want to do the job. I can't find any tutorials on YouTube about it, although I found enough to suggest that I needed to drop the engine to complete the job.

I'm reasonably handy, have done cylinder head replacements in the past (on other vehicles) and other engine work, so I'm not afraid of mechanical work. I have time to tackle a repair, but I don't know if I'm up for dropping the engine in the driveway.

Has the time finally come, or is this possible to do in a driveway? Any and all help and suggestions appreciated- especially if you're already done this job yourself.
 
#4 ·
It's time. The tools and your time involved in dropping the engine are costly. Also, a broken timing chain means some of your engine internals could be damaged as a result of that. Furthermore, imagine doing that much work on a 230,000 mileage vehicle. A lot of the bolts will be severely rusted or stuck, especially if they salt the roads where you live. You'll probably strip or break a couple bolts. It's gonna take a lot of your time and energy.

This is also a good opportunity. Used car prices are dropping and are gonna continue dropping. Shop around and pick another car. I've been eyeing a 4runner myself.
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
axv said:
It's time. The tools and your time involved in dropping the engine are costly. Also, a broken timing chain means some of your engine internals could be damaged as a result of that. Furthermore, imagine doing that much work on a 230,000 mileage vehicle. A lot of the bolts will be severely rusted or stuck, especially if they salt the roads where you live. You'll probably strip or break a couple bolts. It's gonna take a lot of your time and energy.

This is also a good opportunity. Used car prices are dropping and are gonna continue dropping. Shop around and pick another car. I've been eyeing a 4runner myself.
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Yes, I agree, and am slowly coming to terms with it. I was just thinking about all those rusted and seized bolts before too... It's been a hell of a ride though. In all those miles she never once left me stranded (until yesterday). Probably the best vehicle I'll ever own.
 
#6 ·
This is a job I'd probably tackle but I'd figure on the patient being in one bay of my hospital for a month with recovery in doubt the whole time.
My first procedure would be removing the valve covers and checking the valve clearances. If any are excessive I'd probably look for a new engine rather than get into replacing bent valves.
 
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Discussion starter · #7 ·
Dr. Dyno said:
This is a job I'd probably tackle but I'd figure on the patient being in one bay of my hospital for a month with recovery in doubt the whole time.
My first procedure would be removing the valve covers and checking the valve clearances. If any are excessive I'd probably look for a new engine rather than get into replacing bent valves.
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That's a good point. Would there be potential for bent valves even though this is a non-interference engine?
 
#8 ·
Mike Dobbs said:
That's a good point. Would there be potential for bent valves even though this is a non-interference engine?
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Has that been established for sure?
 
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#10 ·
Searched some years ago for info about the RAV4 V6 engine being non-interference but the result was mixed. Seems that non-interference engines were with timing belt driven camshafts on the older Toyota 4 cyl. engines as timing belts could fail much more readily than chains.
 
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Discussion starter · #11 ·
Blogson said:
Searched some years ago for info about the RAV4 V6 engine being non-interference but the result was mixed. Seems that non-interference engines were with timing belt driven camshafts on the older Toyota 4 cyl. engines as timing belts could fail much more readily than chains.
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Yeah that makes sense actually. I imagine you could squeeze a little more performance out of an interference engine since you could run a higher compression ratio.
 
#12 ·
Seems to me we had another member mention a broken timing chain but I can't place it and don't recall if it was an I4 or V6. Not much help I guess!
 
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#14 ·
I just checked and found one thread where the timing chain was damaged but it was due to a broken baffle caused by a funnel poking in too far when pouring oil. The cost was $2900 in 2013 for his V6.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
DL175 said:
I just checked and found one thread where the timing chain was damaged but it was due to a broken baffle caused by a funnel poking in too far when pouring oil. The cost was $2900 in 2013 for his V6.
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What? That's crazy! Who would have thought an oil change could cause serious engine damage. I mean, not getting an oil change sure, but that's a new one for me!
 
#16 ·
Mike Dobbs said:
Hi everyone. I've traveled over 230K miles with my beloved 2007 Rav4 Limited, and yesterday the timing chain snapped (or jumped the sprocket) when I started her up in the driveway.

How bad is this? My mechanic said he wouldn't even want to do the job. I can't find any tutorials on YouTube about it, although I found enough to suggest that I needed to drop the engine to complete the job.

I'm reasonably handy, have done cylinder head replacements in the past (on other vehicles) and other engine work, so I'm not afraid of mechanical work. I have time to tackle a repair, but I don't know if I'm up for dropping the engine in the driveway.

Has the time finally come, or is this possible to do in a driveway? Any and all help and suggestions appreciated- especially if you're already done this job yourself.
Click to expand...
I am curious as to how you knew that the timing chain snapped? I replaced the timing chain on my V6 Prado, (pretty involved job) when I purchased it. It had been pretty neglected and the CEL was on. I am surprised that a timing chain would break without any warning. The Prado had done 266k and will easily do at least another 200k I would think. Apart from throwing a code, there was no noticeable symptoms.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
the baz said:
I am curious as to how you knew that the timing chain snapped? I replaced the timing chain on my V6 Prado, (pretty involved job) when I purchased it. It had been pretty neglected and the CEL was on. I am surprised that a timing chain would break without any warning. The Prado had done 266k and will easily do at least another 200k I would think. Apart from throwing a code, there was no noticeable symptoms.
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It's really just an educated guess at this point. Vehicle ran fine one day. Next day when I started it, it started, ran extremely rough for about 1/2 a second, then died. I turned the ignition to start again, and the engine cranked about twice as fast as normal, with no indication of starting. The increased crank rate means theres a much lower load on the starter, and I don't know what could cause that other than losing the timing chain. May have snapped, may have just come off the guide- but I'm pretty sure it's no longer spinning the cams.
 
#18 ·
Yep, the starter isn't having to work against any compression. I've heard it on engines with broken timing belts. Very distinctive sound, almost like you could drive down the road on the starter.
 
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