Glad I didnt listen
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 620
From: Pittsburgh suburb
Glad I didnt listen
Well....Ill try & keep it short, bought my 02 heritage in 2014 with 9800 miles on her, knew the owner & after a divorce he just needed to sell. so, in July of this year while at my local dealer getting an inspection done I ask about Cam chain tensioners.
the bike has just north of 16,000 miles so I'm thinking an inspection? well the counter person brings out the guru of cam installs & he begins to tell me, "you`re wasting your money", "not even broke in yet", "don't believe all the online BS", "that bikes an infant - just ride it"
So, I'm thinking maybe I'm prematurely worrying about nothing, you hear these things going at all different mileages & such...... Well this past week end I was bored & here in western Pa its kinda crappy out (10deg now) so I decide to inspect the tensioners with hope that their ok.
Front chain tensioner was worn so bad that the rivets on the side of the chain were actually wearing on the ridges the chain had made, My 75 year old dad stops in to check it out (cause this is what gear head dads do & having owned Harley`s he wanted to see what the moco did different from the pan head years) & as he`s looking at the tensioner he rubs his thumb on the outer ridge & broke the ridge off.
He looked at me & said what the F@#$ kind of a system is this? I laugh, we have a beer & I'm back to wrenching, inner tensioner was worn but no where near the outer one. Taking that tensioner to the dealer tomorrow & gonna ask for the arrogant, cocky cam guy to tell me what happened after all its in its infancy right?
On the positive side I anticipated the worst & now I am in cam chest upgrade mode - So anyone with a TC 88 if you`re on the fence with inspecting these things this might nudge you to do so this winter.
As a side note: I thought they put the Timken inner cam bearings in 02`s? mine had the INA bearings - glad I caught this disaster before it happened!
Ride safe all
the bike has just north of 16,000 miles so I'm thinking an inspection? well the counter person brings out the guru of cam installs & he begins to tell me, "you`re wasting your money", "not even broke in yet", "don't believe all the online BS", "that bikes an infant - just ride it"
So, I'm thinking maybe I'm prematurely worrying about nothing, you hear these things going at all different mileages & such...... Well this past week end I was bored & here in western Pa its kinda crappy out (10deg now) so I decide to inspect the tensioners with hope that their ok.
Front chain tensioner was worn so bad that the rivets on the side of the chain were actually wearing on the ridges the chain had made, My 75 year old dad stops in to check it out (cause this is what gear head dads do & having owned Harley`s he wanted to see what the moco did different from the pan head years) & as he`s looking at the tensioner he rubs his thumb on the outer ridge & broke the ridge off.
He looked at me & said what the F@#$ kind of a system is this? I laugh, we have a beer & I'm back to wrenching, inner tensioner was worn but no where near the outer one. Taking that tensioner to the dealer tomorrow & gonna ask for the arrogant, cocky cam guy to tell me what happened after all its in its infancy right?
On the positive side I anticipated the worst & now I am in cam chest upgrade mode - So anyone with a TC 88 if you`re on the fence with inspecting these things this might nudge you to do so this winter.
As a side note: I thought they put the Timken inner cam bearings in 02`s? mine had the INA bearings - glad I caught this disaster before it happened!
Ride safe all
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,181
Likes: 488
From: Central California
It's a dang good thing you didn't listen!
When I bought my Deluxe, it had 42,000 miles and I inspected tensioners a couple thousand miles later. They were good. Really good. I assumed they were probably replaced fairly recently. Fast forward 12,000 miles and another inspection. Still good, but not as good. I decided to change 'em out so as not to worry. Well, one thing leads to another, and the next thing ya know, I'm putting gear drive cams in it.
"One less thing to worry about" I convince my self. Along with that came new lifters, adjustable pushrods, rocker lockers, inner and outer cam bearings, a valve job on the heads....
So it's all done now. It's got a pleasant whine from the gear drive, and a lot of the top end noise I had before is reduced.
At this point tho, I'm kinda wishing I just woulda changed the tensioner shoes and left the stock cams in place, as I'm now trying to find a decent tune. When it runs really good, it's getting quite a bit less fuel mileage than before. (of course that might be due to cranking the right grip a bit more too!)
It'll get sorted. A lot of time before spring to "git 'er done."
When I bought my Deluxe, it had 42,000 miles and I inspected tensioners a couple thousand miles later. They were good. Really good. I assumed they were probably replaced fairly recently. Fast forward 12,000 miles and another inspection. Still good, but not as good. I decided to change 'em out so as not to worry. Well, one thing leads to another, and the next thing ya know, I'm putting gear drive cams in it.
"One less thing to worry about" I convince my self. Along with that came new lifters, adjustable pushrods, rocker lockers, inner and outer cam bearings, a valve job on the heads....
So it's all done now. It's got a pleasant whine from the gear drive, and a lot of the top end noise I had before is reduced.
At this point tho, I'm kinda wishing I just woulda changed the tensioner shoes and left the stock cams in place, as I'm now trying to find a decent tune. When it runs really good, it's getting quite a bit less fuel mileage than before. (of course that might be due to cranking the right grip a bit more too!)
It'll get sorted. A lot of time before spring to "git 'er done."
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,814
Likes: 5,120
From: SW Ohio
2002 has a Timken CRANK bearing on the left side. Not cam bearings, inner or outer. You need B148 inner bearings and Cyco shoes. If the oil pump isn't hurt I wouldn't change that either.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 620
From: Pittsburgh suburb
ah its the crank bearing that's Timken, how nice use a quality part in one area & junk INA bearings in another - mix n match.
yeah I'm going with the torringtons, all is good with the pump as I caught it before anything went sour. going with the roller chain conversion set up by woods, woods lifters, woods cams & fuelmoto adjustable push rods.
I plan on keeping the bike for a while so I figure ill do it up right, nothing drastic cam wise just a little bump from stock. be interesting to see what the Dealer Cam Tech says when I show him the tensioner, If I would of got a 100 miles out of that tensioner id be lucky & to know it was like that I wouldn't even ride it.
But on the positive - caught it, will fix it & enjoy riding it!
yeah I'm going with the torringtons, all is good with the pump as I caught it before anything went sour. going with the roller chain conversion set up by woods, woods lifters, woods cams & fuelmoto adjustable push rods.
I plan on keeping the bike for a while so I figure ill do it up right, nothing drastic cam wise just a little bump from stock. be interesting to see what the Dealer Cam Tech says when I show him the tensioner, If I would of got a 100 miles out of that tensioner id be lucky & to know it was like that I wouldn't even ride it.
But on the positive - caught it, will fix it & enjoy riding it!
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 27,233
Likes: 31,641
From: Florida
Did the gear/cam conversion on my 2000 FXSTS. Running the Andrews 26... love it. If you hadn't ridden it before the swap, you'd never know it was there. Set up the way the factory should have done it
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 3,293
Likes: 3,519
From: PA
I did the Harley screaming eagle cam plate upgrade with Comp cams Vthunder lifters, Andrews 48H cams..Harley pushrods and a PC# USB tuner ny fuel Moto with their map in it on my 05 fatboy and the bike runs like an ape!! I changed everything out at 14000 miles didn't really need it but I wanted to be safe from the exploding cam chest
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,565
Likes: 2,015
From: Missouri
Yea, that was the one weak point in the TC88. If I ever own another, checking the cam tensioners and spending the money on the conversion will be the first thing I do.
Other than that, it's a helluva great motor! I loved mine, enjoy it!
Other than that, it's a helluva great motor! I loved mine, enjoy it!
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 734
Likes: 319
From: Rochester NY
I can relate...I have a dealer near me that I went to about cam chain tensioner problems and when I mentioned that they had a "problem" with them (my inner and outer were shot at 21,000 mi.), the counter guy (who's been there for years) says "Wow! Really?! I've never heard of an issue like that!" He was dead serious. I also mentioned the inner bearing issue, the front brake caliper piston sticking problem and the ignition switch connector problem and he said he'd never heard any of that either. Do ya think they're just trying to not admit anything or is this guy just that clueless?
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 1,712
Likes: 410
From: Puyallup, WA
What cams did you put in? I'm throwing Andrews 21's in mine, wondering if/how the lineage will be effected.