Do I have to replace the cam tensioner?
#1
08-26-2010, 10:47 PM
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Do I have to replace the cam tensioner?
I am about to replace my cam chain $ 100. Do I need to replace the cam tensioner? The cam tensioner is $200. How do you check the tensioner to validate replacing it? The bike is a 1988 Honda Hurricane 1000.
Update- I have decided to wait on the cam chain replacement. The engine after warmed up is sounds normal. I got a little paranoid after reading all the info on this and then listening to my on bike. It does make a little rattle when cold but after 10 min she sounds fine.
Thanks
Update- I have decided to wait on the cam chain replacement. The engine after warmed up is sounds normal. I got a little paranoid after reading all the info on this and then listening to my on bike. It does make a little rattle when cold but after 10 min she sounds fine.
Thanks
Last edited by hurricanematt; 08-27-2010 at 07:31 PM.
#3
08-29-2010, 11:07 AM
To answer the question; If you change the chain, yes the CCT should be changed (if not first).
#4
09-01-2010, 02:31 PM
Senior Member & tensioner mod inventor ROTM WINNER FEB 2013
The more I read about these things and the more I ride mine the less important I think it is. I've never heard of a cam chain break. The tensioners are of a very dubious design and to be honest when I changed mine I couldn't tell the difference between the old one and the new one. I am still trying to decide what exactly makes the CCT good or bad.
The idea is that the spring pressure of the CCT takes up the slack as do most automatic CCT's but the 1KF unit uses engine oil in a small cylinder to hold the tension, like a ratchet.
I have never quite worked out why these engines get so rattly when cold as in theory once the play in the chain has been taken up by the CCT it should not really come back but it certainly does as everyone will testify.
Whenever I've had the rocker cover off I've always filled the oil chamber around the tensioner and then put a screw driver against the CCT linkage and given it a few pushes to operate the lever a few times until I can no longer make it move any more. This seems to quieten it down for a couple of thousand miles at least but it does start making that damned noise again after a while for no apparent reason.
I can only imagine that it doesn't get enough oil in it during normal running. This also explains why most people say it quietens down after a few miles of running.
I dunno..... perhaps they leak. I'm still pondering.
I shouldn't worry unduly though, it's a well know problem and you're unlikely to do any damage if it's making a noise.
If it's still stupidly loud after a decent run you should look into it though.
Hope that helps.
One day someone will invent a manual CCT and then we can all breath easy.
Hmm.... must put that on my 'to do' list.
The idea is that the spring pressure of the CCT takes up the slack as do most automatic CCT's but the 1KF unit uses engine oil in a small cylinder to hold the tension, like a ratchet.
I have never quite worked out why these engines get so rattly when cold as in theory once the play in the chain has been taken up by the CCT it should not really come back but it certainly does as everyone will testify.
Whenever I've had the rocker cover off I've always filled the oil chamber around the tensioner and then put a screw driver against the CCT linkage and given it a few pushes to operate the lever a few times until I can no longer make it move any more. This seems to quieten it down for a couple of thousand miles at least but it does start making that damned noise again after a while for no apparent reason.
I can only imagine that it doesn't get enough oil in it during normal running. This also explains why most people say it quietens down after a few miles of running.
I dunno..... perhaps they leak. I'm still pondering.
I shouldn't worry unduly though, it's a well know problem and you're unlikely to do any damage if it's making a noise.
If it's still stupidly loud after a decent run you should look into it though.
Hope that helps.
One day someone will invent a manual CCT and then we can all breath easy.
Hmm.... must put that on my 'to do' list.
#5
09-01-2010, 04:24 PM
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#6
09-02-2010, 02:09 PM
You can also think of them as a shock absorber when they are pumped up.
I agree that there is a lack of oil feeding down to it. The only place it can come from is the can chain sprocket above it after the bike has been running and picking some up.
I don't like the mechanical tensioners as much as the hydraulic ones. Mechanical one can be to tight and weaken the chain.
#7
09-02-2010, 11:27 PM
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I had 2each 1980 Kawasaki KZ1300s (A2, B2). They had a cam chain tensioner that was a shaft with a ball bearing on it. The bearing would **** sideways and lock in place to hold the tension. Well, they failed miserably. No warning, just boom. I put a manual adjustment cam chain tensioner made by APE manufacturing. If you adjusted the manual cct cold it rattled when the engine was warm. If you adjusted it warm, you wore the tensioner foot real quick. Then, I went to a ZX-11 ratcheting type. Wore the foot out quick also.
I like the "shake rattle and roll" of the CBR-1kF oil filled tensioner. It doesn't fail and it makes noise that gives CBR people something to talk about. When the engine is cold, it takes time to "pump up" and hold the chain. As the chain warms, it grows and slop is created. The oil just pumps in a little more. Noise goes away. What if that tensioner would not "bleed down" like a lifter? The chain would cool and shrink and become too tight. The chain would wear or the foot would wear or the thing would bind and break. These oil type cct are a good idea.
I think we should give credit to Steve the Outback Aussie for designing this type of tensioner. Plumbers know fluids..... Steve, thanks for the design on the cct for our beloved CBR-1kF bikes. Ya did good..... I think a little Jimmy Beam Black and a ratcheding head pipe wrench did the job on that one..... A little noisy, but smooth as silk.... See you in the Desert.....
I like the "shake rattle and roll" of the CBR-1kF oil filled tensioner. It doesn't fail and it makes noise that gives CBR people something to talk about. When the engine is cold, it takes time to "pump up" and hold the chain. As the chain warms, it grows and slop is created. The oil just pumps in a little more. Noise goes away. What if that tensioner would not "bleed down" like a lifter? The chain would cool and shrink and become too tight. The chain would wear or the foot would wear or the thing would bind and break. These oil type cct are a good idea.
I think we should give credit to Steve the Outback Aussie for designing this type of tensioner. Plumbers know fluids..... Steve, thanks for the design on the cct for our beloved CBR-1kF bikes. Ya did good..... I think a little Jimmy Beam Black and a ratcheding head pipe wrench did the job on that one..... A little noisy, but smooth as silk.... See you in the Desert.....
Last edited by CBRriderNevada; 09-02-2010 at 11:29 PM. Reason: sentence was like my desert raft all F&^&ed up....
#8
09-03-2010, 12:00 PM
#9
09-03-2010, 12:22 PM
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Please read the exchange between me and shadow, we wre talking about it, oil has to build the pressure when you start the motor, use 15w50 and you will see a difference, same kind of designed as the saturn engines and other car engines that use a chain instead of timeing belt..
my two cents
my two cents
#10
09-06-2010, 03:50 PM
Senior Member & tensioner mod inventor ROTM WINNER FEB 2013
