Timing chain

[Jazzchain]

Hi all, my jazz cut out yesterday out of the blue, recovery started but kept cutting out so it was towed to garage where unfortunately it seems timing chain issue 😢, currently they’re checking price to fix but advising age of car and not economically worth it. It’s done 173g miles but been a perfect town car last 4 years, prior was one owner FSH so hate idea of scrapping it but wondered if any experiences of chain replacement on 2012 jazzes ( I can see it’s meant to last life of car) .

[Lord Voltermore]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. Sorry its on such a major issue.

I have no direct experience of Jazz timing chain, and not an expert  but I think the Jazz engine is an 'interference ' design  .Meaning that if the  chain snaps or' jumps  teeth  '  things like valves and pistons that go out of synchronisation  are quite likely to collide with each other , causing significant internal damage. High chance the engine itself  would be beyond economic repair.  Even   just  stripping and investigating the engine in the hope that  there will be no internal damage beyond replacing the chain would be quite expensive, with no guarantee of success. Might be  throwing good money after bad.   (unlike non interference engine designs where  there is usually no internal collision damage but even just replacing the chain may be an unwelcome expense )
 
Sorry its not good news. 

Bear in mind  that 173,000 miles is quite a high mileage  ,more than 13,000 miles per year on average.  Or an even higher annual average in its earlier years.  If the previous owner  only had  an annual service rather than every 12000 miles   there may have been occasions when  a service was long over due for mileage. And as it got older the engine may have consumed oil  faster than it was being topped up. 

If your car is otherwise in good condition, especially for rust, one solution might be to find a similar aged Jazz with low mileage  that has failed its mot due to rust or crash damaged. You could do a 'full lump' engine swop into your car , and maybe  defray some of the cost by selling other parts from the donor car.   You might find a small garage willing to help with such a project.   

[Jazzchain]

Thank you and appreciate your fast response, it was my husbands commuter car but with hybrid working we may have to manage with my older lower mileage civic between us. Unfortunately not got a local small garage that know of for a swap so think it sounds as if selling for spares/ repair and hopefully someone else can make use of a solid body.

[stesjazz]

used engines are very cheap on ebay, because nobody usually needs one,so, it maybe worth putting in a used engine?

[Jazzchain]

I’m guessing it’s a lot of labour but yes can see engines 50g mileage on eBay for £150 odd any Swansea based mechanics here fancy a job ?