Postby smj999smj » Sun Nov 03, 2019 10:20 pm
It likely wasn't the K&N filter that caused the timing chain issue. There is a well-known problem with upper timing chains cutting through the upper chain tensioner faces on 2005-2010 VQ40DE engines in North America. The chains are made by Borg-Warner and as the tooling wore that stamped the link plates for the upper chains, it left sharp edges on the links. The sharp links would cut through the plastic tensioner faces and would start making a "whining" noise until finally it cut down to the tensioner plunger. If left too long without replacing, it could cause the upper chains to jump timing, bend valves and/or damage the piston and/or cylinder bore. There's no pre-determined mileage for the problem to occur since it all depended on how much wear, if any, was on the tooling when the link plates were stamped. Many have no problems, some have whining issues around 30,000 miles and some don't occur until after 100,000 miles.