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Cam chain tensioner lever upgrade question

L

LeFrog

Joined Mar 2005
3K Posts | 3+
Mesa, AZ
Following everyone's advice, I ordered a new cam chain tensioner as well as a new tensioner arm.

The new tensioner is longer by about a millimeter, I wonder if it was really worth the purchase, but the new arm (or lever, however you want to call it) seems to be beefier, but does not seem to want to fit in the 2001 because of a "bulge", left side (left when inserted in the engine, that is).

I wonder what I should do, between grinding it all off until the "bulge" is gone, or just taking a bit of it off, or what.

As is, not only the bolt does not go through all the way, but even if it did, the hex nut would barely fit and it would be ridiculous. It is also obvious the guide in the middle would be off and would obviously be gnawed by the chain.

I will attach some photos. I guess I still can use the old one but it is in really bad chain after my mishap and I'd like my chain to be tight.

Thanks for the help, all!
 

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I don't see why the step bushing would need to be upgraded. The new bushing is better because it is close-ended and therefore the little hex nut is not necessary. With the old bushing it seems that you need an extra washer if you want to use it with the new lever. No big deal.

I will adjust the part tonight (my garage is so hot these days I can only stay in there in the evening and no more than 90 minutes at a time).

Thanks!

AND oh yes, I have the new decomp shaft to install as well.
 
froggy

as you know the shoulder you have indicated must filed off. i have an old bodyshop file that was originally for body filler. a two minute job!

regards

Taffy
 
yes. as long as the nylock part reaches the thread you should be ok.

regards

Taffy
 
Here is the part after Dremeling and using a smooth sandpaper.
 

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Well, Taffy, I think my friend you were not right, this time, as indeed the new lever does not seem to be modified. What needs to be modified is the new bushing, should you decide to use it.

But I could fix my goof by adding a vinyl washer, that I drilled to fit. New lever fits great after a bit of work on it.

Maybe grinding the end off of the lever and using a vinyl washer, a little more tender than the original plastic, will end in the long run. Just have to check it once in a while.

See photos!
 

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but froggy, you have a different set up to me?

all i had was a nut on the far end so i needed the shouldered bushing to be longer than the blade it goes through. so i had to take off the blade.

now when you tightened it up froggy, could the blade still swing left to right freely?

because it lloks to me like the whole assembly tightens up and th blade is held firmly still. is that correct?

regards

Taffy
 
It is held firmly but still can swing freely. The new bushing is a lot tighter. The old system uses a tiny hex nut at the end that is very easy to lose and a pain to remove as well as put back. Just for that job I had to buy a pair of vise needle pliers.

By the way, when I reassemble the tensioner itself, do I push the blade all the way in or do I back it up all the way, put the spring in, then let it do its job naturally? I guess the latter solution.

Chain is super tight, but turns just fine.
 
This weekend I fitted an 05 Cam chain tensioner blade and tensioner device to my 01 FX470. I used all of the 01 hardware (nut, screw & washer that holds the plastic blade) but did have to modify the plastic blade quite a bit. The width where the attachment screw goes through was ground down about three millimeters or so to match the 01 width. The length was also too long and touching a gear. I sanded off about 3 millimeters of length which took care of that issue. I took it a little further and sanded the ridge of the blade where it contacts/guides the chain smooth as I was not completely sure that it was in alignment and did not want it to guide the cam chain to one side or the other of the cam gear.

I am still assembling the bike but the difference is considerable. The old tensioner was fully extended (a known 01-02 issue) and useless. The cam chain was very very loose. With the modified 05 blade and 05 tensioner it settles in at about 3 clicks of the tensioner.
I had no idea that the chain could be as loose as it was. The tensioner had no discerneable effect on the cam chain. I suspect the motor should be much quieter now.

It sort of looks like the 01 cam chain tensioner blade does not fit squarely against the chain which would mean that the ridge that directs the chain is out of alignment. This might exaccerbate the wear of the 01 aluminum cam gear. As the 01 tensioner and blade have little if any effect on the cam chain this may be a moot issue unless a modified (see owners doc) 01 cam chain tensioner is used.
 
eric

i wholeheartedly concur and saw this problem when i rebuilt mine. it would seem to me that we have to decide where we want the ridge to be on the chain but as you say it runs down one side of links if i recall!

i'll tell you what - they didn't get phuq all right with those '01 -'02 engines did they!!!!!!

the 3mm you had to take off the bottom are because the 400 and 470 share the same stroke/short cases.

well done and i bet you feel that you've done a 'proper'job with that!

regards

Taffy
 
Taffy said:
eric

/short cases.

well done and i bet you feel that you've done a 'proper'job with that!

regards

Taffy
Click to expand...

Thanks. I can't believe that I rode it around all that time with the cam chain slapping around without doing serious damage. I also added 03 rockers, new cylinder gasket all new clutch side cover seals including the updated waterpump bearing/seal gizmo o-ring etc. Now we will finally see how that 550/650 starter will work with a stock 01 decompression bob-weight as the original one had the spring on wrong and never made contact. I have been riding the 05 only but now its time to bring the 01 back to life.
 
i'm not inside the engine (obviously!) but from memory, could the blade have been filled on the other side to make the chain run right? i know i filed mine on the bases of just wanting to make it fit and only upon putting the chain in did i note the problem.

regards

Taffy
 
Taffy said:
i'm not inside the engine (obviously!) but from memory, could the blade have been filled on the other side to make the chain run right? i know i filed mine on the bases of just wanting to make it fit and only upon putting the chain in did i note the problem.

regards

Taffy
Click to expand...

Well, it may be that the additional material on the 05 , as seen on froggy's pic below, blade may have been added to actually bring it into proper alignment? Therefore removing the material from the other side as you have suggested may be the best method. At first I made a spacer and tried to bolt the entire blade up without modification but it seemed to not pivot freely at all. I abandoned a few different ideas and settled on returning the 05 mount position to that of the 01 and just removing the guiding rib. It was easy to remove the correct amount of material (as seen in Froggy"s pic) as it is sort of pre-marked for you. Its difficult to tell where the original blade was tracking on the chain as it barely makes any contact with it (at least in my case). Also the guiding rib on the 05 version seems a millimeter or so taller which further convinced me to remove it or run the risk of poor tracking.

adjusterarm1_400_876.jpg
 
Note that I removed too much. As I am about to install an autoclutch, I will give a quick inspection in there and see how it held after 12 hours of ride (yes, just that, I do not ride as much as I wish).
 
LeFrog said:
Note that I removed too much. As I am about to install an autoclutch, I will give a quick inspection in there and see how it held after 12 hours of ride (yes, just that, I do not ride as much as I wish).
Click to expand...

Nick, did you notice a reduction in engine noise after installing the 05 components?
 
Huh... No... Still sounds like a can of bolts being rattled, but a bit meaner.
 
well it would appear that the '03 and '05 are just about the same but that in some way it has ever so slightly been modified to suit the new pivot screw. i would think that that's the only difference. order the screw, shoulder and nut complete and finally, don't forget to take 3mm off the bottom!

regards

Taffy
 

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