Cam chain adjuster

[CAPTLIEPS]

Ok here is my story from the beginning, purchased a brand new 1983 GS750T from the local SUZUKI dealer in 1986 for $2800. Canadian. Never ever adjusted the cam chain , I tried a few years ago but could not get the locking screw loose, the nut yes but not the screw . So noticed the top end getting real noisy this year so decided to go all out and remove the unit (cam chain adjuster ) from the bike which was a real bitch to get at , bike was all together carbs on . Bike has 78000 km all original . Took me maybe half an hour to get that locking screw loose had to heat with a propane torch 3x and use liquid wrench, measured rod at 40mm before, after screw loose rod came out to 50mm so I knew there was adjustment left . They say in the manual once cam adjuster is set you never need to touch which is bull*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$ that adjuster is locked and when cam chain stretches it does not self adjust ! Any ways cleaned adjuster up and put it in bike adjusted it properly and now engine sounds like new !

 

[CAPTLIEPS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcuqznqRXuM

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Well I'd just say if you got the cam chain tensioner off without removing the carbs, you're a better man than I. I think there's a tutorial for cleaning and refurbing them on BikeCliff's.

 

[rphillips]

Don't sound right. That screw isn't supposed to be screwed in against the tensioner plunger. Spring pushes plunger out, to take up slack, then ramp, & spring, won't let plunger push back in unless you turn the little spring loaded wheel on the side. If you want to adjust it manually, let it tighten the slack out, then lock the screw down. but every few thousand miles you'll need to loosen the lock screw to let it tighten itself again. Leave the screw backed out a little & it will keep the slack out automatically.l

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

http://www.bwringer.com/gs/camchaintens.html

 

[CAPTLIEPS]

Like I said, it was tightened down, you can see the mark on the flat part of the rod and rod would not move without loosening screw, which was seized . 76000 KM not bad for never been re adjusted .

 

[CAPTLIEPS]

Will be checking it now maybe annually or if she starts making noise again .

 

[Grimly]

If you've re-installed it right, it should never need re-adjusting during your lifetime.

 

[Steve]

Evidently whoever installed it skipped that one part of the instructions:

Install tensioner to cylinder block. Loosen setscrew to allow plunger to take up slack. Turn setscrew in until it stops, then back off 1/4 to 1/2 turn and lock it in place with the locknut.

For some reason, that part in bold is commonly overlooked.

.

 

[rphillips]

That will work just fine, just removes the concept of the automatic cam chain tensioner. In years past, while doing a lot of street racing & hot rodding, I tightened mine down just for the sense of added security. Would be interesting to know how the set screw got tightened down on yours, if you bought the bike new. Go figure.

 

[CAPTLIEPS]

Maybe the Dealer at first service checked the adjuster, that was the only time I did not service bike myself . Have been working on bikes,sleds and cars since the 1960's, Don't trust recreational dealerships .

 

[CAPTLIEPS]

Manual cam chain adjuster are better than auto adjuster because it holds the pressure on chain without always putting spring pressure on chain prematurely stretching chain . My 2003 KLX400R (DRZ400E) had a auto adjuster which I converted to a manual screw style.

 

[Gorminrider]

Manual cam chain adjuster are better than auto adjuster because it holds the pressure on chain without always putting spring pressure on chain prematurely stretching chain . My 2003 KLX400R (DRZ400E) had a auto adjuster which I converted to a manual screw style.

...Then you can maybe agree thatjust possibly, the previous owner was using the Automatic Chain adjuster MANUALLY, by simply letting it spring ahead and then locking it there.

 

[CAPTLIEPS]

I am the Original OWNER !

...Then you can maybe agree thatjust possibly, the previous owner was using the Automatic Chain adjuster MANUALLY, by simply letting it spring ahead and then locking it there.

 

[bwringer]

Roughly half the GS cam chain tensioners I've encountered in the wild have had the screw tightened all the way.

I always thought it was thumbfingered POs or mechanics, but it's pretty wild to hear that could have been a factory error.

 

[Brendan W]

I had a new KZ650 in 1980. At the first, shakedown service the dealer locked the auto tensioner with a screw.
He set it with the motor running.
He said, ' those auto things are useless '.
Maybe this was a thing back then, at least in the minds of some?

 

[Gorminrider]

I had a new KZ650 in 1980. At the first, shakedown service the dealer locked the auto tensioner with a screw.
He set it with the motor running.
He said, ' those auto things are useless '.
Maybe this was a thing back then, at least in the minds of some?

I've been offered the same opinion from a mechanic I chat with recently too. it was he who suggested turning the "big knob" to get it just "quiet" and then locking it- I haven't except as an experiment- the self-adjusting ahsn't seemed a worthwhile issue but I have quite enough things that need regular adjustment!

BUT I do find it interesting that CATALIEPS has gone so many kilometers without adjusting without issue. Maybe his tension blade will never wear, crack or bend as I've seen in some bikes...

 

[Grimly]

I had a new KZ650 in 1980. At the first, shakedown service the dealer locked the auto tensioner with a screw.
He set it with the motor running.
He said, ' those auto things are useless '.
Maybe this was a thing back then, at least in the minds of some?

It definitely was. That was an attitude brought about by the crop of crap Honda camchains and tensioners. Instead of one reliable design, Honda changed them all the time and some were dreadful.
Otoh, Suzuki got it right but suffered from such attitudes inherent in the dealerships of the day.

 

[rphillips]

I don't know about the KZ650 Kawasaki, but the early KZ1300's ("79 thru "81") did have cam chain tensioner problems, corrected with a new design in "82". I don't remember Suzuki having any problems with theirs, but several aftermarket co's did make a manual tensioner for them

 

[bwringer]

If you're drag racing a GS, a manual tensioner might make sense.

But on a GS on the street, even if you flog it hard, the regular tensioner doing its thing as designed is perfectly fine.

But yeah, those "other guys" had some tensioner problems here and there, and so yet another Krusty Rusty Olde Byker Legende was born and in some minds all such devices were condemned.