Cam chain tensioner help

[Pickman]

Hello again.

I fired my bike up this spring and noticed the same top end chatter I had began to notice last fall. After reading a number of posts here at XS11.com, I figured it was the cam chain slapping and that I needed to do the quick adjestment listed under the engine maintenance section (Adjusting cam chain tension http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63).

Well I followed the directions to the letter, but now the chatter seems worse (louder). The locknut and bolt were already loose when I got down there, so I backed the bolt out about 15 turns. Then I tightened the bolt back in, followed by the locknut.

Did I do something wrong, or is it just time for a new chain? The bike has just under 46k miles on it.


Any and all help is appreciated and TYIA,
-Pickman

[randy]

Your bolt may be stripped, or the threads in the tensioner body are. Try this. Leave the adjuster screw tightened. With the engine timed at the "C" (for cam), remove the two nuts holding the tensioner to the head. Work them equally a few turns apiece until you back the tensioner all the way out. If there is still tension on the spring all the way out, you have a stripped threads on either the adjuster screw or inside the tensioner.

If the tensioner comes off without much tension on the spring, then the plunger may be sticking inside the tensioner body. Possibly the adjuster screw was manhandled and the plunger has a burr on it and it's catching. Removet he plunger rod from the tensioner and polish off the burr, then re-install and re-adjust. If you still have too much chain slack, then it's time for a chain.

Hope this helps.

Randy

[newmaac]

I did the exact thing today with even worse results. When I tried to tighten the bolt, I find that it must be stripped. It will turn forever without ever tightening.
I have several other engines that I can steal a tensioner from. Can the tensioner be removed and replaced without tearing the top of the engine apart?
I loaned my manuals and the CD to a buddy, so, I can not check for myself.

TIA, (and sorry for climbing over your post)

[randy]

Sure, you can take it off without taking anything else off. Just be sure you have the engine timed to "CAM" and watch out for the spring pressure. It can launch quite a ways!

Randy

[Ken Talbot]

You can remove the tensioner without earing anything else apart. Then repair the stripped threads with a small heli-coil and save yourself the cost of a whole new unit.

[newmaac]

I replaced the tensioner unit with one from a parts engine. BINGO, worked like a charm!
I have some special gasket sealer that I bought from an engine builder that I know. It is what is used in the Porche engine building plants. It goes for about $20 a tube, but works really well with aluminum parts.
Hopefully, I will have fixed the vibration that I was feeling, AND the oil leak that is so common for our bikes.
Too late to test tonight, I will ride to work tomorrow and find-out.
Thanks again for the advice.

Pickman, I still have a few extra tensioners. If yours is not going to work for you, contact me in the "private message" area.