Hey, I was using you and me as examples in the interest of social progress! I don't know about you, but I feel a sense of gratification that I've added to the societal database of knowledge and that others will benefit from my experience. You too should feel like a hero!

 

I think mine were orange, but looked very good. At the time I thought they might last 250k based on the amount of wear at 25k. So newer pads are white?

 

Well, guess what, northside, the '06 and earlier models doesn't even mention them in the owners manual either, much less a mileage check on the service intervals. The '06 Touring Service Manual also has no mention of a mileage check either, and they don't even appear on the page entitled Service Wear Limits. The manual does have 1/2 column on each of two pages devoted to how to replace them (page 3-89 -90),with three hand drawn diagrams, one labeled "acceptable wear" and the other two "unacceptable wear." So even though the failure of these parts were well known, and the '06's were the last year the original style was used, Harley still never had a mileage recommendation for checking, much less replacing.

Most of us learned about this problem on the TC88's because others reported problems. 20,000 is certainly not "checking too soon" or "too often," for a known wear item made out of plastic.

 

The early TC88 manuals didn't mention checking the tensioners at the 20K service either.
Mine went for 45K on my '01 before I had to change them.

 

Hey, just glad to help and share...If other can learn from my mess up and i didn't screw up anything major it's ok...
Must admit that the wealth of communal knowledge is a blast here...
Let's keep it up.

 

The tensioner on mine was orange and was on the verge of having a large piece hanging off. The chain was making plenty of noise that was audible so I rode home and then found the problem. If you pay attention to the sounds of the bike you'll hear the chain rattle around in there before it blows. Well mine was making rattling noise don't really know if they all do. If I kept riding it a piece of it would have fell off (a piece the size of about 1/10 - 1/4 of an inch), and possibly could have ruined the oil pump and did more damage. They told me if I went with a new shoe that they are good for 100k now. I didn't really go for that as the previous one wore out so switched to gear drive cam set up. I have the stock setup in my crossbones don't know if I'll switch that out or test my luck with the 100k service interval.. I've had the gear drive 510 s&s cams on the Roadglide for 10k now and no issues with those so far, but they are supposed to be problem free...

 

Is this audible while sitting on the bike? I can hear weird noises, not what I would call rattling, if I put my ear down to the nosecone, but what I'm hearing is probably normal. There's a lot of stuff moving around in there and it should make some noise, especially with the higher-lift cams. Mine is more of a whine or whirring sound. I'm going to put my ear to friends' bikes for comparison.

 

it sounded like a tinny rattle and woudl rattle a bit if you rev the motor a little and close the throttle quick would make the chain in there slap and rattle, mine was so bad there was no real tension on the plastic shoe

 

What has the earlier model tensioner set up have to do with your bike? No, the earlier manual doesn't mention them because the tensioner failure wasn't expected. They goofed after engineers said that the sping loaded tensioners would last the lifetime of the motor. The hydraulic tensioners use the exact same technology as the B motors counterbalancer tensioner. That system is bulletproof. Maybe it should have been in the old service manual, but the new system works great. If you want to listen to your "dealer" that's your business. I've been riding Harleys for over 40 years. I have 3 right now, one early Twincam with geardrives, that I installed, and a later one with the hydraulic setup. It has well over 30,000 miles and I won't be checking the tensioners any time soon. Listen to your dealer if that's what you want. They, believe it or not, want your money. The tensioner problem is solved, but you can tear your timing cover off every week for all I care. But the fact remains, the problem the early twin cams had is solved and doesn't apply at all to the later ones. They don't mention it in the later manuals because they are confident the new system is fine. If you want to believe the crap a slaesman tells you about your bike, that's your problem, me, I'm going riding.

 

Northside, it applies to my bike because it's an '06, and had the older style before I converted to gear drives. Your saying you shouldn't have to check a newer style because it isn't on the service interval chart. My point is, in reply to your post, is that Harley NEVER addressed it as far as a service interval check on the old style, even after seven years of reported early failures. Even with the update, you still have a plastic part inside your cam chest, subject to heat stresses, cracks, etc, and it is a wear item that should be checked. How often? Well, that's the unknown, still unaddressed by Harley.

This forum frowns on links directed to the "other HD forum," but there's a post there on 1-11-11 concerning a TC96 tensioner failure at 28,000 miles on a 2009 Ultra.