Hello everyone,
I've had my 2008 2.2l HHR for about 3-4 years now. Bought it outright from an elderly woman for about 4k and it still only has about 127,000 miles on the engine. Have been on here a few times to get info on repairs (ya'll helped me fix a power steeering issue about 18 months ago) and I'm here for my first post.
Well, I had a super rough start back on Wednesday and immediately turned the car off. Tried to restart it and no-go. Tried a lot of different quick-fixes (add gas, oil change, new battery) before I was able to pull the dreaded P0016 code. I took off the valve cover, checked the chain and it didn't seem loose except on the right-hand (front of car) side. I had the wife do a quck turn over on the engine and there deffinitely slop in the chain (I'll link the vid when I can upload it from my phone).
So, I'm ordering a borescope and it should be here in a day or two. I'm looking to try a leak down test to see if the valves are damaged (but I'm curious if I should just pull them and check). And from here, I'm not sure where to go. I'd rather repair the engine than replace it if possible, but this is my daily driver and I can't really afford to just go get a new car (1 income family and a teacher). Looking for recomendations on how to procede and just some advice.
Thanks everyone!

 

Look in the spark plug holes to see if there are marks on the pistons to indicate valve contact. A crescent moon marks usually more visible on the intake side. Do not crank the engine, you just might bend some valves.

you can order 9-4201SX and 9-4202SX chain kits from Cloyes thru RockAuto or this ZZP kit which comes with the stronger reinforced front guide! There are no sprockets as they don’t wear that much

https://zzperformance.com/products/z...ming-chain-kit

 

So, I did try to start it a good number of times trying to fix it before (maybe up to 2 dz times)

 

I just updated my post , please re read it about the valve marks , you can check for that with your boroscope.

 

Here's a short video of the chain moving that I took when I discovered it was slack in the chain.

 

Yes that chain is loose, but I didn’t hear any noises from the valves.
read this tutorial on instructions to install the new chain, page 9, section 17

https://www.ddmworks.com/assets/imag...uild%20Kit.pdf

Disregard changing any sprockets. You might be lucky there’s no damage, because the chain is only off 1 or 2 teeth.

 

That would be great if so, I need this repaired as soon as it can.
Pending if there's no valve damage, I do have a couple of questions:
Do both chains need to be replaced or just the one that runs up to the cams?
Would I need to empty all fuilds (oil and coolant) to replace these chains?
Am I going to need a new gasket for the cover?

 

You can jack and support the passengers side, that will tip the engine so the oil goes to the driver’s side , but I like to drop the oil out as the oil pump is in the engine cover. I have reused that gasket, but if you have it apart replace it and the crankshaft seal. Same with the chains, you don’t want the balance shaft chain breaking. Coolant doesn’t need to be drained.

 

Now THAT is a loose chain! Isn't this a non-interference engine? Or can the pistons hit the valves?

 

It’s an interference engine so yes the pistons can hit the valves if the chain breaks or the front guide disintegrates allowing the timing chain to jump many teeth.