gwelfmike
Member
I am going to replace my cam chain tensioner, I was wondering if any one had any thoughts of the OEM or the manual adjust.
thanks
Mike
thanks
Mike
Cam Chain Tensioner
- Thread starter gwelfmike
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ionbeam
2 FUN
Yamaha's new CCT replacement works just fine. Swap in a new OEM CCT and forget about it pretty much for the rest of your '03s life. I see no need for a manual adjuster which you would have to check/adjust periodically.
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gwelfmike
Member
Thats what I was thinking,considering the 03 does have 287000 kms and I have never replaced this before.....
BkerChuck
Second hand vegetarian
I just installed a new OEM one and it works fine.
NTXFJR
Well-known member
Make sure you get the later revision one, they modified the design somewhere along the line.
ionbeam
2 FUN
You can't get an old revision CCT, no matter what P/N you order the inventory systems will know if a part has been superseded and will automatically supply the latest version CCT.
radiummadman
Well-known member
do the yam replacement part. I used an APE manual type, works fine but i am so OCD about some shit i always wonder
if it needs adjusting?? Had it on for 50,000 miles & only needed one adjustment.
if it needs adjusting?? Had it on for 50,000 miles & only needed one adjustment.
Brodie
Darksider #16 - and Proud of it !
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I ran a manual cam chain tensioner for many, many years, it only needed adjusting a couple of times.
That said, I am currently running the latest (Green Dot) automatic cam chain tensioner from Yamaha. Years ago when I first contacted APE and went through the design process with them there were several first gen. bikes which had their cam chains slip a couple of teeth. It wasn't pretty, and Yamaha had yet to update their part. Since then there have been 2 updates to the OEM design which made it much more reliable.
If you have an '09 or earlier FJR and haven't replaced this critical item, you are running on borrowed time. Get it done!
Brodie
That said, I am currently running the latest (Green Dot) automatic cam chain tensioner from Yamaha. Years ago when I first contacted APE and went through the design process with them there were several first gen. bikes which had their cam chains slip a couple of teeth. It wasn't pretty, and Yamaha had yet to update their part. Since then there have been 2 updates to the OEM design which made it much more reliable.
If you have an '09 or earlier FJR and haven't replaced this critical item, you are running on borrowed time. Get it done!
Brodie
gwelfmike
Member
ORdered the OEM one today, I phoned three shops and was quoted three different labour hour charges, from 1 to "should be around 3 hours or so..." so I think I will just do it myself.
Thanks
Thanks
wheatonFJR
...
If you installed a manual tensioner on your FJR are you obliged to discuss the tensioner with prospective buyers of your FJR?
I still have the OE tensioner on my '04 with 85k miles. Maybe I should install the newest design but mine's not particularly noisy.
I still have the OE tensioner on my '04 with 85k miles. Maybe I should install the newest design but mine's not particularly noisy.
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BikerGeek99
Yeah, it's a concrete corn cob. So?
If you haven't come across it, yamafitter put together a pretty good step-by-step guide for CCT replacement HERE <clicky>.
NTXFJR
Well-known member
ionbeam
2 FUN
I'm not surprised that some people have no problem with the early CCTs and others did. The CCT could be made with a varying degree of spring tension. The new designs of the CCT don't have as much plunger extension at a normal setting because the 'nose' of the housing is longer and the spring seems to be setup different.
The following is an edited post about the original Gen I CCT that I wrote a long time ago:
The cam chain tensioner is built as a touchy feely part without absolute assembly specs. When comparing a new tensioner to the old tensioner you should be feeling for spring tension differences with plunger extended between 50% and 75% of the total plunger length, there should be smooth operation of the plunger with uniform tension....
...The total cam chain tensioner travel is ~1.25 inches. The tensioner shafts I've looked at all had shiny wear marks around the 5/8” extension point to the final wear marks around the 7/8” extension point. When the cam chain was new, the tensioner shaft was extended 5/8”. When my old CCT shaft is released to the 5/8 length I would guess the spring tension is roughly 200 grams. When the tensioner is extended to the 7/8” point I would guess the spring tension is not more than 20 grams. The more worn the chain became, the less able the tensioner was to take up the slack. The important area to compare spring tension is from just less than 1/2 way extended to ~3/4 way extended. As a cam chain wears you would like the tensioner to have good pressure on the cam chain slipper to reduce slack.
Normal wear location and length, the plunger starts out extended to band A and takes up slack until extended to band B where the spring tension drops off to near zero.
ahamlin01 sent me his old CCT and his CCT had the same extension and wear that mine had --but-- his worn CCT had more tension than mine did along the whole plunger travel.
I was surprised to find that the spring in the CCT is not in compression, it is wound up like a clock when the CCT is assembled. The following really needs pixs to save a lot of words (still no pixs).
The CCT rectangular rod goes through an end cap that is retained by a circlip. The end cap has 4 tabs (see the left end in the picture above), with one tab wider than the others to force alignment of the rod within the CCT body [this is not true with later Gen 1 CCTs, they changed the part a bit]. When putting the CCT together the rod has to be fully extended making it too long to let the end cap tabs reach down into the slots in the CCT body. As you turn the tensioner screw to retract the rod it winds up the spring. As the rod shortens it lets the end cap tabs engage the slots with enough room for the circlip to slip into the ring groove. Depending on how I hold the rod and how deeply the spiral shaft is initially engaged into the center of the rod, the spring tension can end up anyplace from almost nothing to very strong after the circlip is installed. The key point here is that this assembly operation is variable and has a direct relationship to the final spring force of the CCT. During assembly, one turn + or - of the tensioner rod & end cap makes a significant difference in the final spring force. Two full turns is like night and day in spring force. Because the end cap can only fit one way it forces the tensioner rod to complete a full 360 degree rotation between end cap tab engagements. How far the spiral shaft was initially engaged onto the rod will determine the actual number of turns of the rod before the circlip can be installed which determines final spring force.
The Engineering part of me wants to believe that there is a minimum and maximum spring force specification that falls within one full turn of the retraction screw. The Manufacturing Engineer in me wants to believe they have a fixture which will always results in a consistent number of turns before the circlip goes on. The Quality part of me wants to believe that all the CCTs are tested to verify conformance. The realist in me acknowledges that most likely there is no assembly jig and the CCTs are only audited, not 100% tested
The following is an edited post about the original Gen I CCT that I wrote a long time ago:
The cam chain tensioner is built as a touchy feely part without absolute assembly specs. When comparing a new tensioner to the old tensioner you should be feeling for spring tension differences with plunger extended between 50% and 75% of the total plunger length, there should be smooth operation of the plunger with uniform tension....
...The total cam chain tensioner travel is ~1.25 inches. The tensioner shafts I've looked at all had shiny wear marks around the 5/8” extension point to the final wear marks around the 7/8” extension point. When the cam chain was new, the tensioner shaft was extended 5/8”. When my old CCT shaft is released to the 5/8 length I would guess the spring tension is roughly 200 grams. When the tensioner is extended to the 7/8” point I would guess the spring tension is not more than 20 grams. The more worn the chain became, the less able the tensioner was to take up the slack. The important area to compare spring tension is from just less than 1/2 way extended to ~3/4 way extended. As a cam chain wears you would like the tensioner to have good pressure on the cam chain slipper to reduce slack.
Normal wear location and length, the plunger starts out extended to band A and takes up slack until extended to band B where the spring tension drops off to near zero.
ahamlin01 sent me his old CCT and his CCT had the same extension and wear that mine had --but-- his worn CCT had more tension than mine did along the whole plunger travel.
I was surprised to find that the spring in the CCT is not in compression, it is wound up like a clock when the CCT is assembled. The following really needs pixs to save a lot of words (still no pixs).
The CCT rectangular rod goes through an end cap that is retained by a circlip. The end cap has 4 tabs (see the left end in the picture above), with one tab wider than the others to force alignment of the rod within the CCT body [this is not true with later Gen 1 CCTs, they changed the part a bit]. When putting the CCT together the rod has to be fully extended making it too long to let the end cap tabs reach down into the slots in the CCT body. As you turn the tensioner screw to retract the rod it winds up the spring. As the rod shortens it lets the end cap tabs engage the slots with enough room for the circlip to slip into the ring groove. Depending on how I hold the rod and how deeply the spiral shaft is initially engaged into the center of the rod, the spring tension can end up anyplace from almost nothing to very strong after the circlip is installed. The key point here is that this assembly operation is variable and has a direct relationship to the final spring force of the CCT. During assembly, one turn + or - of the tensioner rod & end cap makes a significant difference in the final spring force. Two full turns is like night and day in spring force. Because the end cap can only fit one way it forces the tensioner rod to complete a full 360 degree rotation between end cap tab engagements. How far the spiral shaft was initially engaged onto the rod will determine the actual number of turns of the rod before the circlip can be installed which determines final spring force.
The Engineering part of me wants to believe that there is a minimum and maximum spring force specification that falls within one full turn of the retraction screw. The Manufacturing Engineer in me wants to believe they have a fixture which will always results in a consistent number of turns before the circlip goes on. The Quality part of me wants to believe that all the CCTs are tested to verify conformance. The realist in me acknowledges that most likely there is no assembly jig and the CCTs are only audited, not 100% tested
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oreana
Active member
New to my 08 FJR (3700 miles). Missed this discussion because I just got to this forum. Reading these posts gives me the idea that Yamaha had an assembly problem with a component that has varying cam chain tension from the factory, and maybe insufficient tension as it wears. Right so far?
If you have an '09 or earlier FJR and haven't replaced this critical item, you are running on borrowed time. Get it done!
Alarm bells go off and then when I read your postings you sound like a. you have done a lot of prior work on this and b. you have technical education and probably know what you are advocating.
If you have an '09 or earlier FJR and haven't replaced this critical item, you are running on borrowed time. Get it done!
Alarm bells go off and then when I read your postings you sound like a. you have done a lot of prior work on this and b. you have technical education and probably know what you are advocating.
NTXFJR
Well-known member
It's a relatively cheap to part to replace. The history of issues with the original version is well documented. My dealer charged an hour to install a new one on my '04 a couple of months back, it ran me around $185 total.
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Canadian FJR
Canadian FJR
287,000 km - impressive.
Great hear about those high mileage '03s.
Canadian FJR
Great hear about those high mileage '03s.
Canadian FJR
oreana
Active member
I went to the linked discussion with how-to. That discussion spoke of a fix in 2007. Then the CCT with the blue dot came up. Seems some CCTs have the upgrade without the blue dot. My engine is a 2008, sounds fine on start up, may be the new upgrade. At less than 4000 miles it can wait.
Jarmo
Well-known member
I now have an 03 and an 05 FJR . The 03 is on the second motor and has CCT issues .
Could someone point me in the right direction to purchase a manual CCT like the blue one shown in early posts .
Thanks for the help .
Could someone point me in the right direction to purchase a manual CCT like the blue one shown in early posts .
Thanks for the help .
