cphaza Evening all. I have promised a friend that i will swap his timing chain tensioner for the z20net one this week. He has no rattles or problems with his old one at present which is why he wants it done now before it starts! Just wondering if i need to take rocker cover off and/or bottom cover? Ive only ever set these up when everything is apart, so am i correct in thinking that there is a chance the chain could slip once the tensioner is removed or am i being a bit of a fanny? Have to do mine soon too so wanna make sure i get it right! Someone said he cable tied his chain to the sprockets to make sure it didnt move, though im leaning towards getting away with it if i'm careful! Cheers Chris
IDI_AMIN The tensioner is at the back of the cylinder head it is possible to change tensioner without removing rocker cover just be careful not to turn the crankshaft or anything
cphaza Thanks for the reply, i thought it would be ok from my experience installing new chains. it will be saggy of course but as long as i dont let anything move......
evocarlos chances are if its in a location where the cams ready to jump and you pull the tensioner out it could jump and move on one sprocket best to get the cover off and hold the cams still with 2 spanners and some mole grips unless you have the cam locking tool
IDI_AMIN Best way is to activate tensioner before putting it in so you know its done right. Probably due a new chain as well it will be in the same length of time as the tensioner. I thought i could do that as well just put in a new tensioner and thats it . But in the end up got a new chain as well. Good luck anyway
cphaza Yeah will do. Last time i activated it in a tub of 5/40 and pumped it a bit. Just have to be careful with the screwing in. If i get the bottom cover off and just try and put a bit of tension on the rear guide rail with a screwdriver i guess that might work. Only reason im trying to save a bit of time is that i dont have a garage to work from, it will be dark and chuffing cold so want to wrap the job up in least amount of time as possible :-)
vocky the only downside is the chain guides go brittle with age and will eventually break and wreck the engine
cphaza Had real trouble with this tonight. Took the rocker box off as didnt fancy goofing timing up. I put a hooked end of a metal coat hanger round the back of the chain then cable tied the body of coat hanger to somewhere near the radiator so it kept the tension on the chain. I activated the new tensioner and screwed it in....... it didnt even touch the guide rail!!!! Putting the two tensioners side by side, the old type (from thread to tip) is maybe 1-2mm taller but im thinking stretched chain or worn guides? Anyone else encountered anything similar before?
cphaza New chain kit fitted and all is good with the new tensioner. Its deffo marginally shorter from thread end to tip, will show up worn guides/stretched chain by rattling a bit earlier. My car next! Did i read somewhere (from vocky?) that the z22se kit is the same as the YH kit except for one cam sprocket?
vocky yes that is correct, the z22yh has a cam sensor on the inlet cam, so the sprocket has an extra piece of metal welded to it. Just don't use the z22yh sprocket on a z22se engine or retain the z22yh sprocket if fitting a z22se chain kit to a z22yh.
cphaza Cheers, thats what ill do (assuming my sprocket isnt showing crazy amounts of wear). Many thanks