TIMING CHAIN NEEDS TO BE CHANGED?

BHAMDOC1

MEMBER
2011 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER
2.7L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
185,000 MILES

No codes whatsoever, but it has a rattle at start up which I believe
is from the intake VVT, I bought it and was gonna replace it along with the tensioner, but I feel the chain is loose unless it is because the tensioner is weak or about to give up, how would I know whether it's a stretched chain or just the tensioner. Also, I tried to sign up the 2 yellow marks on the chain with the notch on the crankshaft pulley, several turns and I cannot sign them up.

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Saturday, April 25th, 2026 AT 11:46 AM

3 Replies

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
15,704 POSTS

The 2.7 has had issues with chain stretch over time. Especially at that mileage you would be better off doing the complete timing set and all the VVT units. The timing marks only line up in specific instances because of the chain link counts. When you install the chains correctly with the marks in time and rotate the engine the marks set up the link spacing between the pieces involved, by about the third rotation they will be misaligned. The idea is supposed to reduce chain wear and noise by changing the harmonics in the chain. However it makes checking the timing a pain as it takes like 200 turns before they line up again. FYI, try to use only OE parts as well, the aftermarket ones are all over the place on quality and it's not a job you want to redo in 2000 miles because of bad parts. Overall that engine looks pretty clean inside. Far better than some I've seen.

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Saturday, April 25th, 2026 AT 4:42 PM

BHAMDOC1