My 05 Fatboy is approaching 20K miles. I've been told to keep an eye on the cam chain tensioners.

My question is, what are the symptoms failure? Is the a gradual happening of will they go with no warning?

I want to keep on top of this before a problem occurs.

 

I was told by one of the wrenches at Co Springs HD that I would notice a reduction in power and performance near 40K miles. Hopefully by then, I will have my cam job and direct gearing done. I think the MOCO never should have went with cam tensioners.

 

Some tensioners last 40,000 to 60,000 miles with only minimal wear. Some crap out at 15,000 miles or even less. Normal wear would be just slight wearing-down from the chain rubbing on it. Sometimes though, chunks of the tensioner's shoe bust off. I'd say it's a good idea to take a look at them around 15,000 miles and see what they look like. If there is evidence of the shoe flaking or chunks missing, replace them - or better yet - put in gear drive cams.

 

Is this considered warranty work if it's within the first two years?

 

It certainly would be warranty work if the shoes have failed (broken pieces gone from the shoes). If it is just normal minor wear and the shoes are still within specs, then the dealer would not replace them under warranty.

 

Makes sense, thanks.

 

Here's two different examples:

First mine with 54k on them. Not bad for the miles, IMO.

Second a buddy's with 20k on them. One is shot.

Basically, it's a crap shoot. There's no way to predict when they are going to wear out. The best bet is to check them periodically.

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Cool, thanks for the info xxxflhrci.