Timing Belt or Chain

[seenahyena]

Hi Baja owners,<br><br>I am considering getting a new Turbo Baja in the coming months.<br>I fear that the Baja will be discountinued and I will not be able to get a new one. This happened to me in 1987 - I had a Brat on order and they discountinued them. I did spend 10 happy years with a 4wd Hatchback though.<br><br>Anyway my tech question is - do the current Baja's have timing belts or timing chains ? I don't especially like the cost of the belt replacement which is usually normal maintenance aroung 60K, so I was wondering what the Baja has.<br><br>Thanks for any info.

[Grimm]

The Baja uses a timing belt that is supposed to be replaced around 105,000 miles or so (ibelive this only applies to the 2.5 engines).

[Baja_Turbo]

The belt service is 105,000 miles,and all Baja's have a 2.5 motor.I would wait until this summer to find out if there will be an 06 Baja,if so i think there's gonna be some changes made.And if not,there should be plenty left over to buy one.

[mbaksic]

The timing chains are not all that great sometimes, especially if you neglect to change oil religiously. :'( On Dodges, with 2.7L engines, the tensioner for the HUGE chain takes a dump, it gets cruded up with varnish. Then the chain gets sloppy, and pistons hit valves.  :'(Makes quit a mess of things, and very expensive to fix.  :'(I would rather have the  belt, and change it at 105,000 miles.    Mike

[seenahyena]

Thanks for the info everyone !

[mbaksic]

Thanks for asking the question. Thats why we are here, to help each other out.  ;D  Mike