Cam chain on 1050's

[StevyR]

Casper

was your machine in the dealers to have the valve clearances adjusted. If so the mechanic would have had to remove the camshafts and cam chain tensioner. It sounds as though something may have gone wrong on re-assembley. It would be easy to blame Triumph when in fact the wrong procedure has been adopted. It seems odd that the problem was allegedly spotted when he could not re-time the camshafts on re-assembly (I am assuming this is what you mean) . To remove the camshafts he would have had to remove the tensioner anyway which destroys the original tension, he would have to re- tension on assembly. I would have thought that if there had been slack in the cam chain prior to the service it would have been realised before removal of the camshafts. If in fact the chain had 10mm slack as you say I would have thought it was in danger of jumping the sprockets and causing real havoc. Was your bike making rattling noises prior to the visit to the dealer, this would indicate a problem with the tension of the cam chain. If it was not then it is difficulty to see how this problem existed before the service.

All in all it does not seem to stack up.

It would be helpful to all if this could be bottomed out, the last thing we want is to wreck an engine if there is a real fault, but on the brighter side at this stage I remain sceptical about the dealer's account.

[LoVel]

My cam chain let go at about 9000 miles while sitting at a red light. It had been making a rattling noise since the previous day and I was going to take it to the dealer the following day. It is an 06.

[SoCalSprint]

Originally Posted by LoVel

My cam chain let go at about 9000 miles while sitting at a red light. It had been making a rattling noise since the previous day and I was going to take it to the dealer the following day. It is an 06.

Triumph handled it under Warranty didn't they??

[LoVel]

Yes they did but it was not fixed correctly until last week. It has been down on power for about six months (which the dealer denied) and then they forced me to get the 12k service before they would fix it.

The whole issue may have been resolved because they recently obtained a new general manager and a new service manager.

I tried to get them to fix it six months ago but it is difficult when they deny there is a problem and the bike runs pretty good.

[casperghst42]

It was during the adjustment of the valves they could not get the timing right, and then took the chain out (after looking at it), and found that the chain was too long (there is something in the service manual about how long it can be).

I hope that I can make it to the dealer this saturday (also have an appointment with a builder), to get all the information. But 'LoVel' also had the problem (with an unhappy ending), so I doubt my issue is a one of.

More to follow.

Casper

Originally Posted by StevyR

Casper

was your machine in the dealers to have the valve clearances adjusted. If so the mechanic would have had to remove the camshafts and cam chain tensioner. It sounds as though ...

[StevyR]

Casper

This does not sound right. The service limit of the chain ie the length when fully worn, would not prevent the cam timing from being set. The bike could run quite satisfactorily undesturbed without the knowledge that the chain is at its service limit. How would anyone know without stripping the engine. Not something we do on a sunny Sunday afternoon for entertainment. Triumph would set the wear limit allowing a factor of safety say 15%. So the chain would operate at a greater wear limit than the figures quoted in the shop manual. All things are designed with a built in factor of safety, without this failures would be happening wholesale on all manufactured goods the whole of the time. This quite clearly does not happen. If the oil has been changed as prescribed in the service schedule and assuming the bike has not been used in competion then 40K kilometres is not a high mileage for a cam chain. It is certainly not listed as a service replacement item. The bikes are thought to be good for 100k miles not kilometres.

The only other possibility is that there are a bad batch of chains out there. In which case Triumph should be contacted about this, if this is likely why hasn't the dealer already done this? This scenario however would appear to be extreme and would affect many hundred's of bikes and possibly other models too and would have manifested itself by now.

Don't let them mislead you, I would insist on further investigation. Best of luck. Keep us up to date.

[ricster]

Hello Everyone,

I went to my local dealer across the street where I work the other day to inquire if they have heard of this problem...the service manager Don said he would look into it. He has given me the answer: "he has not seen or heard of this problem and Triumph direct in the USA had no information on this to be a problem. He said there was an issue with some of the Rockets but nothing on our 1050 motors. I spoke to bailey one of the tech's directly who says he has seen nothing like. He also noted on a side note that he has not seen any valves on these 1050 motors to be out of adjustment yet on any of the higher mileage bikes he has worked on! So thats what I have come with....hope this helps eases the worry.

[gsbeamer]

Originally Posted by ricster

Hello Everyone,

I went to my local dealer across the street where I work the other day to inquire if they have heard of this problem...the service manager Don said he would look into it. He has given me the answer: "he has not seen or heard of this problem and Triumph direct in the USA had no information on this to be a problem. He said there was an issue with some of the Rockets but nothing on our 1050 motors. I spoke to bailey one of the tech's directly who says he has seen nothing like. He also noted on a side note that he has not seen any valves on these 1050 motors to be out of adjustment yet on any of the higher mileage bikes he has worked on! So thats what I have come with....hope this helps eases the worry.

Thank you Ricster.....it does ease the worry, I spoke to my tech
and he told me that the Valves should be adjusted at 20,000.....but after
seeing so many bikes that don't need any adjustment at all, they don't worry
about it anymore.....they think it is a waste of time and money, at those sort of
miles anyway.

I will sleep better tonight....Regards gsbeamer.

[casperghst42]

Ok, now I know what it is.

Looking at the exploded view of the camshart and camdrive on page 3.4. in the service manual it shows two rubber chain guides (the back one is the one which is used to tension the chain) and it is the front one which is the issue. According to my dealer it more or less the same as on the 955, even though the 1050 have a longer stoke (longer chain), and that causes the chain to be able to vibrate too much which can cause that it stretches over time. This have been redesigned - longer, thicker I don't know.

I do not know if it is something which is an issue with all 1050's (incl. the early ones). Mine is the 2 ABS on the road in The Netherlands (excl. the demos, which as far as I know did not have ABS until later 2005).

Also there was no problems at 20kkm, and the valves did not need adjustment either, this happened between 20kkm and 40kkm.

Casper

[DaveM]

Just as a point of interest.

My bike is the 2004 955 and I am almost ready for my 50,000kms service, I have the same senior tech work on my bike every time and he hasn't had to adjust a valve yet, but I can hear I now have one loose one.

My engine gets a good work out every ride, no commuting just hills.

DaveM