New oil fed tensioner broken?

[GotaT]

I noticed the oil relief caps were loose prior to installation and upon touching it, it popped off! The other one is loose, but didn't seem to come off... yet?!
I thought this was supposed to be an upgrade, seems temperamental.

Thoughts?

[Alan L]

Same thing happened to one of mine a few days ago. Just flicking the tensioner out with a screw driver and caught the cap. That was it. All over. new one on the way. They don't seem help in by much. But it is a very light spring under there. Scary to think if it came loose.
Alan

[dannobee]

The ball usually ends up on the drain plug magnet, FWIW.

There's a mod outlined here somewhere where two small holes are drilled in the tensioner to add a piece of safety wire across the cage to keep it in place.

[gled49]

The pressure fed tensioners I bought in 84 have worked flawlessly. This is a new problem and I wouldn’t install them without modifications of some kind.

[Alan L]

I made up a piece to replace that bit that fell out. From stainless, which has a coeff of expansion a bit higher than steel.
But I can't bring myself to trust it. That wire trick would help.
Alan

[callard]

Is that ball 5 mm by any chance? I found one in the bottom of an engine last year.

[Alan L]

I would have thought a bit smaller - maybe 3-4mm. But I can measure it in a few days. Not at home right now. But I downsized the ball slightly for my fitting - it is more complicated than it looks. I still have the original and can measure in a few days.
Alan

[Marwil]

I had the same issue with a tensioner and used the wire method. Drill carefully and it should go well.

[GotaT]

Have a pic of the drill method? At this point I'm tempted to just use the original type...

[dannobee]

Credit to Trackrash (Gordon) for the pic.

[Marwil]

Yup, that's exactly what I did too.

[callard]

The 5 mm ball that I found was in the sump of a CA company rebuilt engine with lots of red painted parts. Less than 200 miles on a total rebuilt mag case engine that had not been line honed or bored. Much main bearing material in the sump along with the 5 mm ball. Since I know of no ball bearings in a 911 engine, I thought that the rebuilder might have put it in the sump as a joke. No surprise since the rest of the "rebuild" was a joke.

[Alan L]

You do hear of some horror stories.
My 930 had a 'freshly rebuilt engine' when I bought it. Turned out to be a replaced 2nd hand P&C, and RTV of every colour on every surface. Oh, and a timing lock pin in the crankcase - no extra charge.
Alan

[zztot]

To original poster ….. where did you purchase tensioners?

[Alan L]

Originally Posted by callard

Is that ball 5 mm by any chance? I found one in the bottom of an engine last year.

Yep - 5.0mm. Bingo.
Alan

[GotaT]

Originally Posted by zztot

To original poster ….. where did you purchase tensioners?

OEM porsche tensioners from ********az

[zztot]

…..Hmmm
Even more troubling
Bought a kit from vendor and wanted to determine if i needed to be concerned.

[callard]

Alan, thanks for checking. Now I can quit wondering how a 5 mm ball wound up in the bottom of an engine.