miraclecreator

tC come's with a BELT man

cad455

nope. the 2AZ-FE uses a single-row timing chain

sciontc_mich

Everyone posting got me thinking so I contacted Scion. And they wrote this back about the tC's engine..

Thank you for contacting Scion.

It is through communications such as yours that we become aware of the
reactions and expectations of our customers and we appreciate your
inquiry. The tC engine is an interference design.


Please feel free to contact us should you have any further questions or
comments. We would be happy to assist you. You may contact us
directly at 1-866-70-SCION or by email at
https://secure.scion.com/scion/ssl/c...contactForm.do

You may also want to click on the following link for
https://secure.scion.com/scion/ssl/c...draiserForm.do

Thank you for your interest in Scion.

Scion Customer Experience

____

2eZee

WHAT THE ( fill in the blank ) ??!?!

well, at least its a chain, but LAMENESS on the engine destruct design.

now we get to wonder which person on this thread is giving the CORreCt info.

bah

sciontc_mich

Yeah I know.. I wrote Scion and asked them and that's what they responded with. I plan on double checking later on. But I think that's crazy.
A chain so you never know when it needs replacing, like a belt that has a mileage requirement. So bam it breaks.. bye bye engine! bad idea I tell ya..

But I am going to check some more with Scion..

____

itimebomb

that doesn't make a whole bunch of sense, considering the camry is a non-interference engine. i know they squeezed 3 extra HP out of it (whoopeee) but i don't think those 3 hp would be coming from a a different internal design.

papi4baby

Guys stop thinking about it braking, it wont, and if it does, im pretty sure it will be cover by toyota even if you have 100.000 miles just bacause there suppose to pretty much outlast the engine itself, also for the person that said that all SR20DE have chains that is not true, only the newer DE's have the chains

lo_bux_racer

When was the last time you saw a timing chain break? I've never seen one break on a street engine, and I did my first engine rebuild in 1973. Belts are typically non-interference because belts break. Not all belts are equal, and not all belt driven cams are on non-interference engines. I made a lot of money on '84 - '86 Ford Escorts because they typically broke their timing belts at 55k miles, just after the recommended 50k mile replacement. Some got away cheap, some needed complete engines.

Toyco uses belt driven cams on LOTS of their DOHC engines(2JZ, 3S, 4AG, etc.), and even some of the older SOHC engines. Belts are better for shock absorbtion, and crankshafts have a shock inducing event every time a cylinder fires. Score one for belts. Chains last forever. They run in an oil bath (as long as you follow the recommended change intervals), and it is nearly impossible to break them. However, they do wear out, and as they do, cam timing retards. Score one for chains. Neither is a big deal for a street car.

So, what do you want? A very high performance engine (close tolerance, interference design, with a chain that will outlast the car) or a $150 repair bill for changing the belt every 60k miles?

fr130

The cheapest modern Toyota that has timing chain is the Echo.

Yeah, $150 repair bill, plus some Technician opening up the engine and missing around with it.

engifineer

Not all over head cam engines are interference. The clearence between the valves and the pistons is not dependent on whether the cam is overhead or not. Many overhead cam engines are non-interference.

thebends1

When I bought my tC the guy at the dealer said the tC has a timing chain and its good for 500,000 miles, so stop worrying ;)

_____

itimebomb

since 2002 all 4 cylinder toyota's have been timing chains, all v6's and v8's except the 4.0L v6 are belts.

Dideo

Here is a quote from the Road & Track test drive:

"Why not xC, you ask? Well, Volvo has the rights to that with its XC90. The tC stands for Touring Coupe"
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....&page_number=1

I know that doesn't answer the "timing chain" question but interesting anyway.

goretro77

Guys,

I've had plenty of timing chain engines. I've never seen one just 'let go'. unlike a timing belt. A Timing chain will start to make a lot of noise too before it ever even gets near breaking. So if it starts making noise you have plenty of time, don't ignore it but also know that it won't just let go right away.

One thing though - since you have a timing chain - changing the oil is crucial since the engine has oil squirters shooting oil at the chain to heep it nicely lubed.

My old 18RG Toyota engine uses double row timing chain. It just goes and goes.

engifineer

Thats true, properly cared for, a chain will usually last close to the life of an engine. Belts IMO are junk. Not only is the replacement interval way shorter than a chain, they have the tendency to simply snap when they wear out with no warning signs.. then you can say bye-bye to an interference engine.

xnevergiveinx

jeez, my buddy's 95 grand am has a timing chain. belts are oldschool nowadays...except for with ferraris or something

engifineer

Actually, belts are WAY newer than chains.. they are just losing popularity due to the short service intervals. They were a neat idea for dampening some vibration, but just do not last long enough. And last I looked Ferrari is still using chains.

HKSpeed

sr20det's out of jdm silvia's have timing chains, as do all ka24de's (all 240sx, early altima, hardbody pick up).

the vast majority of people running 15 year old 240sx's still have their original timing chains. a small number do replace them for piece of mind. the tensioner is what needs to be replaced periodically.

Mr_Meaty

Wow, we really reached back into the vault for this one didn't we? Before today, the last post in this thread was February 5th! Almost 5 months ago!

boostedscion

interesting... thats funni how they said that