cam chain tensioner rebuild ???

as the story goes with kzs the cam chain tensioner craps out after a short period of time. well mine is starting to make noise, so i ordered the 2 springs a o-ring, and the tensioner housing. (the bolt on the housing is stripped so i figure i need to replace that too), well i am hoping that this might fix the rattling cam chain slop. for a good 12000 miles or so and i would be happy. anyway, i am wondering if any of you have ever done this and if it helped or fixed the bad tensioner. please let me know, stephen.

The norm is, that we replace the bad tensioner with a manual one that lasts forever. It is not the millage that makes the automatic one go bad, but time. The springs go bad with time under compression. The springs go bad in about three years. some time less.

i am going to go ahead and put the new parts on the auto tensioner.( i already ordered the parts ). i am open to tips of taking the tensioner off and putting it back on ( like any special things you might have to do, i do have a lot of mechanical skills ). the clymer repair manual has nothing about the tensioner. thank you for the infomation.

There is a procedure in the OE Kawasaki manual on how to do this. Removing it is no problem and straight forward. and the installation is the exact reverse. First place cylinders 1&4 @ TDC Second, remove the side spring housing with side locking spring. Than remove the tensioner. To install, make sure that the engine is not turned even a little bit while tensioner is removed. than install tensioner in reverse order of removal. replace seal on tension spring housing and tighten only lightly otherwise it will crack. You may find that without replacing the two steel plungers the problem may not be solved.

thanks again for the info. how do you get the engine to top dead center. i am more familair with car engine. and i am making sure i didnt miss anything in the process to take the tensioner off. ( i dont want to mess something up, just trying to fix it is all)

kzzone.com/sprockets.html

gcarson64 wrote:

thanks again for the info. how do you get the engine to top dead center. i am more familair with car engine. and i am making sure i didnt miss anything in the process to take the tensioner off. ( i dont want to mess something up, just trying to fix it is all)

Remove the ignition cover plate, and turn the engine over with a socket wrench on the large bolt head, not the smaller one that passes through it. You will see the timing marks thru the small opening above this. Just line up the T mark on the side of the advancer that has the 1-4 mark, and your good to go.

Image below shows the timing plate inspection window on a 1979 KZ1000, visible after removing the ignition cover (two screws) on brake pedal side of engine.

KZ550 parts may look slightly different.

Sometimes the T mark is difficult to distinguish from the "T" or the "1", so be sure the correct mark is identified as the T mark.

Good Fortune!

[Click on image to enlarge view.]

As noted by TeK9iNe ---