Cam chain replacement?

Hi guys, I've just put my Sv into a mechanic to check out the common sv rattling sound and found out that the tensioners are fine but the cam chain needs replacing, I know usually you change them in pairs ........ but looking at the prices for cam chains I keep seeing quotes for near £100 for one chain alone this was on more than 1 website as well surely this can't be right or am I looking at the wrong part ?

any help appreciated guys

[yorkie_chris]

The labour will make your eyes bleed, it's a cnut of a job. Are you SURE? How many miles has it done? Are you absolutely positive the camchain has excess play in it?

Personally i'd suspect the tensioners, rather than the chain. To put that much stress on a chain to stretch it to that degree...Yours is a curvy too. There are known cam tensioner issues from the earlier models.

See this thread here....

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=129497

[yorkie_chris]

The problems with the early tensioners 99.9% of the time is just rattle of a sleeve inside and harmless. Lots of people (me included) were very paranoid about it at the time thinking it was actual camchain noise but it wasn't.

[Sid Squid]

Under normal circumstances you really need to put a lot of miles on an SV to wear out the camchains, two 100,000 mile SV engines I know personally are still wearing the original chains, both have had the tensioners replaced, one engine twice over.

It can happen of course, but it's rare enough that I would check very, very carefully to make absolutely certain it were needed before going further.

[prokartman]

I have just had both my cam chains replaced and all 8 valve shim's done at the same time ( both my adjusters were nearly at their maximum length , just a couple of notches left to go ) . The work was carried out by Galea Cam Chain Services and came to £335 in all .
This was on a SK6 with 37k miles on it . They don't strip the engine but do the chains like you do a drive chain ( use the old one to pull the new one through ) then rivet link it together , this saves massively on the labour cost . Most dealers would charge this much for the shim job alone ( maybe more ) .
Just to make it clear , I have no connection or financial interest in Galea Cam Chain Services other than being a customer of their's . Also I had already removed the radiator and airbox to save on the labour costs .

[yorkie_chris]

The stock ones last over 100k except in unusual circumstance (nobbylad ex fizzwheels missus pointy for example... one chain was fine... tother one had about8mm of play in it?!)

I wouldn't change them cos of a few clicks left either, I'd wait for the rattles, a few clicks might be longer than you keep the bike.

Mine's on 105k, a lot of those miles for example with silly gearing, sat on the motorway kissing the limiter for a tankful of juice at the time. Nowt wrong with the camchains though.

[muzikill]

I think yorkie is trying to say '2nd opinion it' tbh. This garage you took it to, was it an official suzuki garage?. If not, would they specifically know the bumps & niggles on these bikes depending on the year of build?. If theres a suzuki garage near you i dont see any harm riding it in and getting one of the engineers to have a listen & just getting a diagnosis under the pretence of a possible repair quote just to put your mind at rest before this other garage start stripping it to bits when it's not necessary.