please help , cam chain tensioner

[zinhe]

Hi everybody

first of all sorry for my poor english i write to you from south of France !

i have now a huge problem !! please help me !!

my bike ( 1150 rt) made a sound like a diesel engine ( tactactactac)

so i decided to change my left cam chain tensioner

i have unbolt very smoothly the cam chain tensioner

but there were no spring and no piston inside the hole

i have tried to find something inside the hole with a little tool with a magnet and i have nothing !

So i decided to put a new piston in the hole with the new spring

but it the two part went donw the hole impossible to find them !!

my question is simple , is it possible to find them or they are already in the cam chain system and mean finaly that my engine is already dead ??

thanx in advance for your precious help !

best regards

[dirtrider]

Evening zinhe

 

You never known where those parts will end up. Sometimes they will drop all the way down to the bottom of the crankcase & other times they will stay up in the cam chain guide or in that area.

 

If the parts fall ALL the way to the bottom then probably no long term issues. On the other hand IF the parts end up in the cam chain, or bouncing off a connecting rod, then they could cause damage.

 

I suggest to remove the valve cover then shine a bright light in the cam chain & chain guide area to see if you can spot them.

 

Usually, when the tensioner parts easily fall into the crankcase there is something wrong with the chain guide (like broken or worn) that allows more space for the parts to fall down.

 

If your chain guide looks OK then I would suggest that you install the 1200 hexhead L/H tensioner as that is a better tensioner & does stay together better.

[zinhe]

Evening dirtrider

thanks you to help me again ! ( the first time was for my iabs ) .

Just to be sure of your explanation :

 

1 i need to remove the valve covert to try to find them from there

 

2 if i can't find the parts you think i can let them inside the motor and put an another cam chain tensioner ?

 

i have an another question : why the piston fell in the hole. normaly it must be stoped by something no ?

 

[Froggy]

I replaced mine several years ago and it was viewable, I used bent paper clip to remove. Hope everything works out.

[dirtrider]

Evening zinhe

 

 

1 i need to remove the valve covert to try to find them from there

Yes, I sure would do that to see if I could find the parts

 

if i can't find the parts you think i can let them inside the motor and put an another cam chain tensioner ?

Maybe, if they fall ALL THE WAY down then probably not a problem. If they are caught up top then you might cause damage when starting the engine

 

i have an another question : why the piston fell in the hole. normaly it must be stoped by something no ?

Usually it is caused by the upper chain guide dropping down a little more than usual due to guide wear or broken guide.

 

[zinhe]

Evening dirtrider

i have just finish the job , and i have seen a spring inside near the cam chain i think with a magnet i can be able to catch them

 

But i have seen also a big mess : my upper rail chain is totaly broken

i can see a piece of it in black platics

is it a big job to change it ?

 

[dirtrider]

But i have seen also a big mess : my upper rail chain is totaly broken

i can see a piece of it in black platics

is it a big job to change it ?

 

Yes, basically to do it right the engine has to come out of the bike & be split

apart (a very big job)

 

You need to get a service manual & read up on doing that job.

 

There are some ways to cheat on installing those guide rails (too involved to go into here)

but with all those pieces floating around in the engine, personally, I would want to remove

the engine & & clean it out inside.

 

You might be money ahead to install good used engine.

[flars]

Zinhe: look at

to see how the cam chain guide/tensioner work together.