Tensioner oil flow

3.2 CAB · 09-14-2004, 08:01 PM

Is there supposed to be a lot of oil getting pumped out of the carrera type tensioners? There is a lot of oil coming out, but not from the piston area, it is squirting out from the little hat shaped thing in the center of the thing next to the piston. It is in the center of this picture. The piston doesn't move when pressing down as hard as you can with your thumb, just a little oil seeps out the weep holes. When reving engine, oil will squirt out 6-8 inches into the air and has major oil flowing out of it from this hat looking object.

garibaldi · 09-15-2004, 10:42 AM

makes you wish you were a young, sex starved teenager again doesnt it?

The oil is dumping from the pressure relief.

Henry Schmidt · Henry Schmidt's Garage

Christian is correct.
BTW
When installing a Carrera tensioner update kit on an earlier engine, it is always wise to replace the idler arms with wide Carrera style replacements.
The ones pictured are early arms with spacers.
Galling where the arms contact the pin is the major cause of tensioner failure, even with Carrera tensioners.
Yes, Carrera tensioners fail too!! We have a box full of them.

mtelliott · 09-16-2004, 08:25 AM

How can you tell if they are good or not? What should I look for?

I had a valve tapping after 300 miles so while I'm getting the valves adjusted, I'm looking over the entire engine. Pulled the sump plate to look inside and all is good. Now I want to pull the covers to take a look at the chain tensioners to see if they are operating properly and make sure everything looks fine. Yes, this is overkill but it will ease my mind to take a look.

Therefore, what should I look for? What should I test?

Thanks in advance.

Michael

garibaldi · 09-16-2004, 09:52 AM

This isnt scientific, but this is what Ive found. Every carrera tensioner that I have seen that had failed, always had the small stamped steel cage on the top of the pressure relief that holds the ball in- loose. the cage woudl still be in place, but you coudl wiggle it with your finger. Maybe coincidence, but that is what I always found. And you know the tensioner is bad when you hear the car running and it sounds like someone is running a chain hoist inside the engine, since the cahin is slappin around and rubbing the case.

Tim Hancock · 09-16-2004, 10:16 AM

When I tore my 79SC down, I found the retainer cap, spring and ball lying in the chaincase. The right side idler sprocket arm was siezed to the shaft and upon removal there was severe galling on both the shaft and the arm (FWIW).

garibaldi · 09-16-2004, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Henry Schmidt
Christian is correct.

Correct about which part, the tensioner, or the sex starved teenager?

Henry Schmidt · Henry Schmidt's Garage

The only thing I miss about being a teenager is twisting the throttle on a Maico AW 250.

mtelliott · 12:33 PM

Christian,

When you say chain hoist, what do you mean? I ask this because when I heard the valve start tapping, I also thought I heard a spinning sound. The tapping side came from the driver side but the spinning sound appeared to be coming from the passenger side. When I restarted some time later, I only heard the tapping sound and did not hear the spinning sound.

I'm hopefully finding time to open it up tonight so I'll respond back with what I find. As a novice, some times the hardest thing is to understand is if what I'm hearing or what I'm looking at is a problem, a potential problem, or just normal. One thing you can't get from books is experience.

Michael

garibaldi · 02:08 PM

I had it happen on my turbo a long time ago. I woudl start it up and it would idle, and sometimes I woudl hear this noise that sounded like a muffled chain hoist, or like a chain being dragged out of a garbage can. It woudl happen intermittently- at idle, and at a certain RPM, i tore my hair out trying to figure out what it was, pulled everything apart, and after trying all else, I tried swapping tensioners with anohter motor I had apart, and suddenly the noise was gone. I had run the motor with the covers off, and they chain was moving a little, but with the other good tensioner, the chain ran smooth, it was just enough to let the chain slap around and drag down inside the case by the crank. This was years ago, and after that, I had a few others that woudl come in with a similar sound, and sure enough, the tensioners were bad, and the check valve was loose.

I remeber twisting something else when I was a teenager

mtelliott · 09-16-2004, 06:57 PM

Christian,

Thank you for that description. I'll try to remember that description as I aquaint myself with the sounds of the 911.

I took the covers off mine and everything looks as is should. Plenty of tension on the chain and the chain rams are in place as they should be. This was more a peace of mind exercise than anything else. And now, I can stop worrying about what might fail.

Now I can concentrate on getting the valve's adjusted and getting her back on the road.

Thanks for everyone's insight.

Michael

3.2 CAB · 09-19-2004, 12:34 PM

Thanks for the responses, I have been busy with the clean up and repairs from IVAN coming thru. So, am I to conclude that the tensioner is bad due to the massive amount of oil flow from the area circled in the picture? I know the left side does not have anywhere the amount that is squirting from the right side. I borrowed this picture from a previous post from someone else.