Cam Chain Tensioners

[coacha]

Originally Posted by crapper

i just did the job on the weekend and it wasn't nearly as bad as i thought......after i pulled off the caps and determined that i was out of travel, i just kept on going.
got the front one off after removing air filter and backer plate.
not much room but enough for skinny fingers.............

Great, I have fat fingers!

[ndbigfish]

It is okay Ron, you haven't been snacking on any greasy food...right? ;) You should be okay then.

[coacha]

We will see. I am not to adept at this stuff, so it will be a challenge.

[ringadingh]

I didn't find it a hard job at all, But I think it depends on the tools at hand to do it. Sometimes a simple job can become a major headache if you don't have the right tools around to tackle it.
This job doesn't require much more than basic wrenches and sockets, along with some good allen keys.

[ndbigfish]

Ron,
Like Ring says just have your tools. Bulk up on patience and arm yourself with knowledge. The service manual and Gadget's Fixit Page will get you through.

[chuckster131]

Once you get the air filter , backing plate removed and the small metal braket off you need to remove the cap off the tensioner. This will give a bit more room to access the bolt too.

[classic1]

Just did mine last week with the crossover tube still there. As chuckster stated, loosen the crossover tube and use an "L" shaped allen wrench with a ball end. Once you remove the tensioner cap, there's enough clearance to use the short end of the allen wrench to break the upper screw loose. Just loosen the upper screw first in case the cam chain has tension on that tensioner.

[jesse]

I did mine last week 52,000mi. Was completely out of travel. Started with the rear had a few minor issues, mainly mine, got it done. Went to the front pulled both covers off, removed the backing plate on the left side, removed the screws that hold the tube in place, and the rest was easy. Total time 1hr, I was surprised, not that hard and no new gaskets or o-rings.

[crapper]

when you get them out, read gadgets instructions again for good measure, play around a bit with the things and after you've figured out how they work, you'll be able to install those baby's with confidence and don't forget anything gadget say's hehehehe...it was actually an easy fix with all the advice from everyone on this forum .............

[coacha]

I got one nights luxury accommodations in the Clampet Mobile and all the beverages you care to drink for anyone that wants to come to the house and do it for me...lol.

I have a fellow teacher that is a motorcycle/marine mechanic that I'm going to talk into helping ;) me get it done. I'm thinking 12 of his favorite for after the deal is done should work.

[classic1]

Hey coach, being your bike is a '99, you might want to have new gaskets handy. My bike is an '06 and the gasket on the front tensioner tore at the very top. I just used some gasket sealer to that small area.

[Cajunrider]

Well, I installed the cam chain tensioner extenders this afternoon. From start to finish it took a little over 3 hours. I figured I would tackle the worst one first on the front jug. I removed all of the left side hardware and loosened the right side screws that hold the crossover tube in place. This gave me enough wiggle room to be able to remove the tensioner assembly cap and hold down bolts. The inside bolt was a little tight to get to but as Chuckster suggested, the allen wrench with the ball worked fine for reaching in there to loosen it. My gaskets and o-rings were fine so I stayed with the originals. I used a 4 1/2" grinder to cut the OEM end pieces off of the tensioners by cutting grooves 180 degrees from eachother and breaking the halves off. Joe's extenders fit perfect. One was a slip fit and the other needed a little persuasion with the bench vise. Used a couple of drops of high temp red loctite on both.

Note: ndbigfish mentioned in another thread that he found a broken piece of the big spring in his oil screen. We talked about this in more detail last week in Leakey. I had the same issue except the tiny broken piece was in the retainer. My advise is if you are going to check the travel on either or both tensioners, the safest way to do it is to completely remove the assembly and reset is according to Gadjet's instructions whether you are installing the extenders or not. My spring broke just as ndbigfish's did when I removed the cap to check the remaining travel on the rear jug assembly. The small bearing was slightly cocked in the retainer and the tiny piece of spring was against the backside of the retainer. It was just a very small piece of the end of the spring that broke off. I was able to go back with the same spring. As careful as we both were when installing the cap after checking the remaining travel, both of us broke the spring. Again, the safest way to check is to remove the cap, springs and bearing, measure the distance from the end of the push rod to the end of the housing and then remove the assembly and reset it using the outer lock screw. I had 3/32" of travel left on the rear cylinder assembly and slightly more on the front. I didn't see the need to take any photos because Gadjet's instructions and CJ's thread both had great pictures. Don't be intimidated to do the job. I am not a great mechanic by any means and the job was simple. And the engine is definitely quieter with the extenders installed. Thanks to Joe (Chuckster) for another fine piece of workmanship with the extenders.
I forgot to mention that I couldn't stab the inside assembly bolt with my fingers because of the crossover tube still being in place. I put a little grease on the short end of the allen wrench to hold the cap screw and stabbed it using the wrench. Funny how when you get in a bind if you just sit back and think, you'll come up with a solution.