Quote:
Originally Posted by Daves911L
I would say that you are one of the fortunate ones with chains and sprockets in as-new condition. Presumably the rest of your engine is as fresh? I replaced both chains and all sprockets on recent rebuild I did, and had the similar result of tensioners being much more compressed than we normally see. Its a good thing.
Just eye-balling it, I think your collars are thicker than the ones I remember. On the old ones (usually anodized blue or gold), the aluminum collar was actually slightly less in thickness than the diameter of the the heads of the cap screws.
Personally, I would leave them out. Tensioners give lots of little light warning rattles as they are getting soft. If your ear is paying attention, you will know something is up before it becomes a catastrophic problem. The collars could lull you into a false sense of security (whats that noise-oh, probably nothing--and anyway I've got tensioner guards). Could catastrophic chain failures have been caused by the collars banging up and down on a soft tensioner, loosening or breaking, and falling down into the works?
DG
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The engine is 90,000 miles old and I have all the receipts and no record of it being rebuilt or having chain/sprocket replacements. Could be fresh and not documented but that would be at odds with the rest of the records which account for all other work done (mostly external stuff like gaskets and oil tubes)
I do know what noise you are talking about as this is what caused me to inspect the tensioners in the first place. So it's not fresh, but at the same time it is pretty clean inside and it's been a warm climate car averaging 3,000 miles per year. Only the original owner really used it as a DD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daves911L
Oh, and just for kicks, have you rotated the engine a time or two after reinstalling the tensioners. Not impossible they would pop up a little more if you do so. Plus a good chance to eyeball the crank/cam alignment and make sure nothing moved, in spite of what appears to have been your good precautions.
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Yes I have spun it around to TDC twice, and worked the idler arms with a screwdriver to make sure they are making the chain as tight as possible. There is no binding and the engine rotates freely (plugs are out)
I am leaning toward leaving them out - the engine has lasted this long without them, and it will never be a hard driven engine while in my ownership - redline changes are not my thing. I respect the cap'ns advice here and if there was a bit more room I would put them on. I'm worried about not having enough shaft to clamp onto, thus having a substandard clamping and ending up with loose (or worse, loose in case) collars.
Which is annoying as I could have had the car back together a week ago had I not been waiting for the collars. But I will put them away and if I'm back in the engine in 10,000 or 20,000 miles time then I can see if there is more tensioner shaft to work with.