Mazda 6 Timing Chain

clintondaly · 23-07-2012 12:56PM #1

Hi

A friend of mine bought a 2004 Mazda 6
There are 159,000 miles on the clock and i am presuming its a timing chain installed,given the amount of mileage does it need to be changed.

Rgds

Clinton

Leonard Hofstadter · 23-07-2012 01:10PM

Timing chains are designed to last the lifetime of the car, so unless it's rattling, no need to worry about it:)! 159,000 miles is nothing on a Mazda 6 petrol anyway - it should be good for another 100,000 miles if it's serviced properly at the specified intervals.

geneyuss · 23-07-2012 01:21PM

Depending on the engine i would assume its a timing "belt" that would be in a car like that, either ways its best to change it ( the belt or chain)

if he doesn't know when its due, it could be very expensive if he ignores it, more than what the car is worth imo, if its a chain, at 159k, its due one

all i do know though is that the 2.3 Mazda 6 has a chain,

Greyfoot · 23-07-2012 07:37PM

clintondaly wrote: »

Hi

A friend of mine bought a 2004 Mazda 6
There are 159,000 miles on the clock and i am presuming its a timing chain installed,given the amount of mileage does it need to be changed.

Rgds

Clinton

What engine? Petrol ones have chains, diesel ones have belts. If its chain then leave it be, no need to change unless gets extremely noisy as someone posted earlier.

Nissan doctor · 23-07-2012 09:19PM

geneyuss wrote: »

Depending on the engine i would assume its a timing "belt" that would be in a car like that, either ways its best to change it ( the belt or chain)

if he doesn't know when its due, it could be very expensive if he ignores it, more than what the car is worth imo, if its a chain, at 159k, its due one

all i do know though is that the 2.3 Mazda 6 has a chain,

Chains don't have service/change intervals. They only ever need to be changed if they give trouble(usually low oil/poor servicing or faulty manufacturing in the case of many modern BMW's)

clintondaly · 23-07-2012 10:22PM

thanks for the advice i obviously left out a critical bit of info,its 1.8 petrol

one other question

there are 159,700 on the clock,it states a full service was done at 158,400 but the next oil change is due 161,400 is that not a bit odd?

geneyuss · 23-07-2012 10:56PM

clintondaly wrote: »

thanks for the advice i obviously left out a critical bit of info,its 1.8 petrol

one other question

there are 159,700 on the clock,it states a full service was done at 158,400 but the next oil change is due 161,400 is that not a bit odd?

not when the garages are charging E100+ a pop for doing something you could easily do yourself, of coarse they'll say come back every 3k miles, which you should do if you where driving a fairly new car, but i'd easily stretch that out to 5/6 k, especially a petrol car

Stheno · 23-07-2012 10:58PM

clintondaly wrote: »

thanks for the advice i obviously left out a critical bit of info,its 1.8 petrol

one other question

there are 159,700 on the clock,it states a full service was done at 158,400 but the next oil change is due 161,400 is that not a bit odd?

I don't want to sound short, but could you or your friend not read the manual with the car, and figure out if this is or is not the case?

Was the full service actually done?

geneyuss wrote: »

not when the garages are charging E100+ a pop for doing something you could easily do yourself, of coarse they'll say come back every 3k miles, which you should do if you where driving a fairly new car, but i'd easily stretch that out to 5/6 k, especially a petrol car

I'd not take the advice above without checking the manual.

geneyuss · 23-07-2012 11:04PM

Stheno wrote: »

I'd not take the advice above without checking the manual.

you'll not learn everything in books my friend, it will obviously depend on his driving, amongst other factors, but one does not simply change the oil every 3k miles just because the 6 year old (or whatever) manual says so, engine oil has come a long way since,

Stheno · 23-07-2012 11:09PM

geneyuss wrote: »

you'll not learn everything in books my friend, it will obviously depend on his driving, amongst other factors, but one does not simply change the oil every 3k miles just because the 6 year old (or whatever) manual says so, engine oil has come a long way since,

I did say to not only check the manual but to verify that a full oil change was done at the last service by checking that the full service was done.

IF that is the case and the service was done at a mechanics who perhaps forgot to reset the counters, then that could be an indication why the oil change is showing up for 3k miles later

Try not to chop off half of a reply when it's relevant, you've already posted erroneous information about chains on the thread.

geneyuss · 23-07-2012 11:24PM

Stheno wrote: »

I don't want to sound short, but could you or your friend not read the manual with the car, and figure out if this is or is not the case?

Was the full service actually done?

I'd not take the advice above without checking the manual.

Stheno wrote: »

Try not to chop off half of a reply when it's relevant, you've already posted erroneous information about chains on the thread.

i'll chop and reply to whatever i feel like thanks

as for erroneous information--oh i did, did i,,,,was that where i said he should change it if he doesnt know? if so how was i in error?

anybody with an ounce of intelligence that bought an eight year old Mazda with 160k on the clock would change it, belt or chain (if they dont know the history)... its just common sense, you have already contradicted yourself by stating he should refer to the service book, while the same sentence saying the mechanic may have "forgot" to reset counters,,,

People seem to forget, a full service in most main dealers is only an oil & filter change with a top up of other fluids, not exactly a full inspection.

Stheno · 23-07-2012 11:33PM

geneyuss wrote: »

as for erroneous information--oh i did, did i,,,,was that where i said he should change it if he doesnt know? if so how was i in error?

anybody with an ounce of intelligence that bought an eight year old Mazda with 160k on the clock would change it, belt or chain (if they dont know the history)... its just common sense, you have already contradicted yourself by stating he should refer to the service book, while the same sentence saying the mechanic may have "forgot" to reset counters,,,

People seem to forget, a full service in most main dealers is only an oil & filter change with a top up of other fluids, not exactly a full inspection.

We're talking about verifying a full service with a full oil change was done. If it was then the internal counters that track oil changes should have been reset.

I don't know where you are getting your full service done, but when I get mine done, I get the oil, gearbox oil changed, all the filters changed, I check my manual to see if I need to replace spark plugs or anything else depending on the interval, and I ask my mechanic to check brakes and any other issues that I've noticed in the weeks prior to the car going in for a service etc, bit more than an oil and filter change with a top up of other fluids. My next full service I expect to replace spark plugs, change oil and gearbox oil, check the brake pads and discs, change the thermostat, replace all the filters, and check a couple of sensors and if necessary replace them.

My OH is due a service on his car, the electrics on his doors need checking, the oil/gearbox oil need changing, his brakes need checking, his door check strap needs doing, and he needs a normal service for filters etc done.

All done by an indy mechanic who will not only do that, but will take the car out and give it a drive, and check out any issues he thinks might be there.

And the OP never said it was a main dealer that did the full service. And there is an element of personal responsibility when you own a car to take care of it and understand what that care involves.

And if you read back, it was clearly called out that chains don't have a service interval? Belts are an entirely different matter, anytime I buy a car, I budget in the cost of a belt replacement unless I can verify it's been replaced in the relevant time/mileage limit.

geneyuss · 23-07-2012 11:44PM

Stheno wrote: »

We're talking about verifying a full service with a full oil change was done. If it was then the internal counters that track oil changes should have been reset.

I don't know where you are getting your full service done, but when I get mine done, I get the oil, gearbox oil changed, all the filters changed, I check my manual to see if I need to replace spark plugs or anything else depending on the interval, and I ask my mechanic to check brakes and any other issues that I've noticed in the weeks prior to the car going in for a service etc, bit more than an oil and filter change with a top up of other fluids. My next full service I expect to replace spark plugs, change oil and gearbox oil, check the brake pads and discs, change the thermostat, replace all the filters, and check a couple of sensors and if necessary replace them.

My OH is due a service on his car, the electrics on his doors need checking, the oil/gearbox oil need changing, his brakes need checking, his door check strap needs doing, and he needs a normal service for filters etc done.

All done by an indy mechanic who will not only do that, but will take the car out and give it a drive, and check out any issues he thinks might be there.

And the OP never said it was a main dealer that did the full service. And there is an element of personal responsibility when you own a car to take care of it and understand what that care involves.

And if you read back, it was clearly called out that chains don't have a service interval? Belts are an entirely different matter, anytime I buy a car, I budget in the cost of a belt replacement unless I can verify it's been replaced in the relevant time/mileage limit.

I service my own,,, most garages will do a 35 point check or so,mostly pretty cosmetic stuff,,,check this , check that etc,,or whatever's requested .That's pretty standard,

but If i had just bought this car, i would probably replace the chain, especially if i was going to keep it for a couple of years, If it was a BMW, i certainly would, one doesn't wait for this non-existant "service interval" with those
if you read back, it clearly states that if the chain is not noisy don't change it, no offence to the OP or his friend, but i don't think they'd know what a noisy chain sounds like.
Sometimes the chain may not be noisy, ive seen many broken ones on perfectly good cars, another indication of a worn chain could be timing slipping out

Greyfoot · 24-07-2012 08:19AM

geneyuss wrote: »

anybody with an ounce of intelligence that bought an eight year old Mazda with 160k on the clock would change it, belt or chain (if they dont know the history).

As a future reference for the last time: TIMING CHAINS do not need to be changed unless advised otherwise due to excessive noise and/or tensioner failure!!!

OP, your car runs with a chain, so leave it be!!!

MugMugs · 24-07-2012 08:27AM

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Chains don't have service/change intervals. They only ever need to be changed if they give trouble(usually low oil/poor servicing or faulty manufacturing in the case of many modern BMW's)

Trusted, well known and respected Mechanic.

geneyuss wrote: »

anybody with an ounce of intelligence that bought an eight year old Mazda with 160k on the clock would change it, belt or chain (if they dont know the history)... its just common sense,

A recently registered somebody with an attitude arguing with an always civil regular.

I know who I'd run with OP

Nonoperational · 24-07-2012 10:17AM

geneyuss wrote: »

i'll chop and reply to whatever i feel like thanks

as for erroneous information--oh i did, did i,,,,was that where i said he should change it if he doesnt know? if so how was i in error?

anybody with an ounce of intelligence that bought an eight year old Mazda with 160k on the clock would change it, belt or chain (if they dont know the history)... its just common sense, you have already contradicted yourself by stating he should refer to the service book, while the same sentence saying the mechanic may have "forgot" to reset counters,,,

People seem to forget, a full service in most main dealers is only an oil & filter change with a top up of other fluids, not exactly a full inspection.

Completely disagree really. For what you'd pay for an 8 year old Mazda 6, changing a quiet chain is complete overkill. And to be fair "full services" at main dealers are not oil and filter changes. They include quite a bit more. Oil and filter changes are the €80-100 specials to draw people in.

clintondaly · 24-07-2012 10:28AM

Hi all

i appreciate all your replies however much in disagreement they are.

To get back on track

I am mechanically minded,i have always serviced my own cars,i do know the car has a chain.it was advertised on Done Deal by a garage and listed every possible feature except the mileage,i advised my friend to enquire as to what the milage was before going to see the car(long drive) dealer said on the phone there was 147,000 on the clock,when my friend got there there was suddenly 159,000 on the clock and a price drop.
Then to add to my suspicions was the sticker in the corner of the window mentioning"full" service and next oil change due.If it were me i would not have bought the car,i have taken it for a drive,seems ok,brakes ok,gears smooth etc. etc.
This morning it did sound a bit sluggish to start,i just didnt get a good feeling about the car,hence my questions.

Nissan doctor · 24-07-2012 11:02AM

clintondaly wrote: »

Hi all

i appreciate all your replies however much in disagreement they are.

To get back on track

I am mechanically minded,i have always serviced my own cars,i do know the car has a chain.it was advertised on Done Deal by a garage and listed every possible feature except the mileage,i advised my friend to enquire as to what the milage was before going to see the car(long drive) dealer said on the phone there was 147,000 on the clock,when my friend got there there was suddenly 159,000 on the clock and a price drop.
Then to add to my suspicions was the sticker in the corner of the window mentioning"full" service and next oil change due.If it were me i would not have bought the car,i have taken it for a drive,seems ok,brakes ok,gears smooth etc. etc.
This morning it did sound a bit sluggish to start,i just didnt get a good feeling about the car,hence my questions.

Those engines can suffer piston ring wear which would lead to sluggish starting.

TBH, ignoring the chain issue(or non issue as it is) there seems to be enough irregularities to walk away. Its not like there aren't plenty of 6's out there for sale.

clintondaly · 24-07-2012 11:09AM

My advice was given,but my friend seemed anxious and wanted a 6 so went ahead and bought it,i have told them i have a bad feeling about the car,only time will tell.

geneyuss · 24-07-2012 01:15PM

Antares wrote: »

Trusted, well known and respected Mechanic.

A recently registered somebody with an attitude arguing with an always civil regular.

I know who I'd run with OP

Arguing where ?? i didnt realize i had to be here for years before i could express an opinion,,, bloody mod wannabe's :rolleyes:

geneyuss · 24-07-2012 01:19PM

Greyfoot wrote: »

As a future reference for the last time: TIMING CHAINS do not need to be changed unless advised otherwise due to excessive noise and/or tensioner failure!!!

OP, your car runs with a chain, so leave it be!!!

and for the last time,,,if they are your only reasons for not changing one, thank god your not my mechanic,

MugMugs · 24-07-2012 01:24PM

geneyuss wrote: »

Arguing where ?? i didnt realize i had to be here for years before i could express an opinion,,, bloody mod wannabe's :rolleyes:

You don't and I don't understand where you draw your "mod wannabe" statement from either.

The fact that you're talking utter rubbish and in an antagonistic manner with a very chilled regular says it all really. As already established and as generally known, the timing chain on these engines does not require changing. It runs for the duration of the life of the engine if the vehicle is fully maintained.

Another variable is a bad chain from the offset as witnessed in a heap of Mini's with snapped chains.

Leonard Hofstadter · 24-07-2012 01:35PM

Antares wrote: »

You don't and I don't understand where you draw your "mod wannabe" statement from either.

The fact that you're talking utter rubbish and in an antagonistic manner with a very chilled regular says it all really. As already established and as generally known, the timing chain on these engines does not require changing. It runs for the duration of the life of the engine if the vehicle is fully maintained.

Another variable is a bad chain from the offset as witnessed in a heap of Mini's with snapped chains.

Antares is correct, timing chains on any makes of car do not need to be changed at any 'interval' if the car has been properly serviced throughout its life.

Timing chains are only ever changed as a result of a lack of servicing, or in the case of BMWs and VWs, faulty manufacturing of the crankshaft, sprockets (in the case of N47 and N57 diesel BMWs) or the chain itself (in some VW 1.4 TSI engines).

clintondaly · 24-07-2012 01:37PM

And to add to that list the Honda Accord 2.2 diesel.

Nonoperational · 24-07-2012 01:47PM

geneyuss wrote: »

and for the last time,,,if they are your only reasons for not changing one, thank god your not my mechanic,

So just to be clear your advocating changing a chain on a €3k car even if there are no obvious symptoms. Thank God your not my mechanic.

Nissan doctor · 24-07-2012 02:21PM

geneyuss wrote: »

and for the last time,,,if they are your only reasons for not changing one, thank god your not my mechanic,

Timing chains are not interval items.

Its not the norm, best practice or required to change them for any other reason then excess wear(poor maintenance)/damage.

geneyuss · 24-07-2012 08:10PM

gpf101 wrote: »

So just to be clear your advocating changing a chain on a €3k car even if there are no obvious symptoms. Thank God your not my mechanic.

you clearly have not read the thread,,, im giving up on this one now,

langdang · 24-07-2012 09:20PM

geneyuss wrote: »

you clearly have not read the thread,,, im giving up on this on this now,

Ah don't, we're all learning something new here - it could have massive implications! Should the chain in Mazdas be changed routinely? Or all cars with chains? Even with no symptoms to indicate an issue? At what kinda mileage? This is important stuff man! Her car has a chain - it's 10 years old now, way older than the chain in that Mazda - it could go at any moment by the sounds of things?
I had a Nissan Sunny, 1.4 twincam, chain engine, 160k miles, over ten years old. Never missed a beat, but I realise now I was playing a dangerous game not getting the chain changed... :eek:

Nissan doctor · 24-07-2012 09:25PM

langdang wrote: »

Ah don't, we're all learning something new here - it could have massive implications! Should the chain in Mazdas be changed routinely? Or all cars with chains? Even with no symptoms to indicate an issue? At what kinda mileage? This is important stuff man! Her car has a chain - it's 10 years old now, way older than the chain in that Mazda - it could go at any moment by the sounds of things?
I had a Nissan Sunny, 1.4 twincam, chain engine, 160k miles, over ten years old. Never missed a beat, but I realise now I was playing a dangerous game not getting the chain changed... :eek:

I'm just beginning to realise the possibility that I've been giving people wrong advise for the last 12 odd years:eek::rolleyes:

clintondaly · 24-07-2012 11:34PM

Forget about my friends timing chain,i am loving this

geneyuss · 24-07-2012 11:57PM

clintondaly wrote: »

My advice was given,but my friend seemed anxious and wanted a 6 so went ahead and bought it,i have told them i have a bad feeling about the car,only time will tell.

wouldn't it be terrible if the chain, ( a non-noisy one :rolleyes: ) did break next week/month, i sure hope the car hasnt been clocked

i wonder what all the experts in the boards mob would say then, im sure google would have the answer for them.

clintondaly wrote: »

Forget about my friends timing chain,i am loving this

it has been fun, hope your friends car wears well.

Mazda 6 Timing Chain

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