If you have the old style tensioner in your engine it might come apart when you pull it out of the engine.

If that happens you will have to tear the front and probably the oil pan off anyway so it might be smart to have new guides on hand since you are in there anyway.

I had heard of them coming apart sometimes so I have a very powerful magnet from an old speaker that I stuck on the bolt head and turned it the last few turns by hand.

I think it helped because when I pulled the magnet off the end of the adjuster fell off.

 

Well you can rule out the EGR, we don't have one. Let me preface that, my 2008 SS and the 2009 LNF I have don't have one. There is a cat pre-heat that the LN goes through when first started cold which is a bit noisy.....

 

be very careful when pulling the old one out, i just tried it on my 09 SS and the flipping chain moved and jumped time. to be absolutely sure, pull the valve cover before you pull the tensioner and make sure nothing moves. Also from what i know the SS had the correct tensioner already on it, where the LT and LS had the old style. to make sure, the head on the new one is thicker than the old style one. I got a big write up on this on facebook, my SS already had the new style in it, so i pulled mine for no reason, skipped time, and cost me $500 to fix my mistake!!
i have the tensioner if you need one, i never put it in
$20.00 and its yours

 

Has anyone ever experienced a sheared off tensioner bolt? I had an interesting discussion with a Chevy dealer tech about replacing the tensioner on my 09 HHRSS. Being a dealer, they will not just replace the tensioner - they said they would also need to remove the cover, etc.

The main reason, he said, is because sometimes the chain rattle can be caused by a bolt shearing off, allowing one of the other plastic guides to lose tension. The bolt is accessible by removing a 10mm bolt from the outside of the engine - basically a viewfinder to see if the bolt is broken. Has anyone ever experienced that? Or known someone that has? That just really sounds like something that should NOT happen, perhaps a factory defect.

 

I've not directly experienced the sheared bolt , but other members have.
I wouldn't just to the blame game or defect, bolts break , plastic guides wear out and so on.
Over the years I've had many problems with a sheared bolt or two , from head bolts to timing chains and sprocket bolts , wheel studs and other retainers!
Vibration and metal fatigue, heat and torque stretch all play a part in their demise.

 

Changing the tensioner is the best first step. If the chain guides are excessively worn then they will also need changing, but that is usually a result of the tensioner.

 

Does my 2010 HHR SS 5spd come with the new style adjuster?

Thanks

mblandsr "Mike"

 

It should. The new updated version has a hump on the end of it. The one on the left is the updated version.

 

X2 as Lucky points out , just reach down on the left side rear of the cylinder head on a cold engine and the bump will tell you, now these do wear out eventually, but don't fail like the old style does!!

 

Hey Gang,

My SS is a 2010 would it already have a new style adjuster? My car has less than 25,000 miles on it, can the adjuster go bad at this low mileage? Does anyone know the ptice of an adjuster?

Thanks,

mblandsr "Mike