timing chain

Buy BOTH the Chilton's and Haynes manuals for your car, it will be the best $20 you can spend and will save you lots of time and grief. They are not always correct but if you have both you will be able to discover when one has a better way of doing a job.

Good luck, YMMV

Might ask why it needs changed considering its not a belt. Is it noisy? Does it have 250k miles on it? Has the oil not been changed every 3k?

WHile you might get 250K out of one, I would not want to try it. Chains do wear out and how long they last also depends on how you drive. If you maintain it well and drive conservatively you might get close to 200K but if you drive like the devils chasing you all the time it is closer to 100K or less. Given that went it breaks you are stranded, it is not wise to play it to the last mile. You can generally hear them slapping around on bit at time in a Saturn when they are past their service life.

----------------- The SnoMan

Well I heard the noise on the side so I watched the belts and gave it gas I had already replaced the belt tensioner and the belt they where bad but the noise is the chain and the guide rails are worn out. once you give it gas you can hear it making a snarling noise inside it has done this for a bit but is starting to get worse. The car does have 189k on it. Its in good condition besides for that. I have grown attached to it and want to have it for a while. I work for an oil change place so it gets regularl maintaince. I chage the oil every 3k and I use synthic oil. i am absoultly sure its the chain. just from the sound. just worried I'll blow it up. thanks for all your help. hopefully I come out ok from this lol.

Yep your chain is past due, do not delay much longer and if you can park it until you can fix it because when they get that loose, they get worse quickly.

----------------- The SnoMan

Before you tear the chain apart I suggest you do a leakdown and compression test to determine how well your valves are sealing. Does this engine burn oil? or more important does it smoke a little at startup? If you need to tear into the chain it may be a good time to rebuild the cylinder head. A valve job is not that expensive on a four cylinder / 8 valve.

Good luck, YMMV

Wasted effort if the engine is running well otherwise.

----------------- The SnoMan

There are reasons for Saturn timing chains wearing early (early being anything under 200k). As discussed over the years in here oil changes every 3k are a must but sometimes it isnt enough for earlier designs. Some timing chain problems for S-series Saturns are as follows

1 The tensioner isn't ratcheting out. Oil varnish/crud from lack of oil changes can cause these to stick. They ratchet out with oil pressure. Higher revs can only help keep these incrementing out as increased oil pressure will increase pressure on them. 2 The oil passage for the chain oiler on earlier s-series cars was small and was prone to blockage often from the lack of oil changes. 3 Poor lubrication (little or no oil flow for the chain) for pre 97 Saturns at idle. You may want to see TSB 97-T-15A and get GM's new timing chain kit part # 21008552 (21008553 for twincam owners) It contains about 9 parts. I say this was the wear factor in your case. Otherwise 3k Synthic oil changes should of never let that chain get like that with 12k per year mileage.

And as Private said you will need a book though probably a better alternative to Chilton is alldatadiy.com Only $24 bucks for the first car and unlike a book it stays upto date and will give you current TSB's. If its like the actual shop software I've used it should provide you with all the information you need.