Redneck Experiment

[Larry T Moore]

A buddy of mine and I have been playing around with a 250sx with cam chain noise.. the valves have been properly adjusted..we pulled the tensioner out and stuck a vacuum cap over the end and reset it....its quieter and by no means a permanent fix...the engine is going to be torn down and gone through but we thought WHY NOT?...prolly just bought it another year two..:p

[tri again]

Nice.!

There are quite a few threads about timing chain tensioner.
Maybe try the search key?

I just posted about a manual tensioner that I can't seem to trust
but if you got yours to quiet up, you're headed in the right direction.
As I recall, those tensioners 'step' out as the chain stretches.
If they're all the way out and you still have chain noise, it's chain time.
I've heard that they Can jump teeth if they get too sloppy.

Not sure what you mean by vacuum cap reset.
There's a screwdriver slot in the end of the tensioner that rewinds the
spring so it can be reinstalled and then the spring lets go and pushes back out to press on the guide rail and tension the chain.

I've got one on the bench right now that I need to figure out but I'm
real good at giving unfounded, possibly pointless advice.
It's part of the fine art of procrastination.

[Larry T Moore]

you go down to your local parts store and they sell a little tree in the help section with assorted sizes of vacuum caps to plug up the lines on carbs and intakes and such...I used to be a mechanic and still do stuff on the side so I got car stuff all over the place...well the tensioner just pushes against the slides like a fat lady in a full elevator so we thought of a redneck way to get a little more push..so we put a brake cylinder bleeder screw cap inside the longest vacuum plug and slid it over the end of the tensioner..it was pretty snug...so we fired it up and the tapping is still there but not near as bad..well run it till it either blows or the money comes up for the rebuild...and by reset I meant twisting the little screw out till the tensioner was all the way back in..

[tri again]

Gotcha.
Someone described someone had welded a bump on the end of the tensioner for that same purpose.
There's also a manual adjustable tensioner that I posted about yesterday.
Pretty much a threaded bolt with a locknut that can be positioned anywhere you want.

Pretty spooky when they're out that far because they apparently WILL jump teeth
if too sloppy.

Guessing bent valves if it gets that bad.

Sure are fun machines, eh?

Have a great time and try to find a couple more.

[Larry T Moore]

my question is how would you adjust it?...theres no way to feel if its too tight or too loose...

[tri again]

yeah, that's what concerns me.
I guess they're sold as for racing so that killer decelleration, the chain won't be tempted to jump.
They are listed as specific for the honda sx and es 250. but their
tensioners 'step' out and won't get flung back in for the chain to jump
in that situation, unlike simple spring or hydraulic pressure tensioners.

Now if the original chain is loose and the stock tensioner isn't
providing enough tension, it could jump anyway.

Which brings us to this new tensioner for this worn out situation.

I'm thinking it Could work for a little while as long as it's
'owner operated' and no one overrevs it??

Maybe there's instructions that say something like:
"Set at TDC and torque tensioner to XXX inch pounds and then back off 1/4 turn",
but that's just my guess.

When I was younger and in less pain, working on these things was almost as much fun as riding them.

[Larry T Moore]

I just tore down one of my spare sx engines and it seems to me as stiff as those slides are...when the tensioner is done pushing..there isnt much more to go...sooooooooo...but the chain replacement does seem pretty easy....just retiming seems to be a pain in the trailpro trailpro trailpro :lol:

[ps2fixer]

Timing the engines is just as easy as changing the chain, if not easier. Typically for a honda engine unscrew thew 2 inspection / timing plugs on the left side of the engine and put it at top dead center, pull the very top of the head off, and time the cam with the marks, should be in line with the case shape, just make sure your cam isn't 180 off, I think it was lobes up, but checking in the manual would be best. Put tension on the chain, recheck timing after spinning the engine over a couple of times and put it back together.

[tri again]

Not sure it matters, but could you go 'advanced' and put a mention
of timing chain / tensioner in the topic so we can find it at a later time?

I'm following your progress as I have many questions before it's my turn.

Hope it's going smoothly.
Thanks

[Larry T Moore]

ask all ya want...If I got any answers Ill give them to ya:welcome:....