I am in the middle of a cam swap, I put the new cam in, and the timing gear, but the chain just looks really loose, it has about 3/4 to an inch of slop in it, should I get a new timing chain while I am here or is that about right. If I need a new one what should I up-grade to quickly. I have to have this thing together by Monday. Thanks.

 

Sounds normal, they run loose on one side, seen it several times.

 

Not sure how much slack is normal, but I would upgrade to an LS2 timing chain while you are in there. Should be available at most dealers part # 12586482

 

i just installed my LS2 timing set on my engine today and its got a decent amount of slack. thats about norm

 

how many miles do you have on that chain? if you have more than 30k I would go ahead and put a new chain on it while you are there. never hurts. and there is some slack in it when its in place.

 

About a half an inch of slack is normal, 1" is too much. Chains are cheap. Get a new LS2 chain.

 

do you have to drop the front of the pan when replacing chains?

 

Yes... It needs to be dropped just enough to get the bolt for the oil pickup tube out so the oil pump can be removed.

 

Hey Guy's,

I didn't want to start a new thread... hope to get a reply/help on this.

I'm doing a cam swap soon, and I ordered a LS2 timing chain and figured it would come with new sprockets, but it didn't -- can I reuse the original 5.3 sprockets?

Thanks in advance,
Tone

 

Yes!