I have an 05' Road King Classic. I only rode a few times this year. The end of last year I noticed that when i really lugged it after it was warmed up, i was hearing a high pitched squeaking. I later replaced the cam chain tensioners (They were due at about 30,000 miles) and it didn't change anything. So, I put a few miles on so far this spring and the squeaking seemed to be getting worse. I got to thinking the other day that i should check the primary drive. I took the cover off today to get an accurate measurement on the primary chain. I realized when i went to turn the crank that the compensator nut was really loose. I see that it gets tightened to 150-165ft lbs. That is really tight! ( i thought the axle was tight at 90-105lbs. How the heck can that come loose? Anyhow, my thought is should i be concerned with any damage that could have occured from it being loose? I am going to have to go on a hunt for a torque wrench that will go up to 150 ft lbs. Hopefully nothing else is warn because of it. Opinions or info? This is the first time i've been on that side of the engine. Thanks!!

 

clean the threads really well and use some red loctite, torque to spec. and after it's running again put a multimeter on the battery and make sure it's charging. sometimes when the comp. comes loose it can take out the splines on the rotor. you could always take it completely apart and inspect everything before hand. if it were me, i would take everything apart and inspect.

 

Pretty common on the early models. Sloppy factory tolerances sometimes allow the compensator nut to "bottom out" so while the specified torque is applied the required clamping pressure to hold the compensator is not achieved and the comp nut will back out and loosen over time. The MoCo recognized this and offered shims in several different thicknesses to address the issue. Before the shims were available, the fix was to mill about .030"-.060" off the end of the comp nut. This would keep the comp nut from bottoming out and the require clamping pressure would be applied with the specified torque.

I don't know if the shims are still available but the easiest fix is to have a machine shop remove .030"-.060" from the end of the comp nut and it will not come loose again.

See the attached sketch for clarification.

 

when you say earlier models what years specific are you speaking of. I have 06 Electra glide and I believe the exact same thing is happening. I believe my compensator nut is bottoming out at about 10 degrees past 75 lbs on the torque wrench. I noticed earlier and I have searched and called people with no luck. Can I add a shim on the outside of my compensator or shave some off the nut

 

The torque procedure has changed with the compensator nut, https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...-bulletin.html.

 

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Yes. That what is typically needed.

 

If I'm reading this correctly one would have to countersink the back of the comp nut, not just mill material off of it?

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I would have to look up the tq value. But my 5 speed and 6 speeds, don't really have a different procedure, that I can tell. Not sure if the comp nut change when the went to 6 speed, I always guessed it did, but don't really know.

I can't figure out how to blow up the pics of the bulletin. So I can't read it.

Why they changed it, is a good question.

You did seem to hear about it on the 88s. Though my 01 has 80, and has not been off since 34k. I checked it a few years ago.

 

Highlight is biggest change is torque to 75 ft/lbs then scribe a line on nut and sprocket. Torque an additional 45-50 degrees past that initial 75 ft/lbs torque. This applies to all 2003 to 2005 twin cam models.