I have sat in front of a 2.2L Ecotec engine with the chain cover off and turned the crankshaft CCW. The chain does jump a tooth every few degrees. The way the guides are arranged makes the chain "bunch up" when turned CCW. Maybe you can get away with just jiggling the crank back and forth.

DON"T DO IT!!!!!!!!! Unless you are prepared to start over replacing the chain.

And, once again, just looking at the chain is a good enough measure; if there is observable slack it is too much. No need for expensive test equipment or sophisticated BS, just eyeballs.

If you have ever looked at the space between the sprockets you can see why; there are only a few links between them. It is a CHAIN not a BELT.

 

For reference, this was the slack in my 2011 2.4 , that was enough to bust up the front guide and set a code P0016. This chain kit was from Evergreen, the parts all had GM part numbers, the bags for the chains also had GM numbers in the label. This was just 20,000 miles of normal driving. No need to look any further then just removing the valve cover! Order the parts , start tearing the engine down! Don’t order cheap junk off flea bay!

 

That's not how you do it. You don't turn it that much. As soon as it starts to turn the cam which will be obvious you stop and mark it on the wheel and turn it back the other way until it hits and then you know how many degrees of slack is in the chain.

 

I can do that chain test on any engine that any HHR has ever used. Only an IDIOT would damage anything by doing it.

 

The degrees of slack isn’t relevant, the slack itself is the issue, change the chains! Any amount of slack is a problem

 

Another point - it's probably easier to pull the valve cover and look, than everything involved with getting to the crankshaft bolt with a degree wheel. You have to pull a bunch of plastic splash guards and the Serpentine Belt, vast majority of people don't have a lift, most probably don't even have a good jack and jack stands.

 

Thanks for all the replies and advice, event the tangent this took. Yeah, I know how to pull the cover and check the chain, my question was more about how much does a stretched chain affect performance. I base this on experience with US made small block V8's, where there is a noticeable degrade in performance from a stretched timing chain, and that it can be seen using a timing light. Electronic timing controls on modern cars pretty much rules out the timing light method, but if there is a drop in performance on the Ecotec that may be an indicator that it's time to pull the cover and inspect the chain.

 

When my chain started heading south the only thing I noticed was the rattle at start-up.
Once started, the engine, fuel mileage and perfomance were 'normal'.

 

You don't need a degree wheel if you know what you are looking for. There's always a little slack.

 

There isn’t supposed to be slack that’s what the tensioner is for.