2.5 Iron Duke; Timing gears or timing chain?

Well, this is my problem...

My 2.5 is rattling badly, and it's coming from the timing cover. Also, until recently there was a metallic knocking coming from the cover.

Now the cover is leaking oil, though the knocking sound has stopped. Rattling continues. Also, the last couple times I drove it, whenever out on the highway it would do a sort of surging/lunging...thing while under a load/at higher speeds. You know, like when you have a bad plug wire and one or two of the cylinders is firing late/not at all. I figured that perhaps the teeth on the gears are worn badly enough that it might have actually...I don't know, jumped a couple teeth, changing the valve timing. Or something. At this point, I'm not driving the car.

I've assumed up to this point that the oil leak was caused by the timing gears wobbling and knocking against the cover, eventually doing it enough to wear a hole and spring an oil leak...but I've been told by the mechanic who's going to replace the gears for me that gears simply can't do that (or at least not these kind of gears), and that it sounds more like something a chain would do. Also, I just read elsewhere that this year ('90) they switched to timing chains instead of gears.

Soooo my question is...how can I tell, beyond a doubt, which I have without cracking the cover open---gear system or chain system? I've already purchased gears (%$#^% $140 for a couple of metal cogs), but I need to know very soon if I need to go ahead and order a chain instead, so that it's waiting for him once he goes to do the work...which will hopefully be next Wednesday.

If it IS a chain, can I go ahead and use the gears? They'd make the camshaft run backwards, eh?

Reply to
septfox
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Reply to
Shep

Reply to
Shep

One of the many sources I used earlier...and I've solved the mystery, it's almost definately a timing CHAIN rather than a GEARSET. Sorry for being a bother, next time I research before opening my mouth. Thanks for the pointer, though.

Reply to
Septy

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