Cam chain....lost horsepower?

[OB_Lofty Abuse]

Heres a question for the more mechanically knowledable. If your cam chain tensioner was loose and the chain was very slack, could that actually effect cam timing, resulting in lost HP?

Just wondering.

 

[OB_Gary Evans]

The chain is pulled down by the crankshaft on the front which determines cam timing and the slack is taken up on the rear via the tensioner. Timing is affected when there is enough slack for the chain to ride up on the cam sprockets teeth or to actually jump teeth. When that happens a loss of HP is the least of your problems.

 

[OB_Lofty Abuse]

Yeah, but I was just trying to determine if this was a problem that was showing itself before it failed. Im not talking complete tensioner failure at first.
I was having some HP problems, before the failure. I was about 7-10 HP shy of where I figured I should be, compared to other bikes with the same mods.
I was just wondering if a loose cam chain, not loose enough to jump teeth, could result in lost HP

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

HA!

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Highly unlikely for a hy-vo chain to ever jump teeth. Unlikely to break either. Im installing the APE tensioner for safety's sake. Whew! What a scare!

 

[OB_Johnnycheese]

They will jump teeth and I have seen some break (Yamaha)but the feel is not the same Hy-Vo and link chain

 

[OB_WARBIRD]

Highly unlikly though. Very strong chain. Just broke by themselves? I bet almost always something ran between one of the sprockets[crank or cam] and the chain breaking links.

[This message has been edited by WARBIRD (edited 27 July 2000).]

 

[Guest]

Lantabusa. Pistons do not always win over the valves. Sometimes its a tie, and they both break. Like when my tensioner let go. All 16 valves and all 4 pistons (plus a lot of other expensive stuff).

 

[Guest]

You must have some other problem affecting your numbers, or you just figured wrong. A cam chain is nearly impossible to jump teeth, and if it does, your problems will be far greater than just losing a few hp.

 

[OB_Lofty Abuse]

Like I said, not loose enough to fail or jump teeth, but could it be loose enough to not fail but somehow effect cam timing, resulting in lost HP?

 

[OB_Hapo]

...yes...generaly the engine will run strong on top and badly at lower speeds with a streched timming chain that did not yet fail...

 

[OB_daddy long stroke]

the answer your looking for is- no. it would be fine right up until it broke the tensioner and jumped a tooth or worse . the only way i could see it eating some h.p. is if the actual gears were old and worn down from the chain wearing on them for yeaaaaars, . the busa's are slipping a tooth because the cam tentioner is failing...... I'm not a engine building guru, but i did sleep at a holiday inn express last night.

[This message has been edited by daddy long stroke (edited 27 July 2000).]

 

[Guest]

No doubt, Gary. At that point ya need to worry about getting parts from suckzuki, like pistons, valves, ya know, little things. I jumped teeth on a .40 over 350 chevy(Pete Jackson gear drive jumped out so hard it flexed the crap mr. gasket timing cover and jumped off the cam gear) years ago, it is NOT pretty. Pistons win over valves every time.

 

[OB_BarryW.]

For performance to be affected, the chain either has to jump a tooth or stretch, since the cam timing is fixed by the relationship between the crank and cams on the taught side of the chain, away from the tensioner.

However, here's a curious bit: did anyone else read Cycle World's long term review of the Busa where they stated that they lost more than 5hp after the tensioner recall was done? Interesting.

 

[OB_ZXALAN]

Hey Barry, Cycle world actually lost 10 hp after the recall, but gained 5 hp back after putting a pipe on!! That sucks!!Back up to 155 hp with a pipe after being at 160 stock? Probably Dyno errors or variance either before when stock or after with the pipe.