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06-20-2008, 3:59 PM Anonymous My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner So, my bikes been too loud for me to feel comfortable with it, so I again today took off the covers to adjust the valves (3rd time in 2 months).  Just for the hell of it I also decided to adjust the cam chain tensioner again, but this time I put my finger in thru the inspection port to feel around and see if everything seemed right.  THE TOP OF THE TENSIONER ISN'T CONNECTED TO ANYTHING!!!  There seems to be a clear break at the top of the tensioner, between the plastic(?) tensioner body and the metal braket the the spring works on.  Looking at diagrams and photos, it looks like the top should be solidly connected to the metal bracket that the adjuster bolt goes through.  It seems like what Rob Davis refers to as the classic "broken neck".  So............ I've read all the posts I could find about taking the engine out and fixing things, I'm assuming I should absolutely NOT ride until this is fixed.  My questions are: 1.  How tough a job is this for a single, semi-ok mechanically inclined person?  I don't have anybody who can help me with this, and don't have any indoor workspace to do anything, so if I attempt this myself it'll be an entirely outside/in the driveway thing.  2.  How long do y'all think this will take a single person?  Since I don't have an indoor space to work, if I try this it'll have to be a single day thing, I really don't want to leave engines and parts laying outside for long. 3.  Any of you actually PAY somebody to do this?  If so, how much did it run you? Any and all suggestions are welcome!

06-20-2008, 4:19 PM PWG in Lowgap NC Joined on 01-08-2008 Minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway Posts 536 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner I have done it in the past for a flat rate of $250 plus any needed parts.  It beats the heck out of surprises. 82 Honda GL 500 SilverWing Trike "Old Yeller" 06 Suzuki S 50 Boulevard Cruiser ANY WARM DAY ABOVE GROUND IS A GOOD ONE (unknown senior citizen)    Report

06-20-2008, 4:26 PM NstyDevil Joined on 05-20-2007 Toronto, Ontario Posts 208 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner couple questions... where are you located? and how did you reach that far inside? i've done the finger check myself but only been able to feel the spring, can't reach inside far enough. i've got a dental mirror around somewhere, and going to try and find it to take a look inside. __________________ '80 CX500 Deluxe approx 80k on the odometer    Report

06-20-2008, 4:48 PM kingston73 Joined on 04-19-2008 Norton, MA Posts 306 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner I forgot to sign in the first time, sorry.  I'm in Rhode Island.  Using my right finger, I can reach in far enough to feel the chain, and it feels very loose.  I can't see what I'm looking at, but when I look at a diagram as I'm poking around with my finger, I can kinda make a mental picture of what I'm touching, and the tensioner is clearly disconnected at the top, I can move it back and forth with my finger.  So after reading the shop manual and also Rob's site, I really don't feel like its a good idea to try this myself.  If I had a garage to do it in, or anywhere indoors, I'd be more daring, but just looking at all the crap blowing around and laying on the driveway, I just don't see any way at all I can open the engine up and keep things clean.  Since the engine seems to run fine other than this, should I bother replacing the water pump seal and stator?  Or should I just assume these will break sooner rather than later and do the whole "triple bypass" thing now? 1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine    Report

06-20-2008, 5:46 PM Shep Joined on 01-30-2007 Hull.East Yorkshire.England Posts 1,896 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner  kingston73 wrote: I forgot to sign in the first time, sorry.  I'm in Rhode Island.  Using my right finger, I can reach in far enough to feel the chain, and it feels very loose.  I can't see what I'm looking at, but when I look at a diagram as I'm poking around with my finger, I can kinda make a mental picture of what I'm touching, and the tensioner is clearly disconnected at the top, I can move it back and forth with my finger.  So after reading the shop manual and also Rob's site, I really don't feel like its a good idea to try this myself.  If I had a garage to do it in, or anywhere indoors, I'd be more daring, but just looking at all the crap blowing around and laying on the driveway, I just don't see any way at all I can open the engine up and keep things clean.  Since the engine seems to run fine other than this, should I bother replacing the water pump seal and stator?  Or should I just assume these will break sooner rather than later and do the whole "triple bypass" thing now? Do you have a garden or an area where you could put up one of those cheap,"Gazebos"?Or a Large tent? Or if you have a fence you can make an awning out of some cheap Heavey duty plastic and attach to a high fence? If you do a stator check and it's ok leave it.If you have no problems with the water Mech seal,leave it as that can be done with the engine in-situ, http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/cx500/mechseal.html For the engine out you will need something to drop the engine onto.I have a trolley jack with a plate welded onto it.Some people have used skated boards to drop onto but you will need a jack to drop and lift the engine on your own. Other than that ot's not that hard to get the engines out. For replacing the cam chain and any other parts of that system you will need to be able to,"Lock" the engine to be able to get the main 17mm bolt out of the Starter Clutch flywheel. This bolt has the same thread size as the Oil filter Bolt so you can take that to match up :) There are Wrench Straps you can buy pretty cheap for this.Also a Large bolt to be able to wind it in so the flywheel once it's locking bolt is out can be extracted.Mine cost me about $20(£10) from a bolt suppliers. If you are not confident and or don't have the facilities try and find a local bike group and join them.There will be someone local I'm sure who would most likely love help?You'd be suprised how many bikers love to get stuck into an engine New Global CX/GL Forum, http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/    Report

06-20-2008, 7:05 PM RichNCT Joined on 03-02-2006 Posts 2,139 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner Shipping engines is what kills the deal usually.  But you are within driving distance of me near New Haven , CT.  I believe I have a decent cx500 CDI engine in the shed and I would sell it.  Unless you would rather make the change to a GL500 TI powerplant, got one of them too.   It'll be next monday or tuesday before I can look into it though.  We should talk.  Born to be relatively wild    Report

06-21-2008, 5:16 AM kingston73 Joined on 04-19-2008 Norton, MA Posts 306 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner New Haven's not far at all, so I'd definitely be interested.  I think I'll stick with the CDI for now, but if your engine's good it'd be worth the drive to make a fix easier than collecting all the parts I'll need.  How many miles are on your engine?  I was told by the PO that my bike had about 35000 on it, but the odometer read 8950, so if it could be closer to 40000 miles.  I'm relatively confident I can get the engine off the frame by myself, but it's the dirt and outdoor exposure that makes me worried about opening up the engine and changing the parts.  Thanks for your help!  I can't believe its been over 10 years since I had a bike, I get this one and ride it for a week and now this.  I still wouldn't trade my cx though, I love this bike. 1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine    Report

06-24-2008, 6:59 AM Anonymous Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner So its looking more and more like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and try to do the fix myself. Rich above was nice enough to offer me a GL engine, but after reading the posts I think that's beyond what I'm capable of. The local shops will do the work for anywhere between 500 to 700, but only during winter. Ive read many posts concerning issues getting the alternator rotor off, is the difficulty mainly in locking the engine and having the correct bolt? Any other hidden issues in removing the rear case or the rotor?

06-24-2008, 7:21 AM Shep Joined on 01-30-2007 Hull.East Yorkshire.England Posts 1,896 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner  Anonymous wrote: So its looking more and more like I'm going to have to bite the bullet and try to do the fix myself. Rich above was nice enough to offer me a GL engine, but after reading the posts I think that's beyond what I'm capable of. The local shops will do the work for anywhere between 500 to 700, but only during winter. Ive read many posts concerning issues getting the alternator rotor off, is the difficulty mainly in locking the engine and having the correct bolt? Any other hidden issues in removing the rear case or the rotor? None really and don't worry as there are people here to help you.DON'T pay the garages.For a lot less you can buy good tools you need that will serve you for the rest of your life and therefore pay for themselves not just for bike.Download the manual and buy one off Ebay. Take it step by step and I'm around for a while so if you need quick help get Yahoo instant messenger and use sheppola as the contact search.You can leave messages I'll get quickly.I'm trying to think of what job I haven't done on these bikes and so far I think it's change a swinging arm and change an Advance and retard mechcanism.Everything else I've done including build several engines back up from the Crankshaft. New Global CX/GL Forum, http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/    Report

06-25-2008, 2:39 PM kingston73 Joined on 04-19-2008 Norton, MA Posts 306 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner Thanks for the advice Shep. I found an engine that may or may not work, but at least the cam chain tensioner is in 1 piece. I'm going to take out the original engine and put in this new one, it has 1/2 as many miles and is 1 year newer (80 vs 79) I figure even if it doesn't work, I'll now at least have a source of extra parts. Whether it works or not, I'm still going to fix the original engine eventually. Maybe I can bribe my wife into letting me bring it into the house and work on it in the attic over the winter. I've read all the "engine replacement" posts I can find, basically it's disconnect everything, make sure everything is disconnected, and using a jack lower the engine and pull it out to the ?left? Do I need to take the brake and/or shift levers off for this? Any other bits of advice? I'll be gone for 2 weeks, so I won't have a chance to do any of this till mid-July, but I'm sure I'm going to have some more questions for y'all later. Thanks for all the help! 1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine    Report

06-25-2008, 6:15 PM Shep Joined on 01-30-2007 Hull.East Yorkshire.England Posts 1,896 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner  kingston73 wrote: Thanks for the advice Shep. I found an engine that may or may not work, but at least the cam chain tensioner is in 1 piece. I'm going to take out the original engine and put in this new one, it has 1/2 as many miles and is 1 year newer (80 vs 79) I figure even if it doesn't work, I'll now at least have a source of extra parts. Whether it works or not, I'm still going to fix the original engine eventually. Maybe I can bribe my wife into letting me bring it into the house and work on it in the attic over the winter. I've read all the "engine replacement" posts I can find, basically it's disconnect everything, make sure everything is disconnected, and using a jack lower the engine and pull it out to the ?left? Do I need to take the brake and/or shift levers off for this? Any other bits of advice? I'll be gone for 2 weeks, so I won't have a chance to do any of this till mid-July, but I'm sure I'm going to have some more questions for y'all later. Thanks for all the help! Basically as you say.You DO need to take the gear shift off but it's only one bolt.I don't think my UK CX are much different so you don't need to take the rear brake lever off. Tip:If you have a digi camara or Cell phone with a camera take piccys as you undo/remove things.Then you have a reference when you put them back :) Take your time,double check,then check again.If in doubt wait and post :) New Global CX/GL Forum, http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/    Report

06-26-2008, 2:39 PM kingston73 Joined on 04-19-2008 Norton, MA Posts 306 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner I already have a question, and I haven't even started. My donor motor looks to be in decent shape, it's not frozen but it does have some rust on it, plus lots of dirt. Two questions for now: 1. Does it matter that the final drive shaft (not sure if thats the proper name, the shaft that plugs into the swingarm shaft) has rust on it? Do I need to sand it off, and when I put it into the frame does it get greased before sliding it in and putting the boot over it? 2. It looks like there are a few cobwebs that may have made it into the cyclinder heads. Before putting it into the frame, should I take off the heads, or will anything in there just get burnt out when I start it? 1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine    Report

06-26-2008, 3:52 PM Shep Joined on 01-30-2007 Hull.East Yorkshire.England Posts 1,896 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner  kingston73 wrote: I already have a question, and I haven't even started. My donor motor looks to be in decent shape, it's not frozen but it does have some rust on it, plus lots of dirt. Two questions for now: 1. Does it matter that the final drive shaft (not sure if thats the proper name, the shaft that plugs into the swingarm shaft) has rust on it? Do I need to sand it off, and when I put it into the frame does it get greased before sliding it in and putting the boot over it? 2. It looks like there are a few cobwebs that may have made it into the cyclinder heads. Before putting it into the frame, should I take off the heads, or will anything in there just get burnt out when I start it? Clean the rust off the drive shaft and Yes use some lithium grease(Moly Grease is better) on both ends of the shaft.Check the U/J(Universal Joint)(Knuckle joint) for ease of movement.If it stiff at any point some mild heat and WD40 can release it but they have pre-packed grease which the WD40 can release but sometimes the shaft has to be repleaced or the knuckle joint.This does not occur often IME.In any event re-pack the knuckle with some grease. I wouldn't worry about the heads.What I would do is change the oil but use some really cheap 10/15/20w50 from Walmart.Run to thermostat opening temp(check the heat pipe on the left hand side of the engine when it has idled long enough it will get warm if the Thermostat is opening correctly). Then stop the bike and dump the oil and re-fill with correct cheap 10w40 mineral oil.If the 10w40 is cheap like here then just use that for the 1st run as an engine flush.Do NOT use any commercial engine flush products,just oil. New Global CX/GL Forum, http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/    Report

06-26-2008, 7:30 PM Connella08 Joined on 06-01-2007 Mendon,MA Posts 247 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner let me know if you get it running. id like to find out if my old motor works for you. hope everything goes well!    Report

06-27-2008, 10:26 AM kingston73 Joined on 04-19-2008 Norton, MA Posts 306 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner Thanks Connella, I'll keep you posted. I'm going away for the next 2 weeks, so it'll be a while before I have a chance to work on it. I did have to order a new gasket for the camshaft cover in the front, and instead of reusing the fan I ordered a new one, and I'm going to get some new plugs, but hopefully that'll be all it needs 1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine    Report

07-10-2008, 7:33 PM kingston73 Joined on 04-19-2008 Norton, MA Posts 306 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner I ordered some new parts, but one of the gaskets I needed isn't made anymore by Honda.  Any ideas for an alternative?  I know some people have  bought "build your own" type gasket kits off ebay, but what do I search for, what are those called? 1979 cx500D/1980 CX500C engine    Report

07-10-2008, 7:38 PM Connella08 Joined on 06-01-2007 Mendon,MA Posts 247 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner which gasket?    Report

07-11-2008, 4:04 AM Shep Joined on 01-30-2007 Hull.East Yorkshire.England Posts 1,896 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner I've always made my own gaskets over the years even though I have bought Ready made kits.A couple of years ago I bought a cheap set of Metric punches of Ebay, ttp://tinyurl.com/62vdp5 and I get a 2 metre length 1mm/0.8mm thick roll of Gasket paper from a local engineering supplier(Yellow Pages) for around £6/$12 which has enough to make about 3 Rear engine cover gaskets plus the middle bits left over to make countless others.Anywhere I'm not happy with if the mating faces are a biy icky I use RTV gasket sealer with them and wipe clean. I have a small flat piece of Lead that I use as a Last to punch into(Made from some old melted down large fishing weights from the tackle shop) The total outlay is less than the cost of one head gasket.Headgaskets are one thing I/We can't make :( Then I don't have to wait for things as well and my gaskets are better than shop bought as I've split engines I've done with them and been able to re-use them with no problems :) New Global CX/GL Forum, http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/    Report

07-11-2008, 6:33 PM Daniel45mpg Joined on 05-18-2008 Murrieta, CA. Posts 173 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner cam chain is in the rear of the engine oil pump chain is in the front it is the oly one you can possibly touch. I didn't have this straight till i opened up the front cover to get at the cam chain. after a mech seal change i now know,..ha ha. the bike teaches me. crazy. 1980 CX500C 1980 CX500D Renew, Reuse, Recycle.    Report

07-11-2008, 7:58 PM Shep Joined on 01-30-2007 Hull.East Yorkshire.England Posts 1,896 Re: My worst fear has come true - infamous cam chain tensioner  Daniel45mpg wrote: cam chain is in the rear of the engine oil pump chain is in the front it is the oly one you can possibly touch. I didn't have this straight till i opened up the front cover to get at the cam chain. after a mech seal change i now know,..ha ha. the bike teaches me. crazy. On Lazarus one of my CXs which was made from spares and bits the Rear engine cover/Front engine cover/Clutch case cover and the Tach drive cover are all hand made.No leaks New Global CX/GL Forum, http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/    Report

07-12-2008, 7:11 AM kingston73