Here we go, my wife'* 2016 equinox 125k ish miles was driven home in limp mode. It would not start again and sounded really bad and made everything go haywire like the gauge cluster was crazy and the hazards turned on and even the washer fluid started squirting out!?? Anyone ever hear of that happening? Anyway I got a bunch of codes all relating to timing and fuel pressure which i believe is controlled by the timing. Long story short i removed the valve cover and the chain is super loose and going to replace timing components. I know this is an interference engine. My real question is as I'm turning the crank by hand to get to TDC should i be able to hear the valves making some noises? Because now I just got all of the new chain/guides installed and timed correctly with the colored links on all marks and as I rotated the crank by hand again to make sure everything was good the valves did not make any noise this time. Was I hearing interference the first time and I am wasting my time on a junk motor?? Thanks for any input!

Here is a before picture of the cam sprockets with #1 piston at TDC. The timing marks are supposed to be like 10 oclock and 2 oclock and as you can see they are at more like 11 and 12 oclock respectively. Is this off enough to cause interference and ruin the engine?

Do a compression test?

I finished the job and the car runs good. So in case anyone is wondering in the future if your timing jumps as much as mine did it might be ok. I also replaced the damn exhaust manifold that cracked in half which is a big issue on these as well. That was a PIA unless your are tall and have long arms that would help. It'* at least the 3rd manifold on this equinox as there was already a broken stud!

So you didn't need to do the heads? Did you replace the phasers? What all did you do?

No I did not have to do the head on it. This is my future ex-wifes vehicle so I didn't replace as much as I probably would have if I was keeping it. I just got the small timing kit with just the chain, guides, tensioner. I did not touch the balance shaft parts or the water pump etc.

The cam gears look worn. It may jump again.

Yeah like I said if I cared about the car I would have done everything. Its her problem now. I only fixed it because I'm technically still co-owner for another few months and would've had to pay half of the repair bill.