I had a strange thought... Would a dealer replace chain tensioners under warranty? Reason I ask the noise in my motor seems to be getting louder. I thought about taking it to the dealer after Biketoberfest and have them look at it again, and check the cam chain tensioners to see if they are bad or not.

There has to be a reason why the motor makes so much friggin noise, when other bikes with more mileage are totally quiet....

 

Chain tensioners are definitely a warranty item, but not if they are not yet failing. Cut open your oil filter and look for pieces of orange neoprene. If you find any, take it and your bike to the dealer and get it fixed before it fails.

We just got a "winter special" bulletin from our dealer. They will do a check of the chain tensioners for $60. If they find any failing, those under warranty will be fixed without the charge. The other customers get peace of mind for at least a little while longer.

 

I just had my bike in the shop for engine noise.They had to replace the lifters.
Anyway I asked if the they had to check the tensioners and found if they were worn,would they be replaced under warranty.They answer was no.They dealer said there would have be signs of damage due to the tensioners.I also had a defferent dealer tell me the same thing.
I guess getting these replaced under warranty all depends on the dealership.

 

To clarify, if they are just worn, which they will be as they are a wear item, then it's normal wear and tear. However, if pieces are breaking off, they are failing. This according to the dealer's mechanic I talked to about it. Hence checking the oil filter for chips of neoprene.

Gear driven cams are next on my list, coming up to 30,000 miles.

 

The other day I was at a local Indy shop talking to the owner and he showed me a 5 gal bucket of chain tensioners he has replaced in the last 6 months. They all came off of 04-06 bikes before they switched to the auto tensioners. He says he has not seen the problems with the ones from 07 and up.

 

Deepsouth - are you talking about primary chain or cam chain? I am referring to cam chain.

However, I am going to be putting the auto tensioner on my bike when I do my next oil change.

I need to go to the dealer anyway, as I have a seal leaking between the primary and transmission. Don't know if it is the tranny or the primary, but I do know all the seals were replaced in the primary before I bought it.

 

I believe I have this same noise as well in my 04' Road King, it only has 6700 miles on it. When do you here it? Mine is a on and off sound at idle and maybe some times when just taking off from a stop. At higher rpm's can't here it at all. I am thinking of pulling off my exhaust and cam cover to see if the arm is chewed up. The service manual also suggest's it could be the lifters? I have had the bike since 1800 miles (bought it last year) it is a ex - police bike. They only put 600 miles on it and the dealer put the other 1200 on it. I have changed the oil with syn 3 at 2,000 and 6,000 miles.

 

There's no way they would properly check cam tensioners especially the inner cam chain tensioner for $60 not when there getting nearly $100 hour for labor.

 

I thought you were talking about the primary chain tensioner. This is the one there have been issues with.

 

As I said, it's their winter special program. Having the mechanic make $60 for the shop is better than paying him to scratch his ***. Their shop rate is $68 an hour--that's a long way from $100. They are also doing dyno runs for $50.