Re: Consider buying American!

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
> In article <X9udnYwD-qy6jyranZ2dnUVZ_qGknZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>    jim beam <spamvortex@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
>>> In article <qsKdnUNTyPGnkSranZ2dnUVZ_jOdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>>>    jim beam <spamvortex@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>>> There's at least one Vauxhall (GM) available in the UK where the
>>>>> engine has to come out to change the belt. If this is the case it
>>>>> would be little more overall cost to change a chain. And in practice
>>>>> less since it would have a greatly longer life.
>>>>>
>>>> how much longer is "greatly longer"?  put numbers to it. 
>>> On average over 4 times longer than a belt. Some may never need
>>> changing throughout the service life of the engine.
> 
>> 1. it's more like 1.5 times.
> 
>  Don't be silly.

because you don't know or care about chain stretch doesn't mean it's not 
happening.  chains stretch enough to be out of spec in about this 
mileage span.


> The newsgroups are full of cars breaking cam belts - but
> how often do you hear of a chain going?

belts "go" when they're too old and have been used too long.  chains 
usually wear out to the extent that they wreck the rest of the timing 
gear and turn the engine into a sluggish polluter.

> There may well be some belts with
> a service interval of 100,000 miles but they're not the norm. 

i'm a honda guy.  honda belts are 105k miles.


> 
>> 2. "service life of the engine" is the whole point of going back to 
>> chains - "uneconomic to repair" means new car.
> 
> It's no big deal to change the chain(s) on many engines - easier than
> belts on some.

cite examples.


> 
>>  belts keep an engine going as long as it'll run.
> 
> And when they break the engine is scrap?

"when" is a big assumption - an assumption that you can't read the 
owners manual and be bothered to look at mileage.


> 
>>  chains, especially long run chains on 
>> overhead cams, turn the engine into an inefficient, polluting p.o.s.
> 
> Now you are being silly.

no, it's fact.  as you'd know if you had experience in this stuff.


> 
> 
>>>> and define the degree of wear considered "acceptable".
>>> If it's quiet with the engine hot?
>>>
> 
>> ridiculous.
> 
> Have you ever worked on an engine?

"ridiculous" is asking a question like that after trying to argue that 
chain stretch letting cam timing drift doesn't matter because you can't 
hear it.