cam chain noise

[Busboy]

Big Worm, ur dead right that when the chain stretches that IT WILL change the cam timing.
When the chain stretches, the links are just that little bit further apart. Now if you measure the distance of the timing teeth from the crank to the cam, u will find that it's (x)"/mm apart, when the chain stretches it will be that +a slightly extra because THE WHOLE chain has stretched.
So the fact is, the timing will be changed a few degrees but not a whole lot that it will badly effect the running of the engine.

[Busboy]

As for those missing post, I think you'll find either the person posting it has edited it out or if its possible the author has deleted it!!!!

[Degreaser]

The scare mongers are trying to say that the chain stretching will change cam timing and then very bad things will happen to your motor. That's just nonsense. The cam chain tensioner is designed to take up any slack in the cam chain, and with Chucksters extenders installed, the tensioner takes up all extra slack. Cam timing is not affected and your motor will be just fine.

[big worm]

degreaser you just dont get it do you ..... no one is trying to say anything maybe you should go to a trade school and take a course in basic mechanics and someone can explain to you how a timing chain works then maybe you will understand ... or maybe you will do just as you do on here and argue with the instructor and get kicked out ... just like happened to you here once already.....no one said the extenders dont work and no one said bad thing will happen to his engine but facts are facts as a timing chain stretches it will change cam timing and will change engine performance to what degree may be somewhat debatable but it will retard the cam timing and will reduce the power that the engine produces! now if you need some kind of proof then go to a dyno facility with a small block v-8 with a known worn out timing chain and do a dyno run with it then take that exact same engine and replace the timing set with a new one then do another dyno run and then note the difference in hp and torque... maybe that will clarify it for you ... but as for myself and others who already have a grasp of how a timing chain works and the effect of chain stretch on timing we dont need that kind of proof we get it!!!!

[Degreaser]

big worm, I suggest you stick with planting potatoes there in your red mud fields and leave engine mechanics to those who know, you are giving false and misleading information and don't understand how the Kawasaki engine is made.

[big worm]

fyi degreaser i have never planted a potato and being a jouneyman mechanic i know what i am talking about and you quite clearly do not!!!! i will not deabte this with you any further as you are quite clueless as to basic mechanical principals... i am not making this personal but you seem to want to go in that direction....!! but since you think you know it all fill us in on your credentials and your theory on how timing chain stretch does not affect cam timing.... post #21 puts it in simple terms how timing chain stretch effect cam timing.

[big worm]

and as a side note i may live in PEI i am not from there....

[CRUISERDON]

Originally Posted by Degreaser

The scare mongers are trying to say that the chain stretching will change cam timing and then very bad things will happen to your motor. That's just nonsense. The cam chain tensioner is designed to take up any slack in the cam chain, and with Chucksters extenders installed, the tensioner takes up all extra slack. Cam timing is not affected and your motor will be just fine.

Since the tensioner is on the slack side of the drive, All it does is kill chain slap and nothing more. The drive side is still getting longer, the cam still retards, and a few degrees of performance is lost.
I discovered that the amount of chain wear was enough to make re timing the engine at assembly extremely difficult and after three efforts failed, I replaced the chains. I did not have extenders and my tensions were at or near their end of service. It was more than a few degrees !
Maybe your the one that should leave the mechanical work to the mechanics and stick to just degreasing for the mechanics !

[big worm]

good post don.... that combined with post#21 makes it pretty clear....and i am sure you agree that the extenders do work to take up more slack than the OEM ones and will allow many more miles of running with a slight but to most a tolerable loss in performance

[Romans5.8]

I think everyone is saying the same thing. Yes the timing will be affected, however, it may not matter to the OP the small degree of performance that has been lost. Or, it may matter alot. Every engine is different and if the chain slap exists along with a noticeable decrease in performance that is unacceptable to the rider, then a chain replacement sounds like a good idea. If it runs fine and the OP would rather spend a little less money on the cheaper solution, then that would work too. You could also debate which solution will last LONGER, but that's for another day. Wear on the pistons and cylinder walls may have minutely decreased performance as well, but a full rebuild would be a little silly unless he's drag racing. It's up to the OP which route he wants to take and I think both would be valid. Lots of good info in this thread.

Professional drag racers rebuild their motors in between races. NASCAR drivers do it before each race weekend. These engines are still running, but small amounts of wear have reduced performance. On the other end of the spectrum, big rigs go a million miles sometimes before a major repair or rebuild is performed. It's up to you to decide how much you want to spend on maintenance and repairs, how well you want it to run, and how long you want it to run.

As for the missing posts; the instant subscription feature sends you a PM as soon as a user posts. The user might later edit that post or delete it, making it look different than it used to or disappear altogether, but the forum is of course not going to reach into your inbox and delete the e-mail it sent you!

-John