Mark: Hi, it's Mark Bossert. I'm here with Bernie Pawlik, Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver. Vancouver's best auto service experience. 25 times voted by their customers as the best place to get your car repaired in Vancouver. We're talking cars. How are you doing Bernie?
Bernie: Doing very well.
Mark: Today's victim is a 2014 Honda CRV that had a warning light for a timing chain issue. What was going on with this vehicle?
Bernie: Yeah, so a couple things. The owner had complained there's a rattling noise in the engine on startup and the check engine light was on. She actually had another mechanic shop look at it and they figured maybe it might need a timing chain. It was beyond the scope of the work they wanted to do. The owner brought it to us for a second opinion and this is the kind of work we do.
Mark: So 2014, what kind of mileage did this vehicle have?
Bernie: 208,000 kilometres. So it's up there, you know, it's certainly not the end of the life for this engine, but you know, it's got a bit of use and time on it.
Mark: So what was your diagnosis?
Bernie: So there was a code for a cam crankshaft correlation code. And what that usually means, there's a sensor for the camshafts and there's a sensor on the crankshaft. And if those sensors aren't correlating, like the computer thinks they should, it sets off the check engine light. Cause it's reading that those two moving items are out of position in what they're supposed to be.
And there's a few things that can cause that. It could be a stretched or worn timing chain. It can also be a variable valve timing gear. The intake cam is variable valve timing. So there's a solenoid that actuates that. We tested that, found that was operating properly. And without taking everything apart, we determined the timing chain itself was definitely faulty. Either it skipped a tooth or something, you know, badly stretched and need to be replaced.
Mark: So there's our vehicle.
Bernie: There's our vehicle.
Mark: There's the engine compartment.
Bernie: There's the engine. Yep. So underneath the centre there, you can see the valve cover in the middle. That's where sort of the action happens. Plus on the left side, when we're looking at, it's actually the right side of the engine one year. In the car, but on our left of the picture. Down there, that's where the timing chain is all located. And so that's kind of where all the work took place on this car.
There's a view of the valve cover removed and you can see the valve train, the intake cam shaft is closest to us. You can also see the timing chain on the left side of the picture. That's the intake cam. And then there's some guide rails that go around the timing chain that cover the top. And there's a bit of an orange piece poking out from the front left corner. And that is one of the guide rails.
Mark: So this looks pretty clean. Is this normal? Is this how you'd expect an engine to look?
Bernie: Yeah, this is a good sign of a well maintained, clean engine. You know, had we removed this cover and found oil sludge all over everything, we might have re evaluated whether we were going to do a timing chain replacement. But there was none present. So it indicates that the oil change maintenance was probably fairly regular and done at the right times.
Mark: Do you guys check the cam lobe wear while you got this apart?
Bernie: We definitely look at it. you know, have at least a quick glance. If the cams were badly worn, there'd be tapping noises in the engine. There would also be, you know, if it was severe enough, an engine misfire code, and there was nothing like that. So the noise is clearly, you know, a timing chain rattles, a pretty distinct noise, if you know what you're listening for. So, you know, that was clearly there when we started the engine.
And here's the verification. So at this point we lined the crankshaft pulley up. And the arrow, you can see it better on the cam gear on the left side, that's the exhaust cam. There's a line there that you're marking. Below it, and it's not so clear on this picture, but it is there. That's the gear on the intake cam. And if you can see, those two lines should be right across from each other and they're not. So the timing chain has definitely skipped at least one tooth. One of those gears is off by one tooth.
So that's where our problem was, you know, clearly verified and found. We figured the timing chain was probably got some slack, maybe the tensioner was worn. Something happened, but the timing chain skipped a tooth. And good thing it's only one. Cause if it skips too many, it'll cause the pistons and valves to collide.
And then you're looking at a complete engine job. So important. If you have a rattly timing chain to address it and do it before the noises get severe. If you hear it happening, that's a good idea. Hey, better get it fixed. It's almost always cheaper.
Mark: And if it skipped two, three, four teeth and that it's just going to explode the engine basically?
Bernie: Yeah, I don't know how many it'll take, but you know, I don't want to speculate or try, but, it skips a few it could cause pistons and valves to collide. Sometimes it might even need a little more.
Mark: And this is just a check engine light. It's not blinking. It's not necessarily telling you how dangerous this situation is?
Bernie: No, like a blinking check engine light only happens when there's an engine misfire that could cause, I mean, the exact description is like a catalyst damaging engine misfire. So the engine's misfiring, it can dump too much raw fuel into the engine. Down the exhaust system that can cause the catalytic converters to be damaged pretty quickly. So that's why you need to fix that code in a hurry. But you know, if the lights on and there's a cam crank correlation code, this engine was obviously not running as well as it could have, although it seemed okay. It definitely ran better after being fixed, there's no doubt about it.
Mark: So when you change the timing chain like this, what other parts need to be looked after?
Bernie: Yeah, so we get a complete kit that's got gears, chains, tensioners the tensioner and all the guides. So all the components related to the timing chain are all replaced.
Mark: So basically all the pieces like this plastic looking piece here, and then these gears actually are changed as well?
Bernie: Those gears are changed too.
Mark: And the bottom ones.
Bernie: And the bottom and the bottom gear. Yeah. And the chain. Yeah. And if you look to the right of the chain, you can see there's a guide rail there as well. Oh, right here. This one. Yeah. Down, down a little lower. Yeah. Yeah. Right there. So I didn't actually take any photographs with the chain, you know, on the side of the engine off, but there's basically just, just goes down to the words of crankshaft and the tensioner sits down in that area.
Mark: So the message is, it's a big job.
Bernie: It's a big job. Yeah, it is. Yeah. It's a large amount of work.
Mark: Would there have been anything that the customer could have done to have stretched this out so it didn't happen at 208,000 kilometres? Maybe it would took to 300,000.
Bernie: I can't really think of anything because timing chains usually just wear on their own. I mean, of course, if you don't change the oil regularly you know, that can affect it. It might be that this didn't get oil changes as much as it should have. And just some engines are just not so prone to sledging up. And this might be one of them, but I would say, you know, change your oil regularly. That's the key thing. Sometimes it's just fate.
Mark: The fancier the engine, the more variable valve timing and extra pieces and more valves and all the rest of that, the more important it is to change your oil.
Bernie: It is absolutely. And you know, oil change intervals, we've talked about this many times, it's kind of a theme of our podcast. The oil change intervals are way longer than they used to be. Oils are way better quality. I mean, engine combustion is way less crap that goes into the crank case, you know, just for better fuel management.
There's a whole bunch of reasons why you don't have to change oil as much as you would have for 30 or 40 years ago. But nonetheless, the complexity of everything is much higher now. So you still really need to change the oil pretty frequently. Not every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometres, but you know, six to 8,000 Ks kind of thing, or maybe a little longer on a European car with a, you know, eight litre crankcase of oil, you can go longer. But it's important to do it and it'll save you money in the long run.
Mark: And so once everything's repaired, how did the vehicle run?
Bernie: Good. No more rattles, no more check engine light, ran good.
Mark: If you're looking for service for your Honda, your CRV or any Civic, Accord, whatever it is in Vancouver, the guys to see your Pawlik Automotive, you can book your appointment online at pawlikkautomotive.com. Or you can call them at (604) 327-7112 to book your appointment, you have to book ahead. Always busy, always fixing cars every week like clockwork. Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver. Thanks so much for watching and listening. Thanks, Bernie.
Bernie: Thanks, Mark. Thanks for watching.
