Cam Tensioners chewed up Oil Pump?
- Thread starter Zelda The Welder
- Start date
2000classic
Active Member
Just want to add, this happened to brother-inlaws bike. I didn't have time to do full tear down. We decided to go into cam cavity, clean and repair. As extra precaution, I removed the oil pan. There were indeed pieces of tensioner in the pan. That was 30k miles ago and bike is still running strong.
Zelda The Welder
Member
It took myself and my husband 5 month, but I finally have an outcome: my 2002 Twin Cam Ultra and I rode to work this morning!
The first thing we did was send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs. It came back with a perfect, no issues report.
After much research and a few conversations, we opted to replace the original with the S&S Gear Drive Cam Kit. We purchased it from J&P Cycle, who gave us great customer service and a good price.
I went on EBay and found some of the specialty tools we needed to pull and insert the inner bearings. A friend of ours had a dial indicator he loaned to us for checking the run out on the pinon shaft (we checked this before purchasing the kit). He also let us us the small hand cranked press in his garage to press the new bearings into the new cam plate.
We spent a few hours almost every Saturday in our garage, working on each stage. When we got stuck or confused, we paused, read the service manual, watched YouTube video instructions and rechecked our work.
We put in fresh oil and filter, new spark plugs.
After getting the cam kit, new push rods installed, we still had to get the original, stock exhaust back on. This required another parts order and actually was quite a fight to get the headers to seat up into the ports.
Then it was time to fire up the bike, which she did on the second press of the starter. Having not rode the bike for at least 8 months, I was a bit nervous to go for the first test ride! But we headed out for a 10 minute cruise around the neighborhood.
When I returned, the bike was smoking. We wiped everything down, looking for leaks. We were tired and again decided to pause.
The inner, front push rod o ring had not seated, we believe, after returning and checking with fresh eyes and energy.
I took the bike out for another test ride, this time longer and a bit on the freeway. Arriving home, we didn't find any leaks.
This morning was a better test, riding to work.
So, we are hoping for the best, that the cam chain tensioner shoes that chewed up inside the chest didn't cause any damage to the cylinders. I'm going to ride some more miles, do another oil test.
In the meantime, this was great encouragement that I might be able to keep my old bike with me as we both age, hopefully gracefully
Thanks to the community for the encouragement.
The first thing we did was send an oil sample to Blackstone Labs. It came back with a perfect, no issues report.
After much research and a few conversations, we opted to replace the original with the S&S Gear Drive Cam Kit. We purchased it from J&P Cycle, who gave us great customer service and a good price.
I went on EBay and found some of the specialty tools we needed to pull and insert the inner bearings. A friend of ours had a dial indicator he loaned to us for checking the run out on the pinon shaft (we checked this before purchasing the kit). He also let us us the small hand cranked press in his garage to press the new bearings into the new cam plate.
We spent a few hours almost every Saturday in our garage, working on each stage. When we got stuck or confused, we paused, read the service manual, watched YouTube video instructions and rechecked our work.
We put in fresh oil and filter, new spark plugs.
After getting the cam kit, new push rods installed, we still had to get the original, stock exhaust back on. This required another parts order and actually was quite a fight to get the headers to seat up into the ports.
Then it was time to fire up the bike, which she did on the second press of the starter. Having not rode the bike for at least 8 months, I was a bit nervous to go for the first test ride! But we headed out for a 10 minute cruise around the neighborhood.
When I returned, the bike was smoking. We wiped everything down, looking for leaks. We were tired and again decided to pause.
The inner, front push rod o ring had not seated, we believe, after returning and checking with fresh eyes and energy.
I took the bike out for another test ride, this time longer and a bit on the freeway. Arriving home, we didn't find any leaks.
This morning was a better test, riding to work.
So, we are hoping for the best, that the cam chain tensioner shoes that chewed up inside the chest didn't cause any damage to the cylinders. I'm going to ride some more miles, do another oil test.
In the meantime, this was great encouragement that I might be able to keep my old bike with me as we both age, hopefully gracefully
Thanks to the community for the encouragement.
Attachments
ThunderRogue
Active Member
Love hearing stuff like this! Very happy for you! Thanks for the write up.
Good job, thanks for the update.
liquid_wrench
Well-Known Member
Glad to hear it worked out well for you, congratulations and thank you for letting us know.
dolt
Well-Known Member
I knew anyone with "Zelda the Welder" as handle could DIY this repair. Not sure why there was an issue reinstalling the exhaust but it got done. Gear driven cams was a great choice; no more tensioner issues ever.
I am curious what cams were installed? I tried to read what was stamped on the "nose" of the front cam but couldn't make it out.
Anyway; kudos on a job well done. Along with the follow on oil analysis, compression and leak down tests would be a good idea to establish a baseline for future reference.
I am curious what cams were installed? I tried to read what was stamped on the "nose" of the front cam but couldn't make it out.
Anyway; kudos on a job well done. Along with the follow on oil analysis, compression and leak down tests would be a good idea to establish a baseline for future reference.
Zelda The Welder
Member
I knew anyone with "Zelda the Welder" as handle could DIY this repair. Not sure why there was an issue reinstalling the exhaust but it got done. Gear driven cams was a great choice; no more tensioner issues ever.
I am curious what cams were installed? I tried to read what was stamped on the "nose" of the front cam but couldn't make it out.
Anyway; kudos on a job well done. Along with the follow on oil analysis, compression and leak down tests would be a good idea to establish a baseline for future reference.
Good Morning doIt, I used the S&S Cycle 509G Standard Gear Drive Cam Chest Kit .
We struggled with the exhaust mostly because we put in new Exhaust Gasket Kit with Tapered Profile Gaskets which made it a challenge to get the headers seated up into the ports and the nuts threaded on. Plus, the new muffler clamps didn't have the one clamp with a slot for the crossover pipe support bracket.