Tips when replacing timing chains on a GM 3.6 VVT high feature motor in a 2011 GMC Acadia

[@peanutbutterisfu]

I’ve done so many of these timing chains I was working at the dealer when these engines came out I was the first technician at my dealership to do one and I had to replace the front cylinder head I did it in the car because I had no idea how easy it was to drop the engine out and man it took way longer doing it with the engine in the car. I’ve done so many of them at this point I can have the engine dropped on the ground in under 45min, then about 1 1/2 hours to tear the engine down replace the chains and put engine back together, then about 2 hours to install engine, bleed cooling and power steering system and charge the air conditioning and then you have to do an alignment because the frame was out. So if I’m in a really good productive mood, I feel great that day I can do the job In about 5 hours but if I’m in a shit mood it will take me a full work day so about 8-9 hours lol. After you do one of these jobs by taking the engine out you will feel like they are an easy job and you will love to do them I wish I could do one of these every day I would make a ton of money!! When you do these without taking the engine out you will never like to do them because there is no room.

[@philipbartruff3361]

I agree brother I’ve since done a couple with the engine out. Not so bad that route.

[@ryan5024]

I just wish I had a hoist to drop the motor out and wish it wasn't 20° out while trying to attempt this. Such is life

[@jett-rampartflyer2852]

I'm about to do this job. Your comment gave me a little relief knowing it's easier to just drop the subframe. I was dreading having to do this.

[@robpeters5204]

Shit, I would only attempt doing this in my 20’s. Now that I’m 56, I’ll let someone else do it. I’ve had enough of these crappy engineered time bombs! I left the biz in 2000 when I couldn’t make head or tail of it anymore.

[@justinpass8154]

Great tips, I'd also say patience is the biggest one you missed. I'm going 3 for 3 on Acadias today and 7 for 7 in general on the 3.6 High Feature timing job. Had to watch your video to get a refresher course burned into my brain.

[@Roscotech]

It really is much more simple to drop the subframe out from under the truck (if you have a lift). You have much better access to everything and can actually see what your doing! Just getting the front cover sealed would be a nightmare with the engine in the truck! I would add a few more things too! Put a 20mm wrench on the hex of each camshaft. Then an 18mm on the phaser bolt. Make sure each phaser is in the locked position. They should not move independently without oil pressure being applied to the “unlock” pin. If one or more does it must be replaced! Also make a mark on at least one of the timing actuator solenoids on each bank and make sure they got back in where they came out and that you don’t mix up the connectors for them. They can be hooked up backwards and you will get codes and a shitty running engine. Lastly check the intake camshaft on bank 1. The very last intake lobe doesn’t get enough oil and is sometimes pitted up. If it is replace it and at least the one rocker.

[@philipbartruff3361]

I’ve done this job myself at home. It can be done in the car which they say isn’t possible. But your absolutely correct it’s a nightmare and I’m a professional mechanic. Nice tips tho. Good job man. I’m happy to see others making it happen.

[@iGaRaai90]

The only hard part was getting the right tool to remove the harmonic balancer pulley.

[@nathanielbolden5053]

Done it a couple of times piece of cake!...2010 buick lacrosse cxl 3.0 and a family members 3900 impala

[@deanspiano8242]

I did it on my 2.8 Saab. Can't say it was fun, but then again no job on that engine is other than maybe an air filter swap

[@pauloescobar2631]

So should I attempt doing it like this or should I drop the motor ?

[@ferlindixon8735]

😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@troyvan951]

TIP! That back power steering bolt comes out the easiest from the top. Once you get all the valve covers off and all that junk out of the way, it’s super easy to at least break it free by reaching back from the top of the motor. It should be the last thing before taking the timing cover off. Thanks for making this video and sharing these tips.

[@jimdarby5908]

Helpful video. Adding in your tips and others offered on KZbin will have me tackling the job on this very prevalent motor at some point in my life.

[@WJHandyDad]

liked and subscribed. I have been debating on doing this versus sending it to a professional mechanic. Everything on the Acadia seems to be nightmare engineering - it's like they purposely designed a nice, feature laden vehicle that would be a nightmare to work on. Even changing oil on it is stupid - has that little gap where the oil will hopefully fall but when you remove the filter (which has to come out the top unless you remove the starter) the oil from it just runs all over everything and makes a terrible mess.

[@martinsmith3810]

Do it bro you'll be happy afterwards

[@verohandymike]

I'm faced with doing the same job right now, in a garage with basic tools, no lift, on a car with 200k+ miles. I am not looking forward to doing it once, but really don't want to do it twice. The key then is to change everything you encounter in there. So I am going from a cheap timing chain kit for a couple hundred to about $1,500 in OEM parts. No way I'm going that deep and not change the oil and water pumps as well as the 4 camphazers, no matter if I think they are working ok. I already changed the solenoids and camshaft sensors, while hunting for the cause of the misfire, so I will reuse those.

[@salvadorosorio6877]

I changed the power steering pump on my 2008 acadia. It became a 4 day job. Had to drop the undercarriage to remove the screws and hose

[@mrgbar]

I changed the chains but not the phasers and now my phasers are rattling like hell at startup. :( I told the mechanic 3 times to change them and they convinced me nothing is wrong with them.

[@peanutbutterisfu]

I’ve done a few hundred of these chains and I’ve only seen a couple phasers for bad.

[@Poaf-1]

Daymn I gotta do this ..soon . I’m dreading it. Jst bc of all the chains involved smh

[@stevenburton7922]

I've heard that gm fixed the timing chain issues in the newr impalas...any truth to that?

[@dannydanny1034]

how much cost to fix timing chain ?

[@fishman80]

wife wants a 2022-2023 acadia. 3.6. Are the newer ones any different as in better/improved?

[@rufaast1969]

Why did you change the timing chain? Was the car having issues ?

[@otoniel780]

Hi sir I have question my 2009 GMC Acadia change timing belt after that don’t want to start start jus first time after that don’t want to start thanks an nice video

[@itsmeforsure5475]

Do you have to lift( support ) the engine? It looks like the engine mount in the front( of the engine ) back( by the steering rack, bolts through the timing cover.

[@castrojody]

No and don’t bother use a 3 inch puller and different thickness coins to keep pushing out

[@iakobkejeradze6081]

Hello. My GMC acadia, s engine stuck,😑 camaro, s engine details goes on this engine? Year of release 2010.

[@tibu415]

Es muy buena información gracias

[@patrickwarden2933]

cordless ratchets are great even cheap ones....

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

For as much as i never had a use for air ratchets, i cant live without a cordless ratchet now

[@41GarageandGrill]

Great tips! How many hours do you think you have from start to finish?

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

It took me a weekend to do it. But that was at home with plenty of distractions. I could probably do it in a good long day if i had everything i needed on hand. I'm the type that needs to to walk away from time to time to clear my head and think things through before i proceed

[@kevinwilliams7061]

going to do this soon. What else should I swap out while I'm at it? I'm going to do the spark plugs. Anything else I should do? Oil pump maybe?

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

I did the plugs and coils while i had it apart. Absolutely do the cam phasers. I didn't do them when i replaced the chain and one failed shortly after. So inwas back into it the next year. I also replaced the phaser solenoid's and cam sensors when i replace the phasers.

[@kevinwilliams7061]

@@roscopsoultrain5875 thx!

[@miguelcruz4794]

How do you know when you need to replace the timing chain? I have a 2010 sle Acadia, it cranks but won’t start, any ideas?

[@edgartorres3696]

Sensors

[@mercialewis3336]

If you replays the timing kit and it don't want to start what is the problem

[@jozefigueiredo8792]

Problem could be the timing is off, it's a zero tolerance engine so if you're 1 tooth off especially on the crankshaft, pistons will hit the valves and bend them, causing the engine to lose all compression. Being one tooth off on the camshaft would be real bad also. That is why after replacing the timing chains it's very important to rotate engine carefully a few revolutions by hand to make sure engine spins freely, if it suddenly stops while rotating the engine means the piston is making contact with the valve.

[@Cheeto_Fingerz]

Good Lord… What a mess. I feel like it would ultimately be easier and quicker if you just hooked some chains to the block, wrapped them around a tree, then floored it in reverse and just ripped the whole engine block right out the front.

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

It's definitely not a fun job

[@JustinMentionedIt]

@@roscopsoultrain5875I changed the water pump in one and it sounds and acts like it out of time… any way it can jump time some how changing the water pump?

[@castrojody]

With the mix match bolt issue, bro we be tired after doing this crap job

[@jamesa.galloway6105]

how many miles are on this enginge?

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

165000

[@jamesa.galloway6105]

@@roscopsoultrain5875 Oh thanks. Is that first Tchain change?

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

@@jamesa.galloway6105 I believe it is. We got the car at around 90 thousand miles and I do not have the history before them

[@tek680]

Best fk tips sr ..tankyou

[@61dingbat]

Please

[@supercalcium]

GMC Acadia is a shame.

[@HanginOutWithStan]

After 6 minutes you have me convinced I don't want to attempt it. Thanks for the heads up.

[@christopheroliveriii3985]

I did my wife's 2011 Enclave about a year ago and made some minor mistakes that I want to share because now it looks like I have to do it again. I had 1 broken cam phaser and replaced it. The other phasers rattled after the job was completed so I would tell all mechanics to just get all 4 phasers from the dealer. Problem 2 is i bought a cheaper aftermarket timing kit (cloyes), hence the reason im taking it apart again, it skipped a tooth about 10 thousand miles later. Also I was changing the oil every 3000 miles, checking it every week for having a good level. Now im going to buy all of my parts from the chevy dealer and do it right!

[@joediduch5457]

Take off the front motor mount nut an jack the motor up a little to get the pully all the way out! Also just use the crank bolt to turn the engine over

[@pattywaktdiy4175]

Great video. Thank you for demonstrating that it is possible for those of us without a lift! A biz-natch for sure but at least I know it's possible, now.

[@DirtRoadAutoRepair]

4:54 simple, effective. That’s thinkin right there. 👍🏼

[@marvthedog1972]

i imagine is a giant PITA to do at home. Not looking forward to doing my 2008 saturn outlook. It's got that going for it along with a dying bank 1 head gasket as well on one cylinder. Not looking forward to that job at all. Great tip about the pick in the view hole of the sprocket.

[@kevinburk1670]

sad what passes for quality these days gm blows this motor is huge and is totaly nutless biger than a 5.3

[@bradsmith1802]

You can take all that stuff out you just have to jack up the motor take the motor up and down as you go and parts will come out easier and go back in easier

[@stephenpemberton1455]

Thank you sir, very practical and useful tips!

[@user-jo3ug9ov1v]

Yeap o gotta do this myself at 200k miles she still runs good though just making a touch of noise over there and i need to do a waterpump also so whatever might as well go ahead wirh thay too

[@creammachine5160]

good tips.ima gonna do my wifes during thanksgiving break.still not sure if i should pull the engine out the front or do as you and work on it in the suv... eitherway should b goodtimes!!

[@jawshlitelife]

I’m tearing into mine right now. Not a fan of this engine setup at all

[@sharntely]

Thank you for sharing this information. I have to do this repair by myself on my GM sadly. Did your repair work out successfully? I am looking forward to the update.

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

It has been 4 months since I finished it and it is going good still. The check engine light cleared itself after a couple starts

[@sadboy8413]

@@roscopsoultrain5875 great video.....8m doing timing on a 11 traverse and b4 I removed anything I crank it a few times and then after removing everything and was going to set timing b4 removing chains it wont crank a full turn gets stuck no matter what way I turn it it gets stuck any help would be greatly appreciated

[@justinstatham6378]

@@sadboy8413was your engine toast?

[@coreydupre907]

The 218 millimeter bolts is for the Malibu 36 for the mount

[@thomasclark250]

I just finished mine last week. You are correct that it’s a giant pain in the backside. While I was there I replaced the oil pump, water pump, and the cam phaser sprockets. My first attempt went badly due to a bad left intake phaser. I had to do it again, and was successful the second time around. I did it in the car. Thanks for the tips!

[@dougo9229]

Hi Thomas. How did you diagnose the bad phaser on yours?

[@thomasclark250]

@@dougo9229 , it wasn’t locking. You could move the cam with a wrench. Because I didn’t want to do it again, I just replaced them all. Figured better off, as the teeth wear on them as well

[@dougo9229]

@@thomasclark250 thanks for reply. I’m doing this job now. Mine do lock but wondered if there was a way to tel if phasers were worn out. My chains were definitely worn. Thanks again

[@thomasclark250]

@@dougo9229 , the phaser sprockets should not move independently from the cams. If the chains are on and you put a wrench on them, and they slip back and forth, the springs are bad. Either way, just like the other timing components, the teeth wear. A mechanic friend recommended replacing the phasers and oil pump while you’re there. I did and it runs like a champ

[@KaylieghLambert]

I'm going through the same thing right now.i have a 2007 gmc acadia Apparently it's a no start right now and They said it could be the time chain And possibly an Is possibly an engine replacement That apparently something might be broken inside the time chain Do you think it's worth it to just take the time chain Find out where the problems coming from Um Also have a high mileage just a whole bunch of stuff anyways I only bought the car in october 2023 I only got to drive it a few times so I pretty much got ripped off.It was my first time buying a vehicle And it's still sitting here needing to get either time chain Check out all Or fixed or else just a whole new engine replacement And I don't know nothing about vehicles.So I wouldn't even know where to start.Or how much that would be or who can help me with that

[@KaylieghLambert]

Sorry i'm on my daughter's account

[@patrickgaffney5954]

I’m not a mechanic but I’ve done plenty of small jobs on my vehicles such as oil coolers, cam and crank sensors, waters pumps, etc. should I attempt this at home on my own?

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

It is a really big and involved project. Looking back i would have gladly paid someone to do it.

[@rubenbustamante1828]

If car owners do an oil change and filter change regularly these timing chains will last a life time.

[@peanutbutterisfu]

You are 100% correct. I have a lot of experience with these engines I was working on these engines at the dealer when they first came out. If you run full synthetic and change the oil every 3,000 miles the chains will last forever.

[@garmin1488]

Hind sight is 2020. These engines use oil and if by regularly you mean every 2 months, sure. I bought mine used with 50k miles and it took me a couple of oil changes to realize how much oil these use. I'm now at 160k miles (235k km) and just had a p008, engine runs fine but i'm sure Ill need to replace them soon if I want to keep the vehicle.

[@derekdreischarf3415]

I fully agree with shorter oil life intervals and full synth on this 3.6....which is why gm is liable for this since their oil life monitors lead a customer to believe they can go much longer (7k+). GM even released a CSP to reprogram the oil life monitors to shorten the intervals because of all the issues. I'm so done with them. Good video, thx.

[@wraprock-itroll-francisfra9370]

i have a 2010 gmc acadia awd. wow u can do this without removeing the motor

[@zach914v8]

Much eaiser to drop the cradle. I have done dozens of em.

[@jozefigueiredo8792]

Could you please explain what you mean by dropping the cradle? A picture would be very helpful also. Thank you.

[@bcalcut]

I'm in the middle of the same job in my garage. Any tips or tricks for getting the front cover back on without messing up the RTV? It's such a tight fit.

[@N8747U]

too late to help you but I use Permatex high-tack gasket sealant to make gaskets stick in place for the reinstall.

[@Russell-mh1bh]

@@N8747U there is no gasket, it is just RTV

[@castrojody]

Patience . No tip but that on any side loader job like this. It’s very tight I know . I did mine on the block which is more time but you can do it either way Also your best place to hook up the timing cover is on the ground, that ensures your pins and I can see if wires and such are caught .

[@pb4961]

timing cover of this engine is same as many other gm engines , but the other cars are using different engine mount . so that 18mm bolt is used to bolt engine mount . since you don't have it they put blank just to hold cover . for example Opel insignia 2.8 with a28net engine uses 3 18mm bolt for the bracket to connect to engine mount .

[@itsmeforsure5475]

Excellent video, just the helpful tricky stuff, we don't need to see you removing bolts. I'm thinking I mines well do the alternator & waterpump while its all ripped apart.

[@jt66723]

Thanks for the helpful tips! Made my efforts successful. Although I never want to see those chains again.

[@wraprock-itroll-francisfra9370]

thanks bro much appreciated

[@ginosko10]

You’re absolutely correct it’s a nasty one 🤦‍♂️ hope it worked out well for you and also thanks for the video.

[@jakestree1892]

Could this be why my 2015 acadia ticks after its warm?

[@FireBean8504]

They definitely made this engine a mother fer to work on.

[@factoryoffaith]

What brand of replacement parts did you go with?

[@timhiller7392]

I just did one but decided to lift the body off which made it so much easier, more hours but worth it

[@61dingbat]

It's a 2015 Arcadia Denali 3.6

[@thegamer989]

What part numbers for the kit

[@kookookala6251]

Thanks, great tips! Thanks

[@ammar5878]

What year is it and how many miles on it? I am wondering if the new Traverse, years 2018+, will have the same timing chain issue?

[@roscopsoultrain5875]

2011. 168,000 miles

[@dougo9229]

Thanks for the tips!

[@bethanyferguson9833]

Good stuff

[@ibsun5499]

Hi thx 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@DKSE123]

Those engines are absolute garbage , just don't get stupid and buy one

[@pattywaktdiy4175]

I got stupid. I bought a branded title so I was ahead on price by about $6,500 right out of the gate. I figured that a total engine replacement would be less than that so I went for it. Been chasing coolant leaks, power steering hoses exploding, Stabilitrac Trouble Codes (due to a wearing brake pedal with only 60K miles), PCV valve issues, air conditioning...the list will go on I'm sure. Been able to DIY every single issue so far so I'm still ahead. The timing chain issue scared me until I saw this video. If it's possible as a DIY mechanic, I will beat the solution into submission! Learned my lesson on GM vehicles. I'm sorry, Toyota, please have me back!