Hydraulic Cam Chain Tensioner Installation Success (with a few anxious moments)

[justscootin]

developed a bad rattling noise. The dealer replaced it under warranty with .... another mechanical tensioner. So, according to BMW, nothing wrong with this design (despite many catastrophic events for their

In the 2017 manual I have it says if a scooter comes in for warranty for the cam chain tensioner it must be replaced with a hydrolic tensioner at no cost to the customer
I've gone through 4 mechanical tensioners before they installed the hydrolic under warranty last year (2022)
2013,2014, 2021 and 2022 I had to have a paralegal write me a letter to get my money back for the 2021 mess. Then the hydrolic was installed in 2022

 

[mjnorris]

Until you get guards in emergency carry some nitrile gloves. I had a pair of lite motocross gloves for wet weather and found if I put the nitrile on underneath then water does not contact the skin to leach out the warmth as quickly.

Somehow yesterday this topic brought up the messages from ‘hand guards’ which this reply is to. I opened the thread several times but got the hand guards content.

 

[zx10guy]

In the 2016 manual I have it says if a scooter comes in for warranty for the cam chain tensioner it must be replaced with a hydrolic tensioner at no cost to the customer
I've gone through 4 mechanical tensioners before they installed the hydrolic under warranty last year (2022)
2013,2014, 2021 and 2022 I had to have a paralegal write me a letter to get my money back for the 2021 mess. Then the hydrolic was installed in 2022

What 2016 manual? The only information I've found is a TSB for prior years stating the fix for a failed mechanical tensioner is the hydraulic tensioner retrofit. My dealer even checked to see if my 2016 is included which was a no. The only concession I got was a partial reimbursement for the cost of the retrofit that my dealer pushed with BMW.

 

[Ceesie76]

I have to think the BMW dealer would have installed the hydraulic tensioner when I brought it (2016 C650 Sport) in with 2,000 miles on the clock and a failed mechanical tensioner in 2018. Their interest is normally to do maximum warranty work as they get compensated for that by the factory/importer. So if they had been authorized to replace with hydraulic, they probably would have.
Anyway, I just installed a new (its 3rd) mechanical tensioner a few weeks ago and all is well again. The second one lasted about 8K miles. When this third one starts to fail, and it will, I will seriously consider upgrading to the hydraulic one or I may take the easier way out and for $75 just install another mechanical one. If they last 8K miles then for me it's a once-every-5 years job that is fairly easy to do.

 

[zx10guy]

The dealer won't just install the hydraulic one if the TSB doesn't call for it. As far as BMW is concerned for certain 2016s, the mechanical tensioner is what goes in. Hence why my dealer couldn't find anything about a hydraulic tensioner retrofit for my VIN. BMW won't reimburse for work that they deem unnecessary.

But I guess you've done enough of the mechanicals that you can do it with your eyes closed.

 

[justscootin]

Sorry guys on the date on my post I have a manual from 2017.
The dealer here I showed him the manual, he confirmed it with bmw canada and yes he replaced under warranty the mechanical tensioner with the hydrolic.
The mechanical tensioner is not even listed in the online parts catalog
I will continue looking for the sentences I read about the warranty

 

[C600sport albania]

I think the tennsion valve loosened pressure over night and caused this. One thing doesn’t fit in this bmw, even the newest ones come with mechanic tensioners but when you got to bmw the give you hydraulic. I ask them for my problem and they lifted the shoulder.
For me the solution is manual one. Aliexprss