I have a 1991 33D with roughly 300,000 miles on it. I have never had any issues with the car other than maintenance items. I recently had the car in the shop to have the fuel tank dropped and cleaned and power improved and the car has been running great except a little rough. I was advised by the shop to replace the timing chain. Since it has never been replaced I assume this is a good idea . He also recommended replacing the vacuum pump at the same time. The total cost for him to preform the service was $1300 + Tax. I am not sure that this is a good deal since the parts are not all that expensive. What is involved in changing the timing chain and the vacuum pump on the car? Does anyone have a website that has instructions? A friend of mine who is a mechanic is going to be coming to town soon and he will be able to assist as well. Hopefully someone that has done this before can give me an estimate on the amount of time involved and if there are any special tools

 

I have not nor ever used synthetic oil. He recommended the chain after reviewing the car and said it needed to be changed. I know that he checked the timing on it while it was in the shop. what I really need to know is how difficult is it to change the chain on this car? and yes I would replace the tensioner and guide rails. I wasn't aware that the oil pump chain would need to be replaced in addition but I would change that as well if it is advised.

As for the vacuum pump he said that they often go out around 300k miles and said that if it goes out if can cause significant damage to the car. Is this correct?

 

He didn't say except that the chain should be replaced. I had the tensioner replaced at about 150k miles (300k now). The vacuum pump is not making any noise at all but he did recommend replacing it for some reason. If it won't cause damage if it fails then I will not replace it. I have several other small repairs that I would much rather spend my money on.

Do you know where I can get a repair manual for this car? Neither chilton or haynes has one and they are the ones that I have used for my other cars.

 

Unforunately Mechanics are famous for finding work for themselves to do. What I really hate is they often will try to scare people into haveing a job done.
The best way out of this is to tell them you do not have the money right now and you do not want to pay with a Credit Card or credit. Ounce the prospect of making a quick buck is removed they lose interest.

I would have been better if you had posted here first before having the job done.

I will PM you a site that has a free manual that you can look at.
However, you can get an aproximat idea of how much wear is in your Timing Chain/Gears by removing the Valve Cover and lining up the Camshaft Timing marks extremely well and looking at the degree marks on your Crankshaft Dampner. When the Engine was built the Camshaft was timed at TDC (Zero degress on the Crank Shaft Dampner).

 

OK I sent a "Visitor Message" to you with the Manual site.

After you read the Manual it might be intersting to call your Mechanic and ask him how he determined you needed a new Timing Chain and a new Vacuum Pump.
If he did not follow the Camshaft Timing Mark alignment or the actual Factory Service Manual recommended method I believe you would have a reason to take him to court for doing work that was not needed.

In my State it used to cost about $89 to start a Law Suite.
Often the threat of a Law Suite will cause a business to cut a deal with you as your Mechanic is not going to want to lose the time=money sitting in Court and there is a chance he could also lose the Law Suite.
If they/He does not show up for Court they/He loses.
Most Courts are going to ask you if you tried to resolve the problem first before filing suite; so you need to speak with the Mechanic first.


Another issue I would be worried about is what companies Timing Chain he used. I have seen pics comparing an IWIS Timing Chain with another companies Timing Chain and there was a noticable difference in quaity that you could easily see.

 

You have to remember that the Mechanic is not your "Buddy"; part of his job is to sell you more work. In many Shops the Mechanic who does the work even gets a percentage of the Parts + his cut of the Labor.

I remember when I worked in a Fuel Injection Shop. Foster Farms (the ones who sell Chicken) brought in a Truck (a CAT 3306) that had a miss on one Cylinder.
What was our normal routine would have been to pull the 1 Injector and test it. Or offer to pull the whole set of Injectors so we could check all of them.
Instead my Boss talked them into haveing the Fuel Injection Pump Pulled and completely overhauled.
So when the Fuel Injection Pump was back on the Engine of couse it still had a miss.
Now my Boss explained to them that it must be the Injectors. And, we pulled out all of the Injectors and rebuilt or replaced them.
My Boss cleary stuck it to that customer. After the job was completed he said "well they are a big company they have lots of money".

 

I will purchase the manual but I have not been able to find one from any of the major distributors. What I am looking for is a link or site that sells it. I am sorry it I was not clear about it forcedinduction.