Warning: Long post! (and cross-posted at hdtalking).

Hello all. I'm worrying about this and I'm hoping someone has experienced the same thing and can tell me not to worry or what to adjust.

Some background: I just replaced the cam chain tensioners and push rods on my 2001 FXD Superglide. I went with the stock shoes because I didn't have the money to put into the upgraded system. I cut the old solid pushrods and installed new Screamin Eagle adjustable rods.

I did most of the tear down myself using the shop manual and the web, but had a local Harley service department pull the cams and bearings out of the plate and replace the tensioners, shoes and the outer bearings. I did not do the inner bearings, and I don't know what type of bearings the dealer put in the cam support plate. I put it all back together and installed the pushrods according the directions.

Now, I notice that my bike does not have the same feeling of torque when I open the throttle. It used to feel like I was being pulled off the bike, now it's much more smooth (not a bad feeling, just different). I'm also feeling much less vibration overall (again, not bad just different). There may be more valve noise, but this could just be my imagination. I also can't tell if my acceleration is the same as before either. I think the bike is a little slower, but that could just be the lack of torque that I'm feeling.

tl;dr: I replaced the cam chain tensioners and pushrods and now the bike feels slower and less torquey.

Any thoughts?

 

My thoughts...if the bike is otherwise running fine (smooth), you didn't mess up cam timing. Other than that, I can't imagine what you did that would cause it to lose power unless you screwed up the O ring on the oil pump causing it to sump.

 

Thanks. Would there be any other symptoms of a messed up O ring?

As I was replacing the cam support plate, I tapped the plate with a rubber mallet (gently) to get it to seat. I think it was the connection to the oil pump that was causing the difficulty in putting the plate back in place.

 

Further research indicates that you are probably right. I checked my oil this morning after my commute and found it to be a little frothy--another sign of oil sumping. I'll be doing a little more investigating but it looks like I'll be pulling everything apart again.

 

You may find that it runs hotter if it's sumping.

 

Stro, thank you so much!

I replaced the o-rings for the pump and plate and realigned the oil pump. Bike now runs like it did--torquey and fast!

Lesson: if you pulled your cams or plate for any reason be sure to put in new o-rings and seat the plate carefully. Also be sure to realign your oil pump.

Thanks again!

edit: also be sure to align the gerotors in the oil pump with the flat spot of the crankshaft. I was having a tough time getting the plate to seat until I checked this.

 

Good lesson learned. I speak from experience, it's always the small **** that will come back and bite ya!

 

No problem! Sorry about all the extra work!