Bought my '04 FXDLI in February with 34,000 miles. Have ridden at least another 1000 since then. Its past time to inspect the tensioners and see what's there - are they worn out, have they been replaced recently, were they upgraded to the newer hydraulic system (can dream can't I?).

Anyway, I removed the 10 cover bolts but the cover is stuck on. Tried beating on it with a rubber mallet some but decided it is best to ask before I screw something up. How can I get the stuck cover released?

 

Beat some more or get something like a blade in there maybe a 1 sided razor blade.. once it starts to go it will let go....

 

And screw 2 screws back in a couple of threads worth so when the cover lets go, it doesn't crash to the ground.

 

Damn son, that's smart...Country smart...NC country that is...You almost past the break in point on old Fugly have you... i am trying to catch up.

 

Yep...

 

Well thank you...An yeah she just went passed 126,000 miles this week so I'm ordering new lifters and rocker gaskets tonight. The Black Ops have been in there for 2 1/2 years and 45,000 miles now ( that's when I installed the gear drive cams.) She still runs like she did when I got her more than 5 years ago and I want to keep her runnin' that way.

 

Well, being country smart, I would think that if you are going to open it up anyway, just replace them now and be done with it...no sense to go to all that work just to put it back together leaving worn tensioners that have 35K miles on them that you are going to have to replace eventually anyway...

 

Could be good thinking but I don't have the tools or know-how to do it. And who knows, maybe they were replaced before I bought it? I just want to take a look so I have a baseline.

 

There are several good youtube vids on this...along with a couple of really bad ones. It doesn't look like it takes any special tools unless you need to change the bearings.

I got lucky...I had the dealer look at the tensioners in my '01 that has 35K+ miles as part of another warranty job that I has having taken care of...they were pretty worn and the HD dealer recommended replacing them because they are a known problem area. Since it was not coming out of my pocket directly and I am planning some long rides this summer, I told them to go for it. One less thing to worry about, ya know.

 

Common problem. Take a sharp putty knife. Make sure it is centered in the gap and hit it with a rubber mallet. as you look at the cover, about 11:00 position works best for me. It will wedge between the two sides, into the gasket, and turn lose.
Just make sure you aren't driving the putty knife into the metal. Go buy a new gasket before you start. they are $7-$8.