Danger - Broken Cam Chain On Motorway.

[RichardSw]

Has anyone had any experience of a cam/timing chain breaking in mid-journey? It happened to me at the weekend - on the motorway! At first I thought it was a cam belt which hadn't been changed. But the garage says it is a broken cam chain. That's not supposed to happen is it?

Apart from this costing me a fortune, is it something Toytota should know about in any case? Should I get in touch with them?

[Druid Boy]

I cannot speak with any authority but it wouldn't do any harm to approach toyota - you have nothing to lose. After all, to the best of my knowledge, there is not service life on the chain so in theory it should not fail.

[Gooli]

How many miles has the car done?

[RichardSw]

89,000 miles

[Allyjon]

What model/engine?

[RichardSw]

T3-X; 1.8 auto, petrol

[bestseany]

Do you have records of the car being serviced at the proper intervals?

Chains are notorious for needing their regular oil changes. It could have also been a tensioner failure. Did you notice a rattling noise at all before it snapped?

[RichardSw]

Yes, regular services.

I didn't notice any rattling.

[RichardSw]

Apparently the tensioner went slack and this caused the chain to jump a link or two - damaging the engine in the process.

[adam_d]

Apparently the tensioner went slack and this caused the chain to jump a link or two - damaging the engine in the process.

Coming back to the oil, you say it's a 2003 1.8. There could be a chance it had the oil burning problem, so the level dropped low enough to cause an issue here?

Apologies if you have already checked this.