450 Cam Chain Tensioner Bolt Broken

[apopleptic]

OK, so I decided today would be a good day to remove the cam chain tensioner and rebuild it and replace the gasket or whatnot.

I removed the two bolts with no real difficulty. I had to wiggle the tensioner for a moment to get it to spring free, but then it slid right out.

after I was going to put it back together I noticed it was not going into the hole all the way and it seemed like it was hitting resistance which I assumed was the chain.

I started both bolts by hand no issue and then as I was tightening them evenly back and forth to get the tensioner back in place the top bolt snapped off.

I removed the bottom bolt and the tensioner came right back out.
The top bolt is snapped flush with the cylinder head. I dont think i'll be able to grab it with vice grips. Also not sure I will be able to get a drill in there to use an dextractor. If I have to take off the head, how hard is it, and what else needs to be done to do this?

[Charlie G]

That is a pain in the arse! I read here that extractors don't work that well and a left handed drill bit is a better option. When ever I've used them I break them. The tensioner bolts screw into the cylinders, not the head. I would approch this by investigating removing the air box, carbs and battery box before I tear down the head and cylinders. Do a search for removing studs/bolts as I'm not really the one who has the expertise in extracting bolts. I changed mine to allen head cap screws when I rebuilt mine as it is a bit easier to get at with an allen wrench socket on a 1/4" drive. Good luck.

Charlie G

[apopleptic]

Can anyone tell me the right way to egt the airbox out of the frame? I've tried every way I can think of but it keeps hitting the engine

[JEEPRUSTY]

It should be in the manual.
Hopefully its not a model that needs engine removal for access.

It likely is not.

[apopleptic]

I looked through the manual and all I saw was filter removal.
From looking on the forums some more I see it is generally not a fun thing to do

[JEEPRUSTY]

Hey my sister lives south of Wilkes-Barre!

Small world, small world.
Searching for removal pictorial.

[snark]

Pull the carbs, slide it all the way to the engine and twist it through the side.

BTW...we're almost neighbors...I'm down in Pittsburgh. Wife keeps wanting to go see the Baby Pens.

As for pulling the snapped bolt...this is a weird idea but I'll put it out there...

JB Weld the rest of the screw to the snapped off part and see if you can get it to come out far enough so that you can grab it with the vise grips.

[apopleptic]

Hmm do you take it out from the clutch side?
P.S. I invited you to join the Pennsylvania GSer's group

[apopleptic]

JeepRusty, I didn't see your post there. It's amazing how the internet makes the world such a small place, even though it takes so long to ride around it.
If your sister rides a GS, let her know we have a new group on here and she can join. You too if you ride in PA.

[snark]

Hmm do you take it out from the clutch side?
P.S. I invited you to join the Pennsylvania GSer's group

Just joined the group...thanks for the invite!

The clutch side was how I ended up doing it. It is tight though...and there were some four letter words used in removing it.

[apopleptic]

I've been fiddling with it most of this time. still haven't managed to get it out. Going to take another whach at it in a few minutes

[apopleptic]

Today I was able to remove the airbox and drill into the shaft of the broken screw and then back it out with the screw extractor.
I took some pictures along the way, and I think I figured out how to remove the airbox from the 450 'easily'.

I was able to put the whole thing back together including getting the airbox in the frame in about 5 minutes.

I can't believe how long I spent trying to wiggle the airbox out every which way, only to find I could remove and put it back in in about 10 seconds once I removed the battery box, the starter motor cover, the cam chain tensioner, the carb, and intake boots and loosened the clutch cable.

I thought maybe this could be used for tutorial purposes. Any suggestions on how to share the video? I was thinking of uploading it to youtube once I cut the crap off the ends of the video.

[snark]

I thought maybe this could be used for tutorial purposes. Any suggestions on how to share the video? I was thinking of uploading it to youtube once I cut the crap off the ends of the video.

Upload the video to Youtube and post the link in the thread. You can also email the administrater (Frank) and ask him if he wants to link it in the GS Garage page.

[apopleptic]

Ok, here is the video. I think I'm going to make a new one whenever I can get someone to hold the camera for me. The photobucket account is more on topic than the youtube account

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1OPN2WxR8U