Are you supposed to change the timing chain as a required service in a Disco? If not, is it a good idea? Is there any way to tell if it is getting loose? If it does slip, is this an interference engine? My wife blew up the engine in her car when the chain slipped after the mechanic told her it was not required. I am now paranoid!

 

No the timing chain on a Rover does not ever need to be changed.
It will last the life of the engine.
Timing BELTS need to be changed every 60,000 miles.
Now if you already have the front off of your Rover engine and it has over 200k it might not hurt to change the timing set, but it is in no way required.
May I ask what your wifes other car was?

 

However we are dealing with V8's. The chains do stretch and wear causing larger gaps which further throw off timeing. If you are going to change the t-chain it would be a good idea to change the cam, cam bearings and lifter assembly. Also the crank gear and new cam gear. This will put the engine back into newer characteristics. A V8 engine with over 100,000 miles is always a candidate for a new Cam and timeing gear. It will only help the engine. Cam wear is a serious issue to performance in engines.

 

I respect your train of thought but I 100% disagree, if cams and lifters needed to be changed every 100k then it would be part of the recommended maintenance.
And we would not have engines with well over 200k on them with the original internals, such as one of my co-workers work vans, 360,000 miles on the all original engine, Ford 5.4l Triton.
And those are all 100% from day one hard miles too.
My Rover has 205k on it, still runs great, nice and smooth idle, my wifes Volvo, 200k, runs well, smooth idle.
My friends Suburban, 260k, runs great, idles well.
I do not see the need to waste money fixing something that is not broken or does not have a recommended change interval UNLESS it has a high known failure rate, such as a crank sensor on a DII.
Otherwise drive it and forget it.

 

But we are dealing with contact, moveable parts. My last 4.0L engine from my 97D1 showwed some considerable wear on the cam. Enough to make a difference in performance. Just like the old days when we had to go out and adjust out rockers constantly on big V8's. These are no different. The components wear down.

 

I agree that the components wear over time, but why spend the money and time to do half a engine rebuild on a perfectly good running engine?
It makes no sense financially or mechanically.
I might get prostate cancer, you know what Doc, go ahead and take it out now before I get sick.
Makes no sense.

 

Spike555,
It was a 2001 Saturn 4 cylinder. 160k. Not the finest car in the world, but it still came as a surprise. I thought even in cheaper cars engines went well beyond 200k. This vehicle was very well maintained. The good news is a used engine with 70k is $700 and the install is $550.

 

In many small cars the water pump is driven from the cam shaft, it goes and takes the timing belt with it.... point being that it is not always "lack of maintenance".

 

Oh yeah, those zero clearance engines some engineer thought was a good design (HuH). I understand the diehard theory of useing maintenance reminders as a reference. However even if an engine had only 5000 miles on it, a new cam would still be better. CAM's have a distinct fundamental about them. It is all timeing. Air intake & exhaust. My brother rebuilds his open wheeled modified engine routinely. At every rebuild wear appears differently. Wear occurs under various conditions and stress's placed on the engine. If he stayed with the same CAM and timeing system his engine would clearly be degraded. It is only in the repair time and cost that changeing out the Cam is undesireable at shorter intervals. I'm just stateing that if you change one timeing component, you should be changing them all. Changing just the T-chain will not actually help anything unless that chain is damaged. You need to think about all the components involved in timeing. Research Cam wear and fundamentals.

 

I agree with you completely, Rover engines, 215 Buick, are know for oil pump, timing chain and can wear issues and if you are going to keep one much over 180,000 miles these all need to be changed, especially if you require the most from your engine
Rover cams generate flat spots, the oil pump gear wears and cracks causing low oil pressure issues and once our chains get some wear/stretch on them, the time is never accurate or consistant effecting both power and MPG.