Cam Chain Question

 Happy independence day y'all.

OK, so what's do cam chain tensioners that are going out sound like?
I've believe that the "noise" I hear is new (started hearing it while
on a trip to CA a few weeks ago).  It's a marbles in the engine kind
of a sound... one that might actually be normal, especially if the
engine were an EVO, but I didn't notice it over the last two years, so
I'm calling bullshit on that theory. And now today, after a 50 mile
ride to celebrate my freedom, I think I'm getting a little bit of an
odd whine which seems to be engine related.  

Just over 20k miles on an 04.

Tomorrow I'll pull the bike out and start with the stethoscope, but I
wondered if what I'm describing might sound like the dreaded POS cam
chain tensioner issue.  If so, I might be doing those geared cams
sooner than I had hoped.
--
Curly LaJolla AH#117 BS#107
04 FLHTPI Cop Bike
The party never ends.

 
Have you considered the HD hydraulic cam chain tensioner upgrade? It would
probably be cheaper and less noisy.

--
Wakko  NTXNS TOMKAT PHS BS#257

 
I just did the S&S geardrives last week and they are quieter for the most
part than the oe chaindrive was. YMMV

--
Rob, BS #282 06 FLHTC

 '05 Ultra Classic

The only way to know for sure to to open her up and take a look. Remove the
front head pipe, the foot board and the cam chest cover. Usually the inner
tensioner dies first. The inner is hard to get a good look at, but if you
squint, and hold your tongue just right you can see it good enough.
When the tensioners start making bad noises, it is too late already. You
need to catch them before that point. When the tensioners fall they can
totally screw up you engine.
As to the suggestion of the new style tensioners, I think they are the way
to go, very few failures, and people that have opened up engines with some
miles on them say that the tensioners have little wear on them. You can
upgrade with the '07 and up factory parts, and Andrews conversion cams, or
the factory sells a kit to up grade the tensioners, and run the stock cams.
If you are planning on a set of cams any way I would go with the stock '07
stuff and Andrews cams. I went this way on my '05 and so far so good.

--
PoorUB

 Curly LaJolla wrote:

  Mine got noisy but it was the inner cam bearings and cam wear. Not to
say the tensioners weren't worn but they weren't worn completely out at
25K. The cams were though.


  nobody #1