3.6L Timing Chain Replacement - parts needed?

i dropped my cradle and replaced $7k worth of parts at 167k miles. saved it from the junkyard and is on its second life. search “enclave engine removal/drop. what to replace”. mines 2009. all p/ns listed and accurate and the car actually runs great for the time being.

my car came factory installed w cloyes. i didn’t replace the sprockets (i would have if i thought about it ahead of time, but didn’t feel they needed to be replaced after feeling almost to freeplay). i listed all parts replaced and opinions if needed it or not. mostly, it was” 167k and easy to get to” while i had engine out

ultimately, i was at 167k, no engine lights for chains/engine performance. the tensioner had room to expand and my teflon guides were worn .010-.015”. replaced due to exxon valdez seal oil leaks everywhere. i replaced oil 4-6k intervals. i feel oil change interval is key to long guide life. imo, it’s more guide wear, not chain “stretch”

consider the 4 cam gears/phasers at $50/ea. mine started sewing machine rattle around 130k. common problem. easy to do while ur there.....

inspect ur cam lobes and lifter rollers. 3-4 of my cam lobes had small patches of shine worn off tip of lobe. starved oil oil. i figure it was combination of bad oil pick up tube seal design of material selection from gm (was gum rubber and lost its seal compression) and that the engine leaked sooooo much oil over the last 40k mike’s until i finally fixed it - had a hard time keeping up w oil level constantly.

i ordered 40% of the parts from rock auto, the rest from an online dealership. probably 40% off msrp pricing

watch the cloyes video on chain instal. was very, very simple. you will need to rotate the phasers slightly as the guides have worn putting them in a different location.... like 1/4 to 1/3 tooth. i had one chain guide to the primary drive w frozen bolts. i left the metal frame and exchanged teflon guides

lots of great times on you tube videos. sounds like uv been doing ur research

I ordered a timing chain set, valve cover gaskets and timing cover gaskets. I will look things over as I dig in. I do not have access to a lift so dropping the cradle is not really an option for me. I picked the vehicle up for $1,500 as a running and driving vehicle, albeit with CEL, DIC codes and a stinky interior with water leaks that I have sorted out now. I still need to pull the carpet and dry that and the floorboards and disinfect though (hopefully getting rid of the smell)...

My plan is to change the timing set and gaskets and see what that does for it. Another member posted that doing that actually helped many of the DIC codes as they were related / thrown as a result of the timing issues. I'm hoping I have similar results, but who knows.

I'll swap out the chains, hopefully get it running as intended and then re-evaluate at that point. I've done some research, yes. Really thankful for the detailed videos online about it. They definitely take some of the mystery out of it. Gives a guy some confidence going in.

well, I finally dug into it. I left the engine in the vehicle. had to remove lots of stuff to get at the timing cover, but got there.

Things to note...
Once I had the valve covers off, I didn't really see odd wear patters on the cams so that was good. I did notice that the pcv portion of the rear cover was completely caked with carbon. Not sure if gases could even pass through there. I cleaned all of that though and have a new modded pcv valve there now along with new style gasket that blocks off most of that area.

My chains and guides (along with everything else in the engine) were oil stained, but didn't appear sludged up. When I pulled the chains, I hung them on the shaft of a screwdriver next to the new ones and there was very little difference in length (maybe 1/4") but even that seemed to have more to do with the chain link design (OEM vs Melling). I did not measure the guide thickness, but can if it's helpful. I still have the old parts. The old chains were definitely more flexible side to side than the new. Melling chains seem more stout, but that could have something to do with the 130k on the original chains so not sure.

I installed the chains, guides and tensioners according to the melling video online. That video is very similar to the cloyes, but they have you install the entire timing set from one crank position saying that all of the marks are visible in that position so there is no need to switch positions for the rear chain install. Hopefully they know what they are talking about because that is what I did. fingers crossed...

I cleaned the timing cover, inside and out along with valve covers and mating surfaces on them and the engine. Replaced all seals in the timing cover and the lower valve cover seals. I reused the old spark plug hole seals and perimeter bolt retainers though. Didn't seem worth the trouble to replace them. Getting the long cam actuators back into the engine through the new seals was a bear... didn't want to deal with that on the spark plug tubes and they seemed to seal fine before.

I'm waiting on a new water pump and new upper intake gaskets (ordered from Rock Auto) so trying to get everything reassembled up to that point so when those parts arrive I can just drop them in.

Followed the haynes manual for the most part on reassembly. Really hoping this thing runs when all is said and done... Wow what a job...

I am curious for those who have done this. They recommend you turn the engine over after chain install to check clearances which I did. Part of the reasoning for this is to prime the tensioners with oil, but I was confused by this as the oil pan is empty when this is performed. Should a guy turn the engine over by hand again once the engine has oil back in it to prime things before starting or not necessary? I would hate to have this thing jump time on initial startup because the tensioners are not primed with oil... might make a grown man cry... : )

Thanks again for your advice and help with this nightmare of a job... hope it works out.

HELP PLEASE...

I am having a hard time remembering where the main positive and negative cables connect... Can anyone help?

There is a post with a red cap and a big + sign on it on the side of the fuse panel and I believe one of the two connects there, but maybe both? Should have taken picture, but assumed I would remember...

There is one large cable coming from the rear of the engine... and then one coming from the front of the engine. I would really appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance.

I'm close to having everything reassembled now. Waiting on a power steering pump reservoir yet though which I broke during disassembly. Have to fill the cooling system yet and install the upper intake manifold, but that's about it. If I can figure the main battery cable connections out, I am hoping to try to fire it up this week.

I did fill the engine with oil and then turn it over a few times by hand to hopefully prime the timing chain tensioners. Hopefully that worked.

I cleaned the intake runners, intake manifold, throttle body and MAF sensor while I was in there. Hoping that at least helps avoid issues if not fixes them. new plugs... $60 holy crap... never paid so much for new plugs in my life. oh well...

I just hope this thing runs when I get it done.