Is my cam chain tensioner OK?

[Forest]

Wow.. There are a lot of cam chain tensioner related posts in here.. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the answer to my particular question:

I was tightening my very loose tensioner the other day.. Or rather I pulled it out and installed that rubber/steel spacer first, and then I tightened it. Btw it's a type E tensioner, with the lock nut and the large 'knob'(?) at the other end. What worried me was, that no matter how much i tightened the adjuster, the plunger remained flush with it. I pulled it back out, pressed it down against the table, and when the tensioner is at the end of it's travel... the rod is flush with the adjuster screw.
That can't be right, can it?

Now I'm reading my manual, and it says to adjust if the plunger is too far in, or too far out. So I worry when mine will not come out. Should I not have installed the spacer? Have any of you experienced anything similar?

Thank you in advance

Forest



edit:

BTW. the spring is 50mm long, and it does not compress all the way. It is the wide end of the plunger that hits the spacer that in turn hits the adjuster screw.

 

[Jim]

Have you read this?

https://www.xs650.com/threads/cam-chain-tensioners.1056/post-465622

 

[Forest]

Thank you for the reply.
Yes I have seen that post a few times. Very interesting..

Let me just read it again. I might have missed something.

 

[Forest]

I guess I did.. The thread you link to mentions it at least, and another thread asks the very same question. I'm sorry about that. I thought I had looked everywhere.

It turns out my manual covers 1970 to 1982, so maybe I should pay more attention to the forum instead. I think I will do an adjustement on a running engine next time.

Thanks Jim

 

[5twins]

I think you're fine. If the right parts are used and nothing is excessively worn, it's not physically possible for the rod end to come out past the end of the adjuster screw. That can only happen if you use the earlier 2mm thick copper damper washer with the later 59mm long screw. That screw is made to pair up with the 3mm thick later rubber/metal damper washer.

 

[Jim]

I think I will do an adjustement on a running engine next time.

Another method (I use) is to turn the crank until one cylinder is at TDC. That puts the cam between lobes... the valve overlap on one of the cylinders. That kinda sorta locks the cam in place as long as you don't rotate the crank too hard.
Then I'll put a wrench on the crank rotor and just rock the rotor back and forth while watching the adjuster pin. You can easily see how far in and out the pin is moving and adjust accordingly.

 

[Forest]

I just bought the bike not too long ago, and I'm only now starting to check it up. There was no damper/washer, but i put one in after reading all these posts in here. Thanks for the advice both of you. I feel relieved

 

[5twins]

Yes, you want/need the damper washer in there or the tensioner will "rattle" or tick like loose valves.

 

[Forest]

I can believe that..
When i bought the motorcycle, the ticking was 'hammer-on-anvil' loud. The now previous owner said, that he had adjusted valves several times the last few days, and that the noise had gotten worse recently (still, I bought it). When I got it home, I noticed that the adjuster, was so far out, that the acorn nut was nowhere near the locknut, and oil was trickling out.

Maby he didn't know about this place

 

[5twins]

These poor old bikes, lol. They certainly do suffer at the hands of some incompetent owners but hang out here long enough and you should be able to make it right.