timing belt

**DunriteDiesel** · 10-25-2010

hello everyone. just taking a poll and trying to pick your brains. 1998 GTP, cars been great since ive had it. Besides maintence the only thing thats went bad on my car is 1 waterpump, 2 alternators, and the powersteering pump. the car just crossed the 194000 mark and ive been struggling with a misfire thing for a while, but ive got it nailed down to the timing belt. i talked to a mechanic and he said not to replace it because it might cause other skeletons in the closeet to appear. what is ya'lls opinion. i love the car and definatly dont want to put her down or have to replace the whole motor. i trust the mechanic but it just seems wierd that it cant be replaced with no bad side affects. what ya think?

**01gpgt01** · 10-25-2010

You dont have a timing belt. Its a chain

**TheOtherNick** · 10-25-2010

replacing the timing chain will not make anything else break. It could be worn out causing the timing to be off, I would go ahead and replace it.

**DunriteDiesel** · 10-25-2010

i meant chain, sorry head

**darkhorizon** · 10-26-2010

misfire? 3800's are known for spark plug wire and ignition coil issues... I am willing to bet one of those is causing the issue.

BTW, there is nothing "scary" about 200k on a 3800... Hell alot of us dont start modding till 180k miles.

**BillBoost37** · 10-26-2010

IMO your mechanic isn't a 3800 expert and probably shouldn't be trusted on this one.

A single cylinder misfire is not a timing chain related issue. If that were the case, a simple CASE Learn would help the pcm relearn tdc and you'd be set. Your misfire is probably a plug, wire or coil. I have actually found a bad ICM to cause a coil to not fire for one cylinder. A weak coil can cause this type of thing as well.

What spark plugs are you running? Age?
What plug wires are you running? age?
What coils are you running?