I am new to this forum. I recently purchased a 2003 Saturn Ion a few months ago. The week before Christmas the car started making a rattling noise. The mechanic finally got around to looking at it and found out that the timing chain guide bolt broke. When he took off the timing cover, there was metal shavings in the oil. He said that it was caused by the timing chain rubbing against the broken guide bolt. He said that the engine will eventually need to be replaced. For now we had him just fix what was broken and plan on driving it. My question is, how long could I possibly be able to drive it before the engine goes? The mechanic couldn't give me a defintiive answer and was wanting to hear from others what their thoughts are. Thanks.

 

There's really no good answer here. If the metal shavings ran through your oil pump and got to the rod and main bearings, I'd say you're running on borrowed time. Did you at least have him do an oil change while he was working on the car. If not, then your REALLY need to have one done. Have the mechanic inspect the oil for shavings in it. If they're miniscule, I wouldn't worry too much. If there's large pieces or chunks in them, I'd recommend dropping the oil pan and replacing the oil pump, NOT clean the screen and hope for the best. Then I'd want to do an engine flush and a fresh oil change. Maybe that will help you. You don't tell us if it's a four cylinder or a six, but that doesn't really matter. I'd do the same procedure for them both, if it was my car.

 

The mechanic said that the metal shavings were fine dust. He plans on flushing the engine a couple of times. I'm hopeful that I caught it early enough that it didn't do much damage to the engine and will be able to drive it for awhile.

 

Oil pump is in the timing cover on this engine, 2.2L was the only engine Ion came with, unless it was the RedLine. It's not too hard to dismantle, and the mechanic can check for extent of damage, if any, and can clean it up good. That, in addition to flushing the engine well, should give the engine some extra life.

 

How many miles on the car? I hope you had the mechanic put a chain and guide with tensioner kit in the engine. The water pump is driven by the small chain which usually lasts about 150k miles. The main chain can have problems anytime and is entirely based on oil change intervals. I have 275k on an original chain and guide set but I change my oil at regular intervals and use semi synthetic oil. The oil filter should have caught what little metal flake went through the engine. The lifters will complain first if metal flake went through the engine.

 

How many miles are on it right now?

 

Hope he did the chain. Do a couple oil/filter changes in the next 500-1000 miles and you'll probably be fine. Wouldn't hurt to swap the front cover/oil pump assembly. Dorman also makes a guide bolt fix. It's not very expensive.
I'd send it. Change your oil every 3k and you'll be fine.
chains usually last 125-150k. Yes, I've came across plenty of cars that lasted longer. my last ion was over 300k when I changed the original chain. Don't take a chance on oil changes if you want to get more out of it. It's not a cheap job.
Remember, oil is cheaper than engines.

I'm also an independent amsoil dealer if you want to switch to top quality synthetic oil to really keep the engine clean.
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Thanks for all the advice. It has 120k. I have a new problem now. When the timing guide bolt broke. The timing chain ripped a hole where the timing guide bolt screws into. The mechanic bought an insert to go into the hole, but the hole is larger in diameter than the insert. He is trying to figure out what to do. Any thoughts?

 

If it is the top bolt on the front guide Dorman makes a solution for that problem.

 

Andy posted the photo if it's the top bolt. I was to lazy to do such