Cam chain tensioner

[hh3130]

I was checking the valve clearances and cam chains, when I noticed the front cam chain had some free play. I took a video to see if the free play is normal or if I should replace the cam chain tensioner.

What do you guys think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPW8vPawdSc

 

[Rusty McNeil]

I'd pull the bolt and spring out of the tensioner thjingie and see if you can push the plunger in hard enough to get a click or two out of it and take that slack out of it. It ought to do that by itself tho'
Be careful and don't turn the motor without the tensioner spring and bolt in, it's possible for the chain to slip teeth without it in there and that'll open up a whole new can of worms for you......The valve springs will try and turn the cams and make that happen...
Once it clicks into a new spot it'll stay there, there's no going backwards with these if they're working correctly; unless you remove it and defeat the latch like you would when installing it new.


You could also remove the whole thing and check for corrosion or some sort of problem that's stopping it from taking up the slack maybe??

If I was pulling the tensioner spring bolt plunger assembly I'd tie wire the chain down to the cam gear so it can't slip, but I'm kind of anal and it may not be neccesary...:ummm:

I don't know if these chains can stretch so much that the tensioner won't handle it, maybe??

If there's no more adjustment left in the tensioner then the chain probably is stretched excessively

I wouldn't run my motor with that much slack in the chain, begging for interference I think.....

To change the chain the motor has top come apart...

Good luck....

 

[hh3130]

I'd pull the bolt and spring out of the tensioner thjingie and see if you can push the plunger in hard enough to get a click or two out of it and take that slack out of it. It ought to do that by itself tho'
Be careful and don't turn the motor without the tensioner spring and bolt in, it's possible for the chain to slip teeth without it in there and that'll open up a whole new can of worms for you......The valve springs will try and turn the cams and make that happen...
Once it clicks into a new spot it'll stay there, there's no going backwards with these if they're working correctly; unless you remove it and defeat the latch like you would when installing it new.


You could also remove the whole thing and check for corrosion or some sort of problem that's stopping it from taking up the slack maybe??

If I was pulling the tensioner spring bolt plunger assembly I'd tie wire the chain down to the cam gear so it can't slip, but I'm kind of anal and it may not be neccesary...:ummm:

I don't know if these chains can stretch so much that the tensioner won't handle it, maybe??

If there's no more adjustment left in the tensioner then the chain probably is stretched excessively

I wouldn't run my motor with that much slack in the chain, begging for interference I think.....

To change the chain the motor has top come apart...

Good luck....

After seeing the slack I don't plan on running it until it is repaired. I'll try checking the tensioner like you said tonight.

But the sprocket doesn't appear to be badly worn, like you would see when a chain is badly stretched. Hopefully its only a tensioner problem.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[NHVmaxpower]

Ny front is exactly the same. I was told by a few people its ok nothing to worry about. Maybe I should ck my tentioner?

 

[hh3130]

Ny front is exactly the same. I was told by a few people its ok nothing to worry about. Maybe I should ck my tentioner?

The guy I bought it from said that noise was normal too. But it seemed a little excessive to me. It also seems strange that the back cam chain is nice and tight no matter where it is in 2 rotations by hand.

But hopefully I can find time tonight to check it out.

 

[NHVmaxpower]

I was told its the way the engine stoped on the valves/cam side . If you turn it by hand the front will get tight . I am not worried as they say this motor is very loud anyway. This winter (mot far away) I am going to go through my motor & just ck it all out. My motor has almost 50,000 on it .

 

[hh3130]

So I finally had a chance to work on the cam chain tensioner tonight. I pulled the cap on the front tensioner. Tried pushing in the plunger with no success. removed the tensioner and it appeared to be extended less than half way and seemed to move easily. So I reinstalled the tensioner and rotated the engine so the cams weren't under any valve spring tension. Then I removed the tensioner and pulled it out one click reinstalled it and it still wasn't as tight as the back tensioner so I pulled it out one more click and reinstalled it. Then the cam chain was as tight as the rear cam chain with no slack at any point. Will I damage the chain adjusting it this way? I realize it should do it automatically but I hoped to get it running again until I can get some parts for it.

So I noticed that the tensioner spring is flush with top of the tensioner cap threads. Is that normal?

So in the Yamaha service manual it didn't explain how check if the cam chain is within service limits. Is there a procedure to check the chain?

 

[hh3130]

I'd pull the bolt and spring out of the tensioner thjingie and see if you can push the plunger in hard enough to get a click or two out of it and take that slack out of it. It ought to do that by itself tho'
Be careful and don't turn the motor without the tensioner spring and bolt in, it's possible for the chain to slip teeth without it in there and that'll open up a whole new can of worms for you......The valve springs will try and turn the cams and make that happen...
Once it clicks into a new spot it'll stay there, there's no going backwards with these if they're working correctly; unless you remove it and defeat the latch like you would when installing it new.


You could also remove the whole thing and check for corrosion or some sort of problem that's stopping it from taking up the slack maybe??

If I was pulling the tensioner spring bolt plunger assembly I'd tie wire the chain down to the cam gear so it can't slip, but I'm kind of anal and it may not be neccesary...:ummm:

I don't know if these chains can stretch so much that the tensioner won't handle it, maybe??

If there's no more adjustment left in the tensioner then the chain probably is stretched excessively

I wouldn't run my motor with that much slack in the chain, begging for interference I think.....

To change the chain the motor has top come apart...

Good luck....

Thanks for the tip to tie wire the chain to the sprockets. It turned the intake cam back when I removed the tensioner, so probably would of had problems if I hadn't zip tied like you said.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Thanks for the tip to tie wire the chain to the sprockets. It turned the intake cam back when I removed the tensioner, so probably would of had problems if I hadn't zip tied like you said.

Thanks for the help.

Glad to help.
I would also pull the plugs and turn it a couple of revolutions with the flywheel retainer bolt to make sure there's no interference as well.

 

[hh3130]

I rotated the motor by hand and verified the timing was correct. Put it back together this morning and the motor is much quieter after pushing the tensioner in 2 clicks. Rode it to work and it's much quieter now.

Does anyone know why I had to manually adjust it?

Although I have a bigger list of repairs after taking it apart. Tight valves and the vboost servo motor gears are stripped. So I'm waiting for a tappet adjustment tool and looking for a vboost servo motor.

 

[one2dmax]

Interesting observation. I will have to check some of the engines we take apart.

 

[NHVmaxpower]

I rotated the motor by hand and verified the timing was correct. Put it back together this morning and the motor is much quieter after pushing the tensioner in 2 clicks. Rode it to work and it's much quieter now.

Does anyone know why I had to manually adjust it?

Although I have a bigger list of repairs after taking it apart. Tight valves and the vboost servo motor gears are stripped. So I'm waiting for a tappet adjustment tool and looking for a vboost servo motor.

Sean or Kyle will have one of them .

 

[CaptainKyle]

Sean or Kyle will have one of them .

Yep I have plenty of servo motors ! Just shoot me an email [email protected]

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Put it back together this morning and the motor is much quieter after pushing the tensioner in 2 clicks. Rode it to work and it's much quieter now.

Does anyone know why I had to manually adjust it?.

Corrosion, galling, broken Spring? I dunno??

I'm glad you got right now anyways.

 

[hh3130]

Just though I would give an update if anyone is interested.

So the ticking noise has stopped completely. Had to remove the oil pump cover. The o-ring was in place, but I replaced it with the o-ring from Sean's HD pump kit. While I was in there the pick-up screen was plugged with fuzz (oil filter?) and bits of gasket, oring, and junk from PO repair. I didn't install the HD kit because I wanted to see if it made any difference clearing the oil pump screen. Funny thing was the oil pressure hasn't changed greatly, but I imagine the vmax enjoys extra oil flow.

When I had it apart last year to replace the clutch disc I noticed the steels had rust on them, so unfortunately I think the previous owner hadn't used it enough and water got into the motor. But I haven't had any metal on the drain plug and when I adjusted the valves the cam looked in great shape. So I think all is well now.

So now its time to wear out that back tire.

 

[donnelly317]

Just though I would give an update if anyone is interested.

So the ticking noise has stopped completely. Had to remove the oil pump cover. The o-ring was in place, but I replaced it with the o-ring from Sean's HD pump kit. While I was in there the pick-up screen was plugged with fuzz (oil filter?) and bits of gasket, oring, and junk from PO repair. I didn't install the HD kit because I wanted to see if it made any difference clearing the oil pump screen. Funny thing was the oil pressure hasn't changed greatly, but I imagine the vmax enjoys extra oil flow.

When I had it apart last year to replace the clutch disc I noticed the steels had rust on them, so unfortunately I think the previous owner hadn't used it enough and water got into the motor. But I haven't had any metal on the drain plug and when I adjusted the valves the cam looked in great shape. So I think all is well now.

So now its time to wear out that back tire.

I've been wondering about my pick up screen is it possible to clean this by just droping the oil pan? And removing the pump? Thanks!

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[hh3130]

I removed the exhaust, oil pan and oil pump to get to the screen. The exhaust was the worst part. But used lots of penetrating oil for a couple of days before attempting and the only problem was a broken exhaust that had been poorly welded by a previous owner.

 

[donnelly317]

I removed the exhaust, oil pan and oil pump to get to the screen. The exhaust was the worst part. But used lots of penetrating oil for a couple of days before attempting and the only problem was a broken exhaust that had been poorly welded by a previous owner.

Yea exhaust is no problem for me just had it off. I was under the impression I had to split case to get to oil pick up screen. If that's all that is involed I'm thinking of checking mine

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[sdt354]

Yea exhaust is no problem for me just had it off. I was under the impression I had to split case to get to oil pick up screen. If that's all that is involed I'm thinking of checking mine

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Nope, just drop the pan Matt.

 

[donnelly317]

Nope, just drop the pan Matt.

Talked to john at pcw today about a few problems I am having he explained it to me. I'm gonna order pan gasket and clutch gasket tomorrow

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