Having problems adjusting the cam tensioner

[jlmoulto]

So on Saturday I took of the cam chain tensioner and followed bwringer's advice on setting it. Put it back on and the engine became really quite like normal. Went for a 100km run and the cam started making noise again. Any ideas why it would not be keeping the tension?

[Don Lobacz]

There are parts inside that can wear as well as springs that lose tension. If the initial startup is quiet, I would suggest then loosening the locknut on the side and taking the bolt in until it bottoms (thus locking the plunger in place), and taking the locknut down after that. This is where it would be locked if you had a manual adjuster. I would call this setup automatically adjusted/manually locked.

[Anonymous]

I have heard of the tension not being enough for some bikes. So they would change to a manual tensioner. Which is the same only you screw in the bolt to hold the tension.

[jlmoulto]

Well, we had it apart to replace O-rings and while doing it also replaced the spring inside. Up to that point it worked flawlessly. No idea what is happening at this point.

[gspaul]

The external spring on the large plastic knurled knob, did you put enough tension on it.
I found I had to put 2 turns when I rebuilt the one on the 650!