V65 Cam Chain Tensioner Replacement

V65 Cam Chain Tensioner Replacement Procedure

Follow steps to remove radiator and gas tank.
Remove front and rear valve covers.
Remove alternator cover.
Remove spark plugs.
Drain coolant from the heads using the two head coolant drain bolts in the front.
Drain oil from the heads using the head oil drain bolt in the front.

Set engine to TDC compression stroke on cylinder 1, aligning alternator 1-3 mark with case marking. Verify TDC by making sure cam lobes face (away from??) each other on cylinder 1 and that the sprocket lines are even with valve cover gasket surface.

Loosen valve adjusting nuts on cylinders 1 and 3 and back off adjustment screw 3-4 turns.

Remove oil pipe mounting bolts. (4)

Remove cam chain guide bolts in a criss cross pattern. These may be quite hard to crack loose. (4)

Remove cam chain guide.

You will not be able to remove oil pipes at this time.

Wipe oil off cam sprockets and mark with permanent marker. Make a line that is even with the valve cover gasket surface, on both sides of each sprocket. Keep all marks to one side of the bike. Also, mark top vs. bottom designations as well as intake /exhaust designation.

Remove locking pin from new tensioner. Tie a string around it so it can't fall into engine.

Stuff some rags around engine area where locking pin will be inserted into old tensioner so the locking pin cannot fall into engine.

Using a long flat blade screwdriver and a hook tool, push down on cam tensioner release with screwdriver to release the lock and pull up on tensioner arm with hook tool. Once the tensioner arm is fully pulled up, carefully insert locking pin, being careful not to drop it into the engine!

Now the chain should be quite loose. Remove oil pipe by pushing it towards the longer legs of the oil pipe (on the rear head that would be forward). Then, rotate the pipes so that the tip of the shorter leg squeezes between the chain and the rear sprocket. You may need to lift the chain to gain the clearance necessary to remove the oil pipe assembly.

Interesting note: Notice that the oil pipe assembly has a cross member tube in the shape of a mild "U". The bottom of the "U", upon installation, should always be facing "downhill", so that engine oil will not run out via gravity when the bike is turned off.

Remove all cam cap bolts. The center four should be removed in a criss cross pattern since they are head bolts.

Remove all cam caps and retain their relative positions so you know where they originally came from. They will pull straight up and will not slide sideways because there are dowel pins that hold them in. Make sure the dowel pins (2 per cam cap) do not fall into engine. If cam caps are hard to remove, gently tap them with the BUTT end of a hammer (the rubber end, dummy!). Also, if there are very hard to remove, try loosening the valve adjustment screws some more (the valve springs on cylinder 3 will be pushing the cam up into the cam cap, making removal difficult. Loosening the adjustment screws
will relieve this pressure by allowing the valve to close.)

Now recheck your cam sprocket marks to make sure they are still there. Reapply marks if necessary.

Remove the cam furthest from the cam tensioner arm (this is important because the cam closest to the tensioner arm will not have enough clearance to be removed) by grabbing the cam sprocket and pulling straight up. It should pop out nicely! Oooooh . . .

Remove chain from cam sprocket and completely remove cam. It is okay to let the chain hang free, but easier to work with if you hold it up with a bungee cord or something.

Now remove other cam in the same way.

Take a breath of fresh air.

Remove tensioner mounting bolts (4).

Pull tensioner up. Make sure rags are stuffed into engine so that nothing can fall down into its bowels.

Using needlenose pliers or such, carefully remove retaining clip and washer from tensioner arm. Clip is very springy and can easily pop free, springing into the engine.

Once both the clip and washer are removed, remove the dowel pin as well. Don't worry about the tensioner rubber slipper (chain guide) falling. It can't. But grab hold of it anyway cause it'll make you feel better.

Now remove tensioner.

Remove the slipper as well, noting its alignment into the engine. (The slipper should bow in towards the rear of the bike. In its normal position, this bow is what keeps chain tension, since it presses against the chain.)

Inspect slipper. It should look nice with no cracks, chunks missing, etc. If so, stop right here and go buy one.

Look down in engine with a flashlight, right where the slipper was. You would see a receptacle down there where the bulb end of the slipper fits. Notice that the receptacle is nice and shiny. Also notice the 3-inch piece of metal rising up from the receptacle. You will later use this as a guide to getting the bulb back into the receptacle. Notice that the bulb can possibly be positioned out of the receptacle, towards the chain (not good since the chain will eat away the bulb) or it can slip behind the 3 inch piece of metal we mentioned earlier. If this were the case, the tensioner itself would not bolt down correctly. Keep this in mind for later.

Remove locking pin from old tensioner and install into new tensioner. Leave attached string alone. It likes being attached to the locking pin.

Still have those rags in place? Good.

Use oil to coat the tensioner locking plate and rod. Flip the locking plate back and forth just for the hell of it so you can feel the oil working to lubricate it.

Now, place new tensioner under chain and reattach the slipper using the dowel, the washer and the retaining clip. Be careful not to drop anything into the engine. It's a good thing those rags are there!

Now the tricky part . . . getting the tensioner bulb into the receptacle. Carefully guide the slipper down into the engine, keeping the bulb aligned with the receptacle. Once it is past the lip of the 3 inch piece of metal guide, you can pull up on the chain to help keep the bulb pressed against this guide as you slide it down. Once the tensioner is in place, the bulb should be positioned right above the receptacle. It will not be "popped" in yet, however (It will pop in when the tensioner lock pin is pulled). Look down the slipper arm between the arm and the front of the bike and you should see the slipper contacting the 3 inch piece of metal guide. This is a good thing. If you can't see the shiny receptacle no matter how hard you look, chances are the bulb is in the correct position.

Now, install the tensioner bolts (4) and lightly snug down, then back off a half a turn. You want to be able to move the tensioner around to find its final resting place.

Now pull the tensioner back away from the front of the bike (away from the slipper) as far as it will go. Holding it there, snug down the tensioner bolts. This is the final position.

Now, using a torque wrench, tighten the 4 bolts in a criss cross manner to 15 ft/lbs, using several steps to accomplish this. Be careful not to snap off the bolt heads!

Now, install the front cam first (the one near the slipper/tensioner arm) by removing all slack in the chain from the front. The front cam has a casing mark on it's base right where the sprocket attaches that distinguishes it as the intake cam. Check to make sure the cam alignment lines are aligned with the valve cover gasket surface and that the cam is not 180 degrees out (up vs. down markings should be correct.) If not, lift up chain, turn cam in correct direction for proper alignment and place chain back on again. Repeat until the cam is correctly aligned.

Now install the rear cam in the chain and gently press the cam into the bearing surface. It should "pop" right in. Use the above method for verifying proper alignment.

Once aligned, install cam caps by placing them over the cams. Notice that one cap has a groove in it that is placed over a raised "donut" on the cam. Align the dowel pins and gently press the cam caps down. If they are a bit stubborn, feel free to gently tap them down with the butt end of a hammer (the rubber end, dummy!).

Notice there are two sets of smaller bolts that you previously removed. One set has a smooth protrusion at each end. These bolts go on the outside of the cam caps. The other bolts are for the oil pipes.

Insert the cam caps small bolts (with the smooth protrusion) and lightly snug down with your fingers. Now install the second largest bolts into the cam caps, in the holes farthest front and back and closest to the chain. Lightly snug down.

Now that the cams are somewhat secure, pop in the oil pipes. Put the long leg under the chain first, facing the front and then squeeze the shorter leg by the rear sprocket. You may need to lift the chain again to get it by. Make sure the "U" in the pipe bows down, so oil can be trapped there by gravity (long legs forward, short towards the rear).

Install the oil pipe bolts (the smallest ones left) and lightly tighten down.

Install the cam chain guide and the last four huge bolts. Lightly tighten down.

Now, in a crisscross method, taking several steps, tighten down all bolts, working from the inside out, eventually reaching 15 ft/lbs.

The smaller 8 bolts (cam cap outer bolts and oil pipe bolts) are now at their maximum torque.

Rotate the engine 720 degrees so that it is back at TDC on the compression stroke of cylinder 1, listening to see if anything binds. If no funny noises occur, chances are that the slipper bulb is aligned correctly over the receptacle and that the chain is not binding in any way.

Recheck the cam sprocket alignment lines to verify they are still matched even with the valve cover gasket surface. If so, proceed. If they are way off, then something is wrong. Disassemble and try again.

Okay, now torque the inner four bolts (the largest ones) that hold the chain guide to 35-38 ft/lbs in a crisscross pattern, taking several steps to do so.

Torque down second largest bolts to 15-18 ft/lbs, also in a crisscross pattern, taking several steps to do so.

Still have those rags in place? Good.

Finally, grab the locking pin with a needle nose pliers or such and pull it out. The tensioner should now be applying tension to the chain and the bulb should have popped into the receptacle.

Rotate the engine 720 degrees so that it is back at TDC on the compression stroke of cylinder 1, listening to see if anything binds. (By rotating the engine, you are also letting the cam chain tensioner find the loose spots in the chain and adjust itself to accommodate these.) If no funny noises occur, you can be pretty sure that the bulb is correctly inserted into the receptacle.

Congrats! You just did your first tensioner!

Now repeat the procedure on cylinders 2-4. Only this time you must be TDC on compression stroke of cylinder 2.

Remember two things that will be different with the front cylinder as far as front vs. back is concerned:

1) The removal of the cams: On the rear cylinders, you removed the exhaust cam first. On the front cylinders you will remove the intake first. Basically, you remove the one that furthest away from the cam tensioner arm and slipper.

2) The oil pipes: On the rear cylinders the long arms face forward. On the front cylinders the long arms face up.

Once the tensioners are installed, the valves must be adjusted.

Before buttoning up, double and triple check everything including valve clearances and cam sprocket alignment.