• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Coming back to chain tensioners

Share this page

JPSmit

JPSmit

Moderator
Staff member
Silver
Country flag
Offline
I recall that Jack couldn't find his when he re-took the front off the engine. I didn't think I had one either until I was cleaning the timing chain cover and found it in there. But - my question is this. Does it serve any purpose other than keeping the timing chain tight against the lower sprocket? Why then is it called a "tensioner" implying that it "tensions" something. I bought a new one but I can barely imagine they would wear out

JP
 
What I had done is put a fresh engine together without them, then remembered so took the front off to install.

No place to install. Now that said, I ran a Bugeye for almost 30 years, 4 fresh engines in that time and never ever had chain tensioners on them.

I suggest that maybe the orginial cam gear had a slot to install the tensioners but that the newer ones do not as they were found useless?

In any case I am going without and not even worring about it.
 
Wow.... Triumph-engined Midget have a bent-up piece of thin steel that does tension the chain. Use it. Often re-useable.

BMC A engines used to have 2 flat rubber rings on the cam sprocket that maybe tensioned things and kept the chain quiet. Replacement sprocket do not have provision for the rings, so do not use them on replacement sprockets.

There are REAL significant differences between BMC A series engines and Triumph engines.

JP, one other thing. Tempting as it may be, don't "clean up" all of the body putty on the timing cover. It is supposed to be there and significantly quiets chain noise.

HTH Peter C.
 
"BMC A engines used to have 2 flat rubber rings on the cam sprocket that maybe tensioned things and kept the chain quiet. Replacement sprocket do not have provision for the rings, so do not use them on replacement sprockets."

And that Peter was my call as well.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Tempting as it may be, don't "clean up" all of the body putty on the timing cover. It is supposed to be there and significantly quiets chain noise.

[/ QUOTE ]

What body putty? All the inside looks like is a thin coat of oil "patina"
 
Back
Top