2004 Ultra Cam Chain Tensioner Question

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XxkaytiexX

New member
My wife's '04 UltraClassic (owned since new & always used Syn3, and no work/inspection ever done on tensioners that I know of) has just strated making a sound that I hope is not a cam chain tensioner problem starting....

Bike has just under 30k miles on it, and when running, the engine has started to make a faint yet consistent rubbing/light grinding sound when idiling in the bottom end area (it's too faint to be more precise). It went away at about 1500rpm in Neutral, and was unnoticeable while riding. Run a fingernail lightly across a coutertop, and thats kinda what it sounds like. All bolts/clamps etc. in the area were checked and are tight and as soon as I heard it, I put in new Syn 3 all around (with no debris of any type noticed in old oil). Sound is still there, but like before the oil change, it goes away at about 1500rpm in Neutral, and is unnoticeable while riding.

Q: I have extended warranty until June 2011. What is the best approach to take with the dealer in an attempt to get them to replace them, or upgrade to gears before my ESP runs out? Any secret words or phrases to use to get them to check/replace them under warranty?

Has anyone ever tried to "deal" with a dealer and say something like "it's making this noise, and I hope it's not the tensioners, but check it out under warranty please, and if it turns out they're fine, I'll make you a deal and pay the parts cost for the gear kit if you cover the labour on warranty"?

Not sure if this would be a reasonable or sensible approach, but I've heard horror stories about them letting go just after ESP has expired, and the cost to repair/replace the motor frightens me more than my wife when she's in a bad mood!

Thankls for any info and/or advice y'all can give....

Milkbone
Stouffville, Ontario, Canada
 
Can't help you with magic phrases, but can offer a suggestion...

Coming home cross country this summer stopped in Bald Eagle H-D Marquette MI and met their tech. Great guy, very helpful. I also have a 2004 RKC with just under 30K, and was strongly encouraged to have the cam chain tensioners pulled and checked at the 30K maintenance. He had parts there he'd pulled earlier and showed me the wear patterns in the tensioners - he noted that they do not all wear the same, some will go considerably longer, but its best to have it checked. He also said later touring (2007 +) models used an intermittent design so they were not always in contact with the chain, but our 2004s use a constant-tension design (if I understood him correctly).

I suggest you just have your 30K mile maintenance done, and request that they inspect your cam chain tensioners (assuming you don't do the work on your bike yourself). If it turns out to be an issue, it's likely the other way around, the part would be covered under warranty, but you'd still pay the labor (in my experience). YMMV.

Hope this is useful...
 
I did basically what you are describing when I had the cam chain tensioners replaced at 40K miles on my '04 EG a couple of years ago. As for "magic words," telling the service writer you're hearing a grinding noice from the cam chest works. It also helps is you have a decent/good relationship with the service manager which I did.

The way the process worked in my case was the SM or one of the service writers called the ESP company (it's not HD), and requests authorization to do the repair after describing the symptoms. The autorization was given and the repairs made. If this was a repair done under the MOCO warranty, the dealer would send the replaced parts back to MOCO. Because it's an ESP claim, the replaced parts are not required to be returned to the ESP company; however, the ESP company uses auditors to occasionally check to confirm that the claim is legitimate.

My "deal" with the service manager was that if upon opening the cam chest, the cam chain tensioners had not failed AND the claim was audited by the ESP company AND denied, I'd pay the labor and parts. The dealer was authorized to do the repair and no auditor got involved.

When the cam chest was opened, one of the tensioners had failed (pad material worn through to the metal), and the tensioners and oil pump were replaced under the ESP.

HTH.

Carl
 
Make sure if they put gears in that your crank runout is checked appropriately. You may want to go with the hydraulic tensioner upgrade kit that includes a new style hi-flow pump. Also request the SE inner bearings upon install.
 
Definitely upgrade if you are replacing them. Why put back in the same problem you'll be addressing in another 30-40,000 miles?

I did a 'pre-emptive' strike on this potential problem at 30,000 miles, before a long trip. One had worn down to metal, the other one was cracked, and could have failed at any time, although the bike had exhibited no problems. The cost of the gear drive cams wasn't that much more compared to Harley's upgrade, although I didn't get the new oil pump.

The other major benefit is that I got the cams I wanted.
 
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