So what actually goes wrong with the cam chain tensors?

I got the dreaded tick coming from the front so i'm going to put in one of my other cam chain tensors, but how do i know its a good one?

I got 3, 1 has some movement from the pusher bit, in and out by about 2mm, I'd say that's a bad one, one other has no movement at all and seems to wind in and spring out freely so i say its good Is it worth packing it with grease before putting it in?

I took the bad one apart and no parts are broken, i imagine the main problem to be the spring snapping if it gets jammed, but this was not the case

Has anyone done an autopsy on a duff tensor to see why it went bad?

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by svrash

So what actually goes wrong with the cam chain tensors?

Nothing as far as I know - the camchain tensioners stick though.

Replacement is almost never needed though, just remove the plug and waggle them around a bit - often does the trick.

nothing usually goes wrong with them

their design does not keep them tensioned gradually, they have to get loose to a certain point before they take up the slack

I've never touched mine in 130,000 miles, they get noisey over the miles then the tensioner will take up the slack and they will be quiet gradually getting noisey again

I say leave em alone, they take care of themselves

[Red ones]

The way the rear tensioner is positioned leaves it liable to pick up drops of oil and they then cause the mech to seize. It really isn't a big problem!

[Sid Squid]

They definately can stick - I've seen it a number of times myself.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

They definately can stick - I've seen it a number of times myself.

No they don';t... Randy O's done 130,000 miles and his never have, ergo, none have ever

[Sid Squid]

Yes, of course.

I see where I've gone wrong there, sorry.

[BillyC]

The tensioners on the injected engines found in the pointies follows a different design, that is basically a spring propelled ratchet - rather than the screw mechanism in the curvies.

Is there any evidence that these suffer the same problems?

Also, are they interchangeable... with a view of putting pointy tensioners in a curvy (rather than the other way around).

[admin]

I've had to pull them out of my curvy a number of times. I tried Sids trick of removing the cap and pinging the tenstioner spring but didn't have much success.

In all my cases I just removed the unit, found nothing wrong, put it back and let them sort themselves out and the noise goes.

I think the theory of leaving them alone might be okay as long as the noise doesn't sound to great, eventually the tensioner will adjust itself. Trouble is I can't stand rattles and squeeks at the best of times, so I have to fiddle.

John

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

........just remove the plug and waggle them around a bit - often does the trick.

I'll try that first