I have 131,000 miles on my 2007 Mazda CX7. Runs great, timing chain/belt has never been changed nor recommended to me by dealer (had fallout at 109,000) & just oil changes since. Preparing for 14 hour trip. Do I need to worry about chain/belt? Is it a chain or a belt? Is there something else I should worry about?

Contact your local Mazda dealer and ask them. Manufacturers all have different intervals for specific type of services and maintenance.

Some vehicles have a belt and others have a chain. In belts, most commonly are changed within 80,000 to 100,000 miles. With chains, as long as you maintain your oil changes up to date, no need to replace. But consider that hard driving affects the overall performance of this component.

if you have to ask, I think you better buy a repair manual or take it to a shop.

could be time for a new timing set. depends how many miles are on the engine and if something has gone wrong. they don't last forever and the belts need to be change every 75k to 100k to save doing damage to the valves and piston if it were to break. the chains will last a lot longer but still wear out

There are no timing marks, special tools are needed. The Mazda dealer should have been the only one to work on it. Mechanics never want to work on "Basket Cases" because of the time involved in the job. It turns a good job into a money loser. See if the dealer will at least set the timing marks for you, and you can do the rest without any liability to them. No one wants to do a job like that and then the customer wants a guarantee that there are no problems. The timing chain alone is a 5-6 hour job.

vvt actuator and you are driven by timing chain not belt common problem in cx-7

It has a chain.

The Powertrain Warranty should be good for 60k or 5yrs. This is a common problem. Fix it and get rid of it before you have to shell out $6k on a new engine.

They're charging you for it? Since your car's only 2 years old, they should be covering it under warranty. Timing Chains don't break normally, and when they do, usually it's on a much older car. Mazda should be covering the costs for this under the power train warranty (which is good for 48 months or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first)

The timing chain should of been changed at 30,000 or 60,000 miles it's in the owwners manual.

you need to take it to your local dealer and raise a big fuss because this is a known problem and if you yell loud enough you should be able to get this fixed under warranty.