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cam needle bearing failure

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Mike Tracy

New Member
I have a 2005 FXD (45000 miles). The other day I stopped at a red light and heard a grumble then the engine stalled. When I restarted it the oil light stayed on and the grumble turned to a grinding sound. I shut it off right away and called a friend with a trailer. The sound came from the right side and with no oil pressure I knew something went through the oil pump. I removed the cam support plate to get at the oil pump. What I found was very disappointing. The front cam inner needle bearing had disintegrated. needles went into the crank and were scavenged by the oil pump. The inner gerotor was broken into two parts and scored the crank shaft but not to bad. The cam is trash, the pump is trash, and the forward needle bearing is gone. I will replace the bearings the pump and the cams. I will pull the oil pan and flush out the reservoir. Is there a way to flush out the crank case without splitting the cases? Like pulling the front jug flushing and running a magnet through the crank. The engine is stock except for intake and exaust. I'm not happy with a 2 dollar bearing failure causing this much dammage.

Mike
 
Mike,

VERY SORRY to hear about your problem. Those cheap INA bearings that HD use are the problem. No extended warranty I take it.

With all the damage you have, I would strongly suggest splitting the case and ENSURING there are no more bits of needles left in the engine. It would be a terrible shame to do all the work to get the bike back in action only to have one stray bit take the engine out again.

Also, consider upgrading to the roller chain conversion. The kit that Herko sells has the Torrington bearings, a new pump, new plate, new sprockets, hyd. tensioners, roller chains, and all the fasteners. Check out these two links:

Here is some pix of the difference between the INAs and the Torringtons:

Cam Chain Tensioner Bearing Swap. - Harley Davidson Community

Here is some info on the roller chain conversion:

TQ's Engine Build - Harley Davidson Community

Another option is the gear drive. I think Herko provides a kit for that, but not sure what all he has put into that. You might check with him.

Let us know how you do.

TQ
 
I don't have an extended warranty. My wife wants me to get a touring model so she will be more comfortable. I like the roadglide. With that in mind I don't want to put a lot of money in my superglide. I ordered the torington bearings. 14 dollars for the pair. I ordered a set of stock cams slightly used. I'm looking for a good servicable oil pump. That will give me the parts I need but I'm still pondering wether to disasemble the engine or not. I have a couple of ideas on how to flush out the crank. there was nothing in the reservoir so I don't believe anything else got in the engine but some of the needles from the cam bearing. The engine was running fine before the bearing failed. I've heard of bikes going 100,000 miles before any major work was required. I've owened 8 bikes in life and this was one of my favorites. It was reliable and trustworthy and a lot of fun to ride until now. I think I had more fun with my 1973 Triumph but it broke down all the time. The cam chain tensioners are only slightly worn. everything else looks good. I just need to get however many needles there are out of the crank.


Still working on it

Mike
 
OK. Well I have my old set up (cam plate, cams, pump, old nasty tensioners, etc.) still assembled in the garage. You are welcome to it if you want it. You would have to replace the tensioners and the orings on the pump suction and the plate orings. Also, I am taking out the Baisley spring, so you would need to transfer your OEM spring or buy another Baisley.

Let me know if you want it. Just pay the S&H, and it's yours.

TQ
 
Mike, same thing happen to a buddy and the cage to the bearing was inside the crank case, we took the heads and juggs off and put a magnet down in the case and got a bunch of stuff out. He doesn't trust to put it together without spliting the cases to clean and check bearings, good luck:33:
 
Sorry to hear about your trouble. When TQ and others on this forum convinced me to get ride of my spring loaded cam tensioners, I went the distance and with the roller chain conversion replaced the INA bearings with the new Torrington units. The good news is that it's an easy fix. Hope that you get back on the road soon.
 
Has there been any changes to the cam bearings with the new engines? I know they upgraded the cam chains and tensioners but what about the bearings?
 
well I think you dont have to change the brearing as there is not mych load on that by changing or upgrading the cam chains.

But still i would also like to hear from experts about their opinion on this.

Noddy
 
porkchop said:
Has there been any changes to the cam bearings with the new engines? I know they upgraded the cam chains and tensioners but what about the bearings?
Click to expand...

if your going that far change the bearing they are cheap$$
 
Bud White said:
if your going that far change the bearing they are cheap$$
Click to expand...
I wasnt planning on doing anything to my engine, I have the newer style engine allready. its an 06 dyna. I was just reading about these cam bearings and wondering about this issue on the new ones.
 
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