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88 Chain Cam Tensioners Question

slayer said:
Funny this post comes when it did. My friend who has ridden H.D. for most of his life just told me about this issue a few weeks ago. He is very concerned about what shape his tensioners are in. Apparently, it is not the chain that is the issue it is the tensioners. Some have worn out before 10,000 never mind what some have been quoting. Not easy to check without getting into some serious disassembly of your ride. Would be nice to know what H.D. has to say about this.
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They will say it is your problem. MTBF is all over the board. Have heard about some that have nuked befor 10k miles, and then some folks that have 6 figures on theirs!! But regardless, it is NOT the optimal design, and people should check their tensioners at least annually IMHO.

It is not a big deal to check them, or even replace them should that be required. See the appropriate stuff in my post here:

TQ's Engine Build - Harley Davidson Community

When just checking the condition of the tensioners, you may not need to remove the front header. Just cut down an Allen wrench so you can get on the screws behind the pipe. Would be good to have a catch pan and paper towels draped over the frame to prevent the oil mess from making clean-up harder!!

TQ
 
Hey just cut open your oil filter and look for orange chunks... when you see the chunks you know whats going on...
 
i've seen some bikes with 50k miles and the original tensioners, with no need to replace. and some with 20k and they where shot. the oil makes a difference. the one that where fine had Amsoil, the bad ones had HD or syn3. It's not an easy job but with average skills you can do it.
Change to adjustable pushrods and go hydrolic. best way is go gear driven cams
 
from what i've read/seen the guys that put allot of touring miles on don't seem to run into the tensioner blues as often as the bar hopping/take off wide open from every red light guys....so that tells me if you run your engine hard every time you ride CHECK your tensioners if you put allot of road miles on and don't hit the rev limiter every ride your allot less likely to hand grenade your engine due to plastic parts floating around your oil system.i'm swapping over my WG this winter just for peace of mind+i want a sett of 26 grind andrews cams ....
 
I went the gear drive route a couple of weeks ago and so far, I'm glad I did.

My outer tensioner was deeply worn and didn't have long to live; the inner one was only slightly worn. This seems to be backwards from most, but that's what it was. (Around 43,000 miles.)

I got S&S cams, adj. pushrods, new lifters, new bearings all around, and the gears, plus all labor, for $1400. Not cheap, but if you plan on keeping the bike, you shouldn't ever have to worry about your cams and their tensioners again. That's worth some bucks to me.
 
It's not as bad as it seems. I have what I consider to be average mechanical skills. I did the roller chain conversion, adjustable pushrods, Andrews 26N cams, Arlen Ness Big Sucker air cleaner, TFI, and the various gaskets and tools that you need for about $900. I see an advertisement from Andrews that they have a "kit" put together to make this transition easier. TQ, from this forum, did a great workup on this very conversion, complete with pics. Check it out.
 
I hope this is okay to post here but here goes.

Check out these two

Cam Change

HarleyHogs Cam Bearing Install

They were very useful to me when I changed mine out this past Winter. Have an 02 Deuce. Got over 40K with tensioners. One had some very noticable wear, the other was worn but not all that bad. Replaced with same that I got for a good bargain. If I have to do it again, oh well, got adjustable push-rods now.........

BTW, my mileage, close to 50K now probaly 50-50 in the bar-hopping/extended trips type of riding.

Hope this helps! :Dennis
 
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