Is there any way to confirm the state of my timing chain that doesn't involve disassembling everything in the engine bay?? Yeah, maybe a little hyberbole, but not much. Everything involves removing the cam cover, which means removing the intake manifold, which means removing the alternator, which means removing the AC compressor, and on and on and on. It's one thing if I'm doing all of this with a reasonable goal of the vehicle running again when I'm done, but at this point I doubt that is going to happen. I'd just like to make sure before I read it it's last rights, but I'm starting to think it's not worth it.

What's a non-running H3 w/ a freshly rebuilt transmission worth and does anyone want one, lol...

 

How much did it cost for the transmission rebuild?

 

$3K. Turns out that was not money well spent :-(

 

That's more than you can get in the current condition, tough to sell not running. Why not pay to have it diagnosed, then repair yourself. You can then sell for $5-6k running, or you can drive it, and save money. New comparable trucks today, will set you back $1k+ per month on purchase alone, and purchasing a certified 5yr old low miler preowned, may set you back $500+ a month for purchase alone. That's $6k+ to $12k+ a year for the purchase alone, plus cost of repairs, maintenance, increase on insurance cost, etc..JMO.

 

if you can get it to an auction you will make more the donating it or a junkyard either of those you will be lucky to get 300 / 400 bucks. parting it out yourself and selling parts might net you a bit more but if going that route it might make sense to just replace the motor

 

Honestly, that's what I should have done. I thought it would be less labor intensive to confirm a broken timing chain that it has ultimately turned out to be. I should probably just stop whining, proceed with the disassembly, and see. Or put it back together and tow it to a shop. Parting it out always sounds great but I think will end up being more trouble than it's worth.

Auction sounds interesting, but...I really do need to figure out for sure if it needs a new motor or not. Ugh...

 

I have had problems with mine, replaced a lot of parts to find out that a Little plug that goes to the alarm system Under the steering column came off caused my hummer to do all sorts of crazy stuff( run ruff, not want to start then not want to stop running) found that plug after all the $$$ I spent on parts and components and plug it back in and hummer acted all normal again. The alarm system is way to integrated in the system.

 

Well, it's been a minute...but I finally got the valve cover off. Shockingly, the timing chain does not appear to be broken. At least, not the part I can see (see pictures). Honestly, I was sure it was broken. I need to turn the crank and make sure the cams are turning as well, but I think unless it broke in two spots or somehow the crank sprocket broke, something else is wrong.

Assuming all of that appears intact, it probably makes sense to replace the chain and the tensioner while I have it apart, given the >180K miles. Not that I want to do all that with a still-not-running vehicle, but if I don't have a ruined engine after all, it's most likely going to be worth fixing, whatever the issue is.

 

Oops forgot the pictures:

 

Have you rotated and aligned the cam sprocket marks to the chain? Can't see the crank, but you could pull #1 spark plug to measure for TDC.