[jammer45u]

Do your friend a favor, tell him to quit looking for reasons to put it off and get that cam chest upgraded asap. Pad wear isn’t the only issue. Cheap, weak inner cam bearings the factory installed have failed under heavy spring pressure from stock tensioners causing complete engine failure.
Check crankshaft runout while you’re in there. Then you’ll know if that motor is worth keeping.

 

[HDfatbagger]

Thanks for the replies. Speaking of the OEM material, I read somewhere also (long time ago, can't find it now) that Harley used a pad made from different material on the 2006 bikes. That just a rumor??

Don't know of any changes to the spring tensioner pads from the OEM, however 06 was the first year for the hydraulic tensioners, which are a different compound, but in 06 they were only in the dyna models, Then all models in 07.

 

[Dirty Rick]

This issue is likely dirty oil or high temps, I used to run 2 rental fleets and we did not see these problems due to oil coolers installed and frequent oil changes.
You can imagine how rental bikes get treated, so I take this as a clue.

 

[hd4evr2008]

This issue is likely dirty oil or high temps, I used to run 2 rental fleets and we did not see these problems due to oil coolers installed and frequent oil changes.
You can imagine how rental bikes get treated, so I take this as a clue.

So, your rental bikes with coolers and frequent oil changes didn't have any tensioner issues?

 

[norm9278]

There are more theories on the cause of tensioner failure than you can count. Failure is extremely expensive. Pulling the cam cover is a Saturday morning and maybe 3 beers. If you use a little bit of caution you can even get away with reusing the gasket. The hardest part is getting the exhaust out of the way.
Just get it done!

Sent from my water damaged bag phone

 

[Marinemark]

Not my own bike but I just tore down an 03 with 25 thousand miles on it and the rear tensioner was metal to metal on one side, the oil pump had obviously pulled some junk through it at some point and the rear outer cam bearing was spun in the plate, I am replacing the whole works with an SE plate with the new style pump. I have taken a few others apart and seen some with less wear and more mileage and vice versa, the only thing I have noticed is that some cam tensioners definately seem to have more spring pressure than others, If I ever get the time I would like to set some different ones up on an old camplate and test the spring pressure with a scale. Spoke with a tech at a local small dealership and he said they had done about a dozen sets last year due to failure and he said he feels it is just the tip of the iceberg, a lot of these bikes built early in the decade dont get ridden much and are now just getting up in mileage where problems will start to show up.

I have a 2012- ultra classic. At 70k I decided to install a woods tw- 222. The cam tensioner was worn down so I replaced it, push rods, tappets and cam bearings. I'm at 77k know and everything running good.

 

[hd4evr2008]

Your bike didn't have the tensioner issues. HD upgraded to hydraulic on the 2006 dynas, and the rest in 2007.

 

[<G Man>]

I have a 2012- ultra classic. At 70k I decided to install a woods tw- 222. The cam tensioner was worn down so I replaced it, push rods, tappets and cam bearings. I'm at 77k know and everything running good.

Replaced "it"? I thought Twinkies had 2 cams and 2 cam chain tensioners.

 

[Larry101]

I would be really interested on who has actually had a cam chain tensioner failure, what year of bike and how many miles. Also was it covered under warranty. It does not have to be a catastrophic failure can include worn beyond factory specs.

It would be interesting to see if there is a pattern that developes.

I had a 2003 Ultra with 40,000 miles that was beyond factory specs and replaced under extended warranty in 2005.

Doug

I have a 99 wideglide I purchased about 4 yrs ago it has 10000 miles on it I had put 2000 miles on it when it developed a knock It sounded like a piston knock I tore apart the front jug then the rear to find they were in good condition, I then pulled the cam cover the outer looked good I then pulled the can plate sure enough the inner was torn up I didn't the upgrade put the 07 can plate hi vol oil pump new rings it know started to rattle at 30000 miles I've checked what I could with out tearing down the engine I'm afraid that will be soon

 

[Larry101]

On my earlier post the inner tensioner had fallen apart to pieces

 

[rootintootin]

What we really want to know is if it was covered under warranty.

And did you read all 35 pages of this thread to see if and where your experience fits in the pattern?

While you were replacing all that cam chest stuff, did you replace the inner cam bearings? 99 TCs had problems with them.

Also, how much of a clean out of the pieces did you do? They could have been scattered to a lot of places. Not likely they would wait for 20K miles to cause a problem, but possible.

BTW, welcome to the forum. I hope it's something simple like lifters or maybe a little wear in the rockers.

 

[Mosebeaf78]

I would be really interested on who has actually had a cam chain tensioner failure, what year of bike and how many miles. Also was it covered under warranty. It does not have to be a catastrophic failure can include worn beyond factory specs.

It would be interesting to see if there is a pattern that developes.

I had a 2003 Ultra with 40,000 miles that was beyond factory specs and replaced under extended warranty in 2005.

Doug

2001 heritage Softail classic twin cam 88 cam chain tentioner exploded. 88.000 miles

 

[CarlosGGodfrog]

I installed a SE cam plate and Hydro tensioners about 3000 miles ago. The tensioners froze up. Not covered by warranty. Luckily, they are available separately.

 

[<G Man>]

I installed a SE cam plate and Hydro tensioners about 3000 miles ago. The tensioners froze up. Not covered by warranty. Luckily, they are available separately.

Froze up?

Does "Hydro" = "hydraulic"?

Separately from what?

 

[CarlosGGodfrog]

Yes, the hydraulic piston stopped moving. Dealer sells the assembly separately for the inner and outer from the cam plate.

 

[tinman1960]

I have Feuling cam chain tensioners in my 2011 FLHRKC. Had them installed when my Woods TW-222 cams were put in

 

[<G Man>]

Yes, the hydraulic piston stopped moving. Dealer sells the assembly separately for the inner and outer from the cam plate.

So, the tensioners you installed 3,000 miles ago froze up? That seems ironic. Were you replacing the original tensioners? How many miles did they last?

 

[CarlosGGodfrog]

I replaced the whole cam plate with the Hydraulic one and got rid of the spring one. Luckily HD sells the tensioner assembly as a replacement item. We think ? that moisture in the cam crest did not burn off. (too many short trips) It took a pair of pliers to free up the inner piston assembly. We replaced both inner and outer, as the outer was almost as stiff.