Vq40 timing chain replacement

This is for all of your DIY's: Don't be afraid of this. I just replaced the timing chains and tensioners on my 05 CC 4x4 that currently has 115k miles. I have had the whine from about the 35k mark and finally decided to fix it since I do long hauls and was afraid of breaking down in the middle of nowhere. I am not a mechanic or auto technician but I was able to do all of the work myself . The project took a total of 12 working hours spread out over 3 days. I took my time, took lots of photos, and fixed a few other things while I had it apart. Although it was time consuming, the replacement was straight forward. This is basically how I did it:

1. I have the CD shop manual and printed all off the necessary pages for reference. (timing chain cover and chain removal/install) 2. Copy of the NTB 09-128 bulletin 3. I purchased the 2 Kent Moore service tools needed, and you do need them!!! (Flywheel lock and tensioner clamp). I will be listing these 2 once used items on EBay at a later date. 4. Pre-ordered the parts listed on the NTB 5. Purchased additional parts including the primary timing chain, tensioner arm, water pump (just in case), and valve cover gaskets. 6. Pressure washed the engine to get as much of the grime and oil off. 7. Followed the disassembly procedure in the manual. 8. Once the timing cover was off, I manually rotated the engine until the index marks on the old timing chain lined up with the marks on the gears. ( I had to rotate it counter clockwise about 3 times for it to line up) 9. I locked the engine in place from rotating, compressed and locked the primary tensioner (the overtravel clip has to be moved while compressing) removed the tensioner arm and chain. 10. Important!! Use a cresent wrench on the camshafts for support and a long handled ratchet/breaker bar to loosen the cam gear bolts. Do not use an Impact gun. 11. I used a grease pencil to premark the old chains and gears just in case something slipped. The new chains have blue, copper and gold colored links for indexing. Remove and replace one secondary chain at a time. 12. Compress the secondary tensioner shoes using the special tool and replace with the new shoes. 13. Follow the cover reassembly procedures.

Things to look out for: 1. Make sure that you have a proper tool set. Especially 10, 12, and 14mm universals. Metric allen drives (not wrenches) 24" or longer extensions for the power steering/alternator bracket. 2. Remove the right front fender protector and skid plate. makes the work a lot easier. You do not have to remove the radiator. Just drain the coolant. 3. To remove the water pipe that goes through the timing cover, use a long-long nose plier to remove the spring clamp towards the pipe, use a long dull, thin flat screw driver to gently break the seal to seperate pipe from the hose, try not to twist it too much. 4. Do not remove the crankshaft pulley bolt until the pulley is ready to come off. The pulley can fall off on its own and it will hurt in the pocket if it hits the cement. 5. I spent 3 hours carefully cleaning off all of the silicone sealer from all of the surfaces. I place rags/towels over the valve train, spark plug tubes, intake ports, and inside the oil pan where it was open from the cover. I counted the number of rags/towels that I used to make sure that I did not leave anything in the engine. 6. The long bolt on the oil pan cannot be removed because of the rack and pinion. Don't worry about it. Just make sure that it is clean. 6. Tap the dowel pins into the cover per the manual. 7. I prefitted the cleaned cover with no seals/sealer on to the engine and laid out the bolts. Remember, once the silicone sealer is applied, you have X amount of time before it sets up. I used permatex Hi-Temp RTV Black. 8. You have to reset (tap) the power steering bracket spacer and alternator bushing otherwise it will not fit. 9. I repaired my leaking windshield washer resiviour and cleaned the MAF and flow meter while they were out. Because I was careful, had a clean work area (outside), wore disposable nitrile gloves, and made sure that gasket material did not fall into the engine, I did not change the oil. I will change it in 1k miles.

Engine started and ran great on the first crank. No leaks and the engine is now very quiet.

Good luck. It was for me.

Check out the photos

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