I just replaced all of the gaskets and the plastic plug on my cam chain tensioner. But oil is leaking out of that stupid plastic plug. I need to stop that leak so I can take the bike to do a track day, but I'm not sure what to do. It's such a stupid place to have an oil leak. I curse that plastic plug! Has anyone tried something different to plug that up?
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/06/2yzanasu.jpg)
Here's a photo of the leaky plastic plug.
I raced ran without a plug. AFAIK, there shouldn't be any oil behind that plug... I strongly suspect there's something wrong with your CCT.
Since you're prepping for a track-day, my advise is to plug the hole with JB Weld or Silicone. Replace the whole unit with a manual CCT when you have time.
I was wondering about that when I pulled it off and saw oil where the spring is. The spring is in good condition and I looked down at the the cam chain when I put the tensioner back on to make sure it had the right amount of tension. I checked for any loose spots and it seemed fine. I rode it around and nothing was wrong... other than oil coming up into where the spring is and then leaking through the plug.
Any recommendations on a manual CCT... brands that you like?
IF for the sake of making your bike track-day-ready, you can just remove the plug, clean inside there as much as possible, and then put some RTV and pop the plug back in. If I recall, there's a flathead screw inside there for pre-tensioning the spring. Then when you need to work on the CCT, just take a knife and cut out the RTV.
its not that hard to make one, trace the gasket onto a chunk of 1/4 aluminum, drill the mount bolt holes to same as stock, grab a 4" long (I believe) 7/16 bolt with threads all the way up (or tap and die the threads to the bolt head) drill and tap the plate for the bolt, run a nut up the bolt, thread the bolt through the plate useing the nut to lock the bolt in place. ran mine finger tight then backed it off between 1/8-1/4 turn out then locked the nut. the idea is to leave some slack.
Quote from: Erika on April 05, 2014, 04:18:26 PM
Any recommendations on a manual CCT... brands that you like?
APE is the major player on the market. I have no complaints with their products.
They don't officially list a tensioner for the GS500, but there is a GSX-R part that's cross compatible. You can either call them and ask which part you need, or track through the 4+ revisions of the GS500 CCT to find the part that's used on both the GS and the GSX-R, and then buy the Ape CCT from that compatible year.
There is oil flying around everywhere, that plastic plug isn;t even supposed to seal it up, the hole is like a + with a "o" hole in the middle ... nothing wrong with the CCT, in fact that's not even that much oil, I'd ignore it and race it.
Cool.
Buddha.
Suzuki adjuster assembly 12830-01D12 fits all years GS500/E/F 89-09 and also fits 97-00 GSXR600. APE makes a manual CCT for the 97-00 GSXR600. http://gsxrzone.com/tensioners.html
Many brands and prices on ebay if you want to sort thru them. I may be replacing my CCT but will go with oem auto one from Susuki if I do.
+1 on what Buddha said.
+1 to GSJack as well. I'm not a huge fan of the manual tensioners. Its one more thing you can screw up and ruin your day. And the GS tensioner isn't known for failing - unlike the kawasaki crap from the same era.
Cool.
Buddha.
Thanks Jack. I think Buddha's right, though... it seems to be functioning normally, or I would have noticed on the day ride I did Sunday. Good to know in case I end up needing one anyway, though. I would ignore that little drip, if it wasn't pooling all over the engine case and seeping down the left side when I put the kickstand down. I can't believe how much oil is dripping out of that thing. I keep checking to make sure it isn't from anywhere else... but nope. It's all from that plastic plug.
Is the crankcase vent blocked ?
I cant see how else it can send so much oil ouuta that one ...
Cool.
Buddha.
Uhhh... where's the crankcase vent? Is it the breather all the way on top that vents to the airbox?