On another forum, an R/T Challenger owner complained about a broken timing chain at 35,000 miles ($700 repair) that lead, at 41,000 miles, to damaged lifters ($1,500) and a new cylinder head ($2,000). Apparently, this problem is occuring on engines with MDS. Fortunately, all of this work was covered by the lifetime powertrain warranty. It has been suggested that the valve guide problem was related to the broken timing chain. When the timing chain broke, some of the valves were left open. The guide cracked when the pistons smacked the valves. The dealer may have just put a new chain in and sent it out the door. If this is the case, his fear is that, in the future, the other head may need replacement.
I would guess that if he had to replace one head for that same reason, the other one can't be far behind. It boggles the mind as to why the dealership wouldn't go ahead and go a little deeper while having it apart since in the end the warranted repair would have cost the manufacturer less in labor overall I would think, but then again, you would also think they would have inspected the valves, etc to ensure that there wasn't more damage caused by the broken timing chain.
Their about 40 different broken timing chain incidents on that other forum,and if you get stuck paying for it, it's considerably more than $700.
Over at challenger talk .com there has been an on going thread about this with an extreme number of challengers who lost an engine due to timing chain failure. every vehicle suffered this damage did so with the same exact, conditions and equipped car. the thread is 500 plus pages and Dodge has been monitoring the forums and has finally come around with a fix and a public admission of the problem. it started when a car show of some kind had some of the top CEOs in attendance and who pledged to help by receiving emails and who actually started replying AND CALLING CHALLENGER OWNERS ON THE PHONE me being one of them. Dodge engineers studied the problem & came up with NEW, redesigned parts and a long while later FINALLY gave us real dates of when the challengers started being built at the factory using these new parts. ALSO, DODGE HAS STATED THAT THEY WILL REPAIR ANY CHALLENGER WHO HAS SUFFERED A FAILURE OF THE TIMING CHAIN EVEN IF IT HAPPENS OUT OF WARRANTY, AND WILL NOTIFY INDIVIDUAL DODGE DEALERS OF THE PROBLEM AND WILL TELL THESE DEALERS TO REPAIR ANY AFFECTED CHALLENGER FREE OF CHARGE WETHER OR NOT THE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE PAID OUT OF POCKET FOR TIMING CHAIN ENGINE FAILURES AND DAMAGE WILL BE FULLY REIMBURSED FOR THE FULL COST OF THE REPAIRS. I will paste a public statement by Dodge from the other challenger forum. BERT MODEL MAKER >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Customer Satisfaction Notification P01 Engine Timing Chain and Chain Guide Models IMPORTANT: Some of the involved vehicles may be in dealer used vehicle inventory. Dealers should complete this repair on these vehicles before retail delivery. Dealers should also perform this repair on vehicles in for service. Involved vehicles can be determined by using the VIP inquiry process. Subject Repair 2009-2012 (LC) Dodge Challenger (LD) Dodge Charger (LX) Chrysler 300 NOTE: This recall applies only to the above vehicles equipped with a 5.7L Hemi engine (sales code EZD or EZH), automatic transmission (sales code DGJ) and rear axle ratio 3.06, 3.73 or 3.92 (sales code DMP, DME or DMH) built from August 04, 2008 through July 10, 2012 (MDH 080406 through 071008). The engine timing chain guide on about 50,800 of the above vehicles may fracture. A fractured engine timing chain guide could cause the engine timing chain to break. A broken engine timing chain will result in severe engine damage. The engine timing chain, timing chain tensioner and timing chain guide must be replaced. Customer Satisfaction Notification P01 Engine Timing Chain and Chain Guide Page 2 Part Number Description CBPRN291AA Engine Timing Chain Package Each package contains the following components: Quantity Description 1 Chain, Engine Timing 1 Guide, Engine Timing Chain 1 Tensioner, Engine Timing Chain 1 O-ring, Oil Pick-up Tube 1 Gasket, Engine Timing Cover NOTE: Order two heater tube O-rings separately listed below for each repair. Part Number Description 53013736AA O-ring, Heater Tube (order two per vehicle) Each dealer to whom vehicles in the recall were assigned will receive enough Engine Timing Chain Packages to service about 5% of those vehicles. Part
