$1,800 Later
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 305
Likes: 10
From: Charlotte, NC
$1,800 Later
Well I just got my 01 Road King back from the dealer last week after $1,800 in repairs! I posted earlier about my cam chain tensioners going bad at 27,000 miles, only 2K after the 25K service I had perormed at the same dealer. I tried everything to get Harley to cover some of the repair cost, to no avail. I did get a call from H-D customer service and at least I got a chance to vent some of my displeasure. My main beef is that Harley does not inform their owners about the potential cam tensioner failure on high mileage Twin Cam engines and advise them to have them inspected during the 20K or 25K service. The explanation I was given was that the cost of the inspection is prohibitive and, thus, they do not advise owners to consider having the inspection performed. This makes no sense to me, in that, I had to pay $1,800 to have my bike repaired when a $150 inspection could have saved me hundreds. Harley should let the owner decide if he wants the inspection and if he chooses not to have it performed then he has himself to blame if damage occurs later. I knew nothing about the cam tensioner issue before my engine failure. I asked in my earlier post if others had the cam chain tensioner problem, but didn't get a lot of feedback. Hopefully, this happens only in isolated cases. I guess I'm just one of the unlucky ones.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,475
Likes: 3
From: Southeast Wisconsin
RE: $1,800 Later
ORIGINAL: highwayking
My main beef is that Harley does not inform their owners about the potential cam tensioner failure on high mileage Twin Cam engines and advise them to have them inspected during the 20K or 25K service.
My main beef is that Harley does not inform their owners about the potential cam tensioner failure on high mileage Twin Cam engines and advise them to have them inspected during the 20K or 25K service.
Sorry to read of your travails. Personally, I would like to see the MOCO do a redesign on the tensioners so this issue can go away for good.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 2,981
Likes: 696
From: N.C.
RE: $1,800 Later
I agree, it seems like the weak link on the motor. Before it was the cam bearings, now a cheap piece of plastic. Sorry for the troubles highwayking.
ORIGINAL: solorider
Sorry to read of your travails. Personally, I would like to see the MOCO do a redesign on the tensioners so this issue can go away for good.
ORIGINAL: highwayking
My main beef is that Harley does not inform their owners about the potential cam tensioner failure on high mileage Twin Cam engines and advise them to have them inspected during the 20K or 25K service.
My main beef is that Harley does not inform their owners about the potential cam tensioner failure on high mileage Twin Cam engines and advise them to have them inspected during the 20K or 25K service.
Sorry to read of your travails. Personally, I would like to see the MOCO do a redesign on the tensioners so this issue can go away for good.
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,460
Likes: 2
From: SouthEast Michigan
RE: $1,800 Later
So why don't they install cam drive gears at the factory? You would think that knowing plastic tensioners will wear out soon, they would have incorporated gears into the engine design by now.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,947
Likes: 5
From: Ontario, Canada
RE: $1,800 Later
ORIGINAL: QT Hush
So why don't they install cam drive gears at the factory? You would think that knowing plastic tensioners will wear out soon, they would have incorporated gears into the engine design by now.
So why don't they install cam drive gears at the factory? You would think that knowing plastic tensioners will wear out soon, they would have incorporated gears into the engine design by now.
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 368
Likes: 0
From: Prior Lake, MN
RE: $1,800 Later
Because then the MoCo and the stealership wouldnât have been able to split up this poor guys 1,800 bucks!
ORIGINAL: QT Hush
So why don't they install cam drive gears at the factory?
So why don't they install cam drive gears at the factory?
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Tourer
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 319
Likes: 0
From: Cape Coral, FL
RE: $1,800 Later
To meet the new Fed Regs on total noise levels, they had to go with a chain on the TC's, gears would not pass.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 5,256
Likes: 5
From: Concord, CA
RE: $1,800 Later
I'm suprised it was so expensive. I guess the info that I have is wrong.
From reading a tech article, I was under the impression that there is a screen located in the motor that keeps a disaster from occuring. If the tensioner fails, there is a HD kit that has all the parts at a reasonable cost.
According to what I read (I'm trying to find the article), there is no reason to check them because you might as well replace them if your going to go through that.
If/When I find it, I will post it. It went into detail about how the dealer wanted to rebuild the motor because of the 'damage' but another dealer brought up the whole screen thing and the cost was much lower. Not cheap, but not anywhere near $1800. First dealer, when presented with the info even refunded the diagnostic costs and apologized for the wrong info, but stated that they will always error on the side of caution.
From reading a tech article, I was under the impression that there is a screen located in the motor that keeps a disaster from occuring. If the tensioner fails, there is a HD kit that has all the parts at a reasonable cost.
According to what I read (I'm trying to find the article), there is no reason to check them because you might as well replace them if your going to go through that.
If/When I find it, I will post it. It went into detail about how the dealer wanted to rebuild the motor because of the 'damage' but another dealer brought up the whole screen thing and the cost was much lower. Not cheap, but not anywhere near $1800. First dealer, when presented with the info even refunded the diagnostic costs and apologized for the wrong info, but stated that they will always error on the side of caution.
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 305
Likes: 10
From: Charlotte, NC
RE: $1,800 Later
ORIGINAL: Rhubarb
I'm suprised it was so expensive. I guess the info that I have is wrong.
From reading a tech article, I was under the impression that there is a screen located in the motor that keeps a disaster from occuring. If the tensioner fails, there is a HD kit that has all the parts at a reasonable cost.
According to what I read (I'm trying to find the article), there is no reason to check them because you might as well replace them if your going to go through that.
If/When I find it, I will post it. It went into detail about how the dealer wanted to rebuild the motor because of the 'damage' but another dealer brought up the whole screen thing and the cost was much lower. Not cheap, but not anywhere near $1800. First dealer, when presented with the info even refunded the diagnostic costs and apologized for the wrong info, but stated that they will always error on the side of caution.
I'm suprised it was so expensive. I guess the info that I have is wrong.
From reading a tech article, I was under the impression that there is a screen located in the motor that keeps a disaster from occuring. If the tensioner fails, there is a HD kit that has all the parts at a reasonable cost.
According to what I read (I'm trying to find the article), there is no reason to check them because you might as well replace them if your going to go through that.
If/When I find it, I will post it. It went into detail about how the dealer wanted to rebuild the motor because of the 'damage' but another dealer brought up the whole screen thing and the cost was much lower. Not cheap, but not anywhere near $1800. First dealer, when presented with the info even refunded the diagnostic costs and apologized for the wrong info, but stated that they will always error on the side of caution.
In addition to the cam chains, bearings, tensioner kits, oil pump, gaskets, etc. I had an oil leak at the rear cylinder base that resulted in the engine having to be pulled and the cases split. While the dealer said there was no connection with the cam tensioner failure, I had no such leak before the failure. Total labor was $1,200 of the $1,800 cost. BTW, I switched to synthetic oil with the repairs. I had used non-synthetic Harley oil exclusively.