Cam Chain tensioner

1982 XJ650 Maxim

Just completed my valve adjustments. All are within spec. I now have a ticking noise from the engine that wasn't there until my last ride from last season. I have a XJ700 manual that a friend gave to me, but the cam chain tension adjuster is different than what I have.

There's a housing on the aft side of the engine with what looks like a bolt head on the end.

I read in the xj700 manual that you have to pull the left cover and set the crank mark C aligned with the timing mark. No problem with that. What's next to get the cam chain tensioner to set itself ?

I'm an aircraft mechanic by trade, but don't want to mess anything up by turning things I shouldn't.

Any help would be appreciated. New to the XJ site. Thanks in advance for any help.

J ME

 

Can you post a video of the bike running? There is a ticking sound when the bike is properly adjusted, so this could be normal. It may not have made this sound if the valves were really tight. The sound has been described as similar to that of a sewing machine.

 

when you adjust the valves you can do a visual on the tension by turning the crank shaft the opposite way you will see the slack

yours should be an automatic tensioner no adjustment



manual tensioner has a bolt through the side and a lock/jam nut on it

 

Another A&P..Welcome clappy valves are happy valves when there is no noise is when problems start.

 

check your inbox

 

Thanks for the info. What kind of aircraft have you worked? How long in the industry? Just curious. Nice to know another prop head on the forum.

 

Get rid of that manual, give it to a friend, sell it at Half-Priced Books, offer it to someone here . . . . cause here is what I know - a 650 is NOT a 700.

Milwaukee 'eh?
I used to stomp around there - psst, psst The Shop in Bay View has shims for your bike (650 Maxim) for cheap. I prefer to get stuff from XJ4Ever and Dave runs a great shim pool. But when you want to swap out shims and not wait, hop in the truck run to the Shop and you'll be up and running in no time. Say hi to Tim if you go there.

 

You guys fix em, I break em

Yup, these bikes are known for a little extra top end noise. My cousin has a CB400 that's dead quiet. But he also gets less milage, less speed, torque, and chicks.

Fiiiine, I don't get chicks either.

 

In addition to the normal noise from properly adjusted valves, the 650 (and 750) has a known isue that affected some number of the bikes. The tapping shows up at some point, but does not cause any harm to the valvetrain. Long ago, someone set up their machine a tiny bit wrong and made a run of the cam caps just a teeny-tiny bit narrower than it was supposed to be, causing more shaft end-play than is called for (but not enough to be of concern).

 

30 plus years everything from YS11 to 747 spent 18 years at NWA a few years at Shuttle America,Frontier MX control and my latest at U@$!×#d managment tech ops. I' ve had a good run .