I have a 2000 RK. 22000 miles on it. When i had 19000 miles i removed the cam cover and checked the tensioners. the outside tensioner was fine but I had a hard time seeing the inside one. I used a small mirror but didn,t get a good look. The reason i checked the tensioners was because I was getting a loud chain noise. Like a chain saw when you rev.it up and let off on the gas and the chain spins down. I hear it when i am riding down the road. I know harleys are loud but this seems to loud. I also use a syn. oil. My ? is does that sound like bad tensioners? And what does it take to chainge them my self? Do I need to remove the pushrods? I have a manual but it doesn't spell it out for me. Maby I am missing somthing in the print.

 

I would check the primary chain first. It is easier to get to and could make that type of noise. If it is ok, then check the tensioners again. The rear tensioner can be lifted off of the chain using a screwdriver so it is easier to see the contact area. If they need replacing, I would proceed with caution. It isn't a hard job, but it is a bit involved. Yes, you have to remove the pushrods, which required removing the rockers. There are quite a few specific tools for the cam chest which make the job easier. Some with a lot of experience can get through the job without them, but for us beginners, they are essential. If you aren't absolutely sure about what you are doing, get a pro to do it. Doing it wrong can have disasterous results.

 

Thank you for the reply Seminolebagger. I went to a local indy yesterday. He quoted me defferent prices for different levels of replacements. $500 FOR JUST THE TENSIONERS $1500 for cam plate,hyd. tensioners,and oil pump. Also 1800 for a gear drive cam set if the runout is in tolerances. Do those prices seem fair?

 

Do the labor yourself and save a boatload of money. If you do not ahve the skills find a friend who is willing to help. That seems about accurate for what a shop would charge. We did our tensioners, adjustable pushrods and all with the old cam plate for about $400. It's probably about 300 more for thenew setup parts and all.

 

ASK your Harley Mechanic about the possibility of cam bearings failing. I understand that earlier model TC88s had premature failure of inner cam bearings- ask a Harley Mech for details. The rear cam to sprocket interface design was changed somewhere in taht time period too ( from a KEY to a SPLINE). ALSO "Effective December 14, 1999, a new rear cam roller bearing assembly has been installed in both Twin Cam 88 and Cam 88B engines" (HD Service Bulletin M-1097).

This may be an opportunity (albiet expensive) to upgrade your cam chest using the more robust designs ( bearings and cam spline). If you have a manual, torque wrench, loctite, a chest full of tools and you are a pretty good wrench, you could do it yourself. Lots of info on internet by people that have done it.

Did the $1500 job include a new cam? It should have IMO. It cost me about $900 n parts when i did it (hybrid cam plate,hyd. tensioners, oil pump, SE adjustable pushrods) and included andrews cam and $90 for tool rental/ shipping.

You do have to remove the pushrods but you can cut them out and install adjustables instead of removing covers and rockr arms.

If you are a pretty good wrench, sounds like a minimum savings of $600 if you DIY- and you get a new cam and all new bearings.

 

I bought the bike last Oct. from Southeast harley dealership. I got in touch with the original owner, he told me when the bike was new he had the bearings replaced an a new cam set installed. He said there was a warranty issue with the bearings at that time. The cams were andrews tw26. He wasn't sure they replaced the tensioners at that time. If I go with the gear cam setup a mid rpm range cam set would be included. I would be keeping my Andrews cams if I go with the hyd. tensioners

 

Being the owner of one of the very first Twin Cams to roll off the line, I will tell you the cam bearing story from experience. These motors started falling apart right out of the gate. Early excuses were the "manufacturer" of the bearing had skimped, but after the dust started to settle we all discovered the problem was with the ball bearings. The rear bearing takes all the load from the pull of the outer drive chain and the pull of the inner chain to drive the front cam. They had just plain not tested this properly and if they had, these would have failed in testing. That fix was to install a roller bearing in place of the ball bearing on the rear cam and that stronger bearing has solved that problem. Like noted above, they also had issues with the drive gear attachments and also corrected that problem. Harley gave a 5-year warranty on all the early Twin Cams, but they rarely broke down within walking distance of a dealership, always out in the middle of Montana or some other remote location (don't mean a thing as I love Montana). Many people pushed for a recall then, but never got one. My bearings failed around 10,000 miles, but luckily to the guy I had sold it to. The bike I have now was obtained from a friend, who had lost his bearing at around 15,000...and I could go on-and-on-and-on about failures within a 100-mile radius of my house alone.. On the positive side, I just inspected my tensioners after 38,000 and they are showing little wear. It seems to be a bike-to-bike thing. I have seen them cut down to the metal at 15-20K and then have folks report they had over 40,000 miles on them with no appreciable wear. Keeping good clean oil in there changed at low intervals has to help. I rarely let mine go past 2,500 miles and I think 5,000 is just a dream. I plan to check mine again here in another 10-15,000 miles. I do not plan to spend the bucks for the hydraulic set-up or a gear-drive until I see something serious going on. As for the larger pump in that hydraulic kit...that is a good thing. You need the added pressure to keep the tensioners pumped up. Actually, that entire kit seems to be priced very reasonably and one can be had for around $365,
which includes the larger pump. I just don't see any need to do it for fun, as I understand the only claim is the tensioner shoes will "last longer" and if I can continue to get 40-50K out of the stock ones, I will wear the thing out long before I would ever benefit from the upgrade.

I actually feel a bit lucky to have a very early twin cam. It have a stage II and ported heads/intake runner and it really runs great, except for the noise, which is a whole different story. Many changes have been made to this platform over the years, some good and some real bad. If you poke around and read about some of the changes to the TC in later years...you will be concerned about all sorts of other problems besides cam bearings and chain tensioners.

 

Excellent post 1550!
tut, the cam you have is a great bagger cam- save your money- keep the cam. I would prob. go hydraulic before I went gear drive. If your crank runout is greater than .003" you dont wanna run gears anyway.... Great news on the bearings too.

Do keep us posted, whatever you decide and post a pic of your old tensioners.

 

There are many of us out here that went through the early twin cam experiences and could share a lot. As I sit here and think about it, the twin cam has been in production now for 10-years and that has to be a testament to it's durability. Of course, the other reason that it, and even the Harley Davidson name is still around is because people like us purchase them and that's all we will ever own. It's like when I want to kick my dog..I kick my dog, but nobody else better ever try to kick my dog. I have a riding buddy that has over 145,000 miles on his dresser and has had one set of tensioners installed...that's it. You just don't normally hear about a lot of things wearing out on one. It just has a very weak link in the timing chest. Timing chains and tensioner-shoes are certainly nothing new in engines. They just had too little space to deal with them in the twin cam timing chest.

I have studied the cam gear option and it's a good idea. The Shovel and the EVO both were gear driven and the Sportster still is, but they were designed and built for it. Like stated, the first thing you have to make sure of is that your crank was machined to very accurate tolerances with a very small run-out. If you just stick the gear drive on the end of the crank without concern, the least you may expect will be an obnoxious whining noise and the worst could be a cracked engine case. Either could still become a possibility down the road as bearings wear. I am not trying to scare anybody here or start some argument about gear drives. I don't think there is a thing in the world wrong with them other than being a bit expensive and the care that should be taken to install them.

 

Maybe I should have put it differently. I did my cam change myself. As I said, wasn't that hard. It was my first one so I went slow and followed the manual to the letter. Just from the questions asked, it seem that maybe he should study the procedure a bit more before jumping in. With the experience I have been having lately with shops, I will probably be doing a lot more of my own work.