Cam chain life

[fbn ent]

As I go through my '02 I am now thinking about cam chain life expectancy. I reused one (can't remember which but can look it up in the instructions) when I installed the SE cam plate/oil pump/hyd tensioner assembly around 60k miles ago. How long do these things last?

[Hossamania]

My '01 has 125,000 miles of abuse on it. Went to gear drive at 25,000 miles. Primary chain has the same miles.

[Ohio HD]

As I go through my '02 I am now thinking about cam chain life expectancy. I reused one (can't remember which but can look it up in the instructions) when I installed the SE cam plate/oil pump/hyd tensioner assembly around 60k miles ago. How long do these things last?

I replaced a set that had around 65k miles om them. I was in the cam chest anyway, and updated the tensioners at the same time. I replaced the chains to have a warm and fuzzy feeling, although I imagine they were fine. Sprockets looked fine as well.

I've never heard of a cam chain letting loose. Doesn't mean it can't happen.

[Hossamania]

My '01 has 125,000 miles of abuse on it. Went to gear drive at 25,000 miles. Primary chain has the same miles.

I just realized my post makes no sense. Went to gear drive at 25,000 miles, so no cam chain for the last 100,000 miles. (Same lifters for 100,000 miles, if that matters!)

[smoserx1]

They stretch.  Below is a pic of mine with about 120K miles on the chain (the tensioners only had about 50K).  The chain is stretched and if you look carefully the area where the tensioner is pressing is indented too much.  It was far worse on the inside chain & I wish I had taken a pic of that side too.  This was about 12 years ago and everything was replaced with conversion cams and roller chains.  About a year ago I changed out the now hydraulic tansioner pads which  then had accumulated another  80k or so on them.  The newer type roller chains looked fine.

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[SP33DY]

I've never heard of a cam chain letting loose. Doesn't mean it can't happen.

I had a 2010 Softail come in for "won't start" issue. They said they did a compression test and had zero compression on one cyinder. I don't know what they were smoking, but they didn't notice the piece of cam chain poking out of the cam cover, or the oil all over the place.

This guy ran it until the shoes wore through to expose the steel plunger. I think I may have posted a picture of it in an older post.

[Ohio HD]

I've never heard of a cam chain letting loose. Doesn't mean it can't happen.

I had a 2010 Softail come in for "won't start" issue. They said they did a compression test and had zero compression on one cyinder. I don't know what they were smoking, but they didn't notice the piece of cam chain poking out of the cam cover, or the oil all over the place.

This guy ran it until the shoes wore through to expose the steel plunger. I think I may have posted a picture of it in an older post.

I hadn't considered chain death by supported parts failure. That had to be a noisy motor for a while I would think.
 

[billbuilds]

I've never heard of a cam chain letting loose. Doesn't mean it can't happen.

I had a 2010 Softail come in for "won't start" issue. They said they did a compression test and had zero compression on one cyinder. I don't know what they were smoking, but they didn't notice the piece of cam chain poking out of the cam cover, or the oil all over the place.

This guy ran it until the shoes wore through to expose the steel plunger. I think I may have posted a picture of it in an older post.

Wow.