Hi all, im replacing my first cam chain tomorrow, for such an important process the manual doesnt really help much! Anyone have a basic step by step? the bikes apart and ready to go
Find timing marks on crank and camshafts. Get them lined up. Tensioner out, rotate crank forwards slightly to release chain tension, unbolt and remove cams. Break old chain, join onto new one, feed old one out & remove it. Join new one back together with a proper chain riveter. Get crank back in position, install camshafts and tensioner. Chain slack on intake side where the tensioner is. Once all together slowly rotate engine a few times to ensure there is no binding. It's worthwhile to do the valve clearances while you are doing this job.
Chain comes already joined, which means I have to remove the timing sprocket to get it on, whats the best way to undo this without crunching gears? No I dont have a flywheel holder
Hey Sharky, When you say the bikes apart and ready to go are you saying the engine is intact or have you started pulling it apart? If the latter, what have you done? Linkin suggests the break-the-camchain method. I've never done that, so can't be of any use to you doing it that way. The manual does cover many of the steps you need to perform before and after changing the cam-chain. What I do know is that the you'll need to remove the cam chain tensioner unit, cam chain tensioner arm and the timing wheel. The timing wheel on the ZXR locks into place on the crank and is clearly marked 1/4 TDC and 2/3 TDC. The trickiest thing I found was setting the timing. The manual does cover this pretty well, so as long as you have 29 link pins (check the manual) between the markers on each cam wheel you're good to go. This image shows where the cam chain tensioner unit normally resides (removed for cam chain change) This image shows what the timing wheel bolts on to (the crank). Above the chain is the plastic tensioner arm attached to the cam chain tensioner lever. This image shows the crank and the cam chain wheel This image is top of engine once camshaft top (housing) has been removed. The camshaft hollder top has numbers written on it. These are used for bolt removal and installation order. Sorry if you already know all this. Cheers Frank
to look at there may be enough clearance in the rebated portion of that cam chain retaining cover to smuggle the chain through past the clutch basket, which means if you took valve clearance readings, then remove the cams you could freely rotate the crank to get both the old chain out and the new one in
to re-install - put the bike in gear, a piece of soft pine 2x4 between the rear wheel spokes across the swingarm, torque to spec...
Cheers for those pics Frank, dont think the chain will fit past the timing wheel & clutch basket though, and I will be using the 4×2 method to remove the timing wheel, works great with main clutch nuts, What is the torque on them timing wheels by the way?
Sharky, Manual says 39Nm for the Timing wheel Bolt. I don't think the cam chain can come off in one piece unless you split the cases. I'm learning about engines, so it's good practice for me to pull them down and then put them back together. I must admit I never did try to take the cam chain off without splitting the cases. Even with the Timing Wheel and other bits removed, I seriously doubt the chain will have enough room to squeeze out because of the rib surrounding the wheel. Once you loosen the tensioner and remove the cams you'll know for sure if it can come off the crankcase wheel. Good luck. I spent ages doing this jobs.
If it's a single run cam chain then the cases need to be split, there is a sneaky workaround which @DougFella knows, where you grind a small Section out of the case to allow the chain to be Run. @DougFella , can you shed some light on what your mechanic did ?
Mmm this is going from a few hours job to I havnt got time for this,if theres a sneeky spot to grind ill find it but later, already done that to fit a 16t front sprocket
Chris is probably right. You could grind some of that rib down enough to get the chain off without splitting the cases. I'd be very careful with bits of metal flying everywhere, but looks promising. I might try that myself next time. I'm keen to see what Dougfella does.
