Great writeup. I like your pictures and the directions seem quite easy to follow. I ordered an APE manual for my f3. Nice to see how it is done properly with OEM equipment. Thanks for the effort of putting the writeup together. Nice Job.

 

So here's my update.

Took everything apart fine only go find that my. Cctl did not come with a gasket. Now I am waiting until. Thursday. For the part to arrive.

Also my friends pulled the pin on the Cctl and it took him an hour to put it back together. Does anyone know if it is an issue if this happens? It seems to be put together properly. Everything should be fine when I install it correct?

 

If all that happened was they pulled out the metal tab and the cct extended, all they needed to do was put a screwdriver down the end, rewind the CCT then reinsert the metal tab to hold it in place.

If that's all they did then it is fine and can be used without worrying about it - it is designed to be wound in/out.


IF they spent the hour dismantling the CCT to the point that they removed circlips and they saw the spring and screw inside of it, there is a chance they could have let the spring unwind and put it back in at the wrong tension. If they did do this then it is likely to be a problem.

 

That sucks to hear. What are the repurcussions of putting in the CCTL that is not at the proper tension? More rattling or something worse could happen to the engine ? if that is the case i will have to order a new one

 

Hotsoup, I have sent the same message as a reply to your PM:


It entirely depends on what your mates did - if they just took the metal tab out of the back then figured out how to push the CCT piston back in without dismantling it then it is fine.

If they did take it completely to pieces then they probably didn't reassemble it properly.

There is a spring inside that makes the CCT extend. It is a long spring with many many coils, it is wrapped around a screw thread and it causes the screw thread to want to turn outwards - this is what makes the CCT piston extend and put pressure on your cam chain.

When I took my old CCT apart the spring was under tension, it pinged off and unwound. When I reassembled it I had to twist the spring several times to get it tight enough to make the CCT piston part extend properly.

When I just fitted the spring without twisting it several times first it did not allow the CCT piston to extend properly, the unwound spring was not strong enough to make the piston extend the whole way, it was weak and if your mates did that too then the CCT wouldn't exert a lot of pressure on your cam chain, meaning it could potentially not keep the chain tight enough.

You need to ask your mates what they did - very very bad things can happen if your cam chain isn't tight enough.


If the chain is loose enough that it can slip a tooth on the camshaft sprockets then your valve timing could be thrown out. This means valves can hit pistons either bending the valves or if you are particularly unlucky, snap the head off of one - this bounces around in the cylinder until it is finally hammered into a piston and the engine siezes. Usually cheaper to buy a new engine than it is to repair the damage from dropping a valve.


If the cam chain was quiet then you are probably be ok. If it was my bike then I'd remove the CCT and check it works ok.

If it is weak then dismantle it and wind the spring up a few times before reassembling it - check the cct shoots out quite quickly and with a decent amount of force before installing it in the engine.

 

Great instructions and pictures, thanks! I finally got around to taking off my cctl. I must say, getting it back on there was a pain... especially the final screw that goes on the end. I must've spent 20 min trying to fish it out.

Anyway, all I did was reset the spring and hoped that would work temporarily. It did but it was very temporary (first couple of startups). I have another auto-cctl but can't remember if the guy who sold me the bike said it was the old one or new one. By the looks of the gasket I'd say it's old but it's got two black dots on it though. Was this a prior revision?

 

overpost

 

Will be using this guide when I change my CCTL out, it is rattling pretty good. Anyone have a preference of brand to use or will any of the $50 eBay ones work.

Ordered the one off eBay b/c it seems they all look the same, should be putting it in next weekend.

 

Hi all, thanks putting this guide together. I fitted a new CCT to my 2000 f4 today with no problems. Took me just under 2 hours but I was being lazy and had lunch too

 

great write-up man, this helped out greatly..Just one thing didn't have enough slack with hoses under the fuel tank and I think my air hose came undid after my ride...should I be concerned?