Noob HELP CL360 cam chain tensioner(s)

tvguit

New Member
I bought a running '74 CL 360 about a month ago (hoping to eventually do a cafe build) and I have run into some issues. I am not a mechanic but I have done some tinkering on different toys (MGB, jet ski, typical car maintenance). The issue that has baffled me is the recent failure of the came chain slipper.


I was riding down the road at around 4k rpms when all the sudden my valves? or something in the head started screaming. I pulled in the clutch and it sputtered and died. I loaded it into my dad's truck and we took it home. I pulled of the head today and noticed that the cam tensioner guide snapped at the curl at the top. After some research I have found that is a common problem and they are expensive/impossible to find. I kept seeing on the parts sites that there is supposed to be another guide/tensioner on the other side of the cam but there was none on mine. I looked down where the chain comes up through the head and it looked like the chain had been hitting/rubbing the back wall, probably from the lack of a tensioner.


It was obvious from the lack of head gasket that my motor (or at least the head) had been taken off before. Did the PO leave out the other tensioner for a reason or just because he couldn't find one? Is that a common set up? Will I need to remove the head to properly replace both tensioners? I have a clymer manual in the mail from ebay but I was hoping to be able to get out to Barber's on Sunday to look for the parts at the swap meet. Any insight into this situation would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks very much for your help,
TV
 
mysta2 is running tennyslips that he made. Seems to be working fine. I'd check with him to see if has any more.
 
The tensioner breaks when chain is slapping around.
The guide gets beat up and could be in the sump in pieces?
Are you sure gasket is missing?
We need pictures ;D
 
I dont think there is a gasket. if it wasn't leaking oil it was sealed with a sealant which is what you will want to do when you put it back. there was a recall on this bike to change the tensioner. Look at the serial no. on the gearbox. if it reads cb360:xxxxx it was fixed if there is no ":" it was not. Either way you want the new version or equivalent.
 
Hey guys thanks for all the insight. I apologize that I have been too busy to keep up with my post much. Apparently some types of people aren't welcome to work in Alabama anymore so somebody has to take up the slack.


I'll get some pictures up this afternoon. I think the guide could be in pieces in the sump because I found some crunched up parts of metal and rubber but I thought it was just from the other tensioner where it broke. I looked at the wall where the chain goes and it looked like it had been wearing on it for longer than just two seconds (the amount of time it was running after I heard there was a problem).
 
barnicle said:
I dont think there is a gasket. if it wasn't leaking oil it was sealed with a sealant which is what you will want to do when you put it back. there was a recall on this bike to change the tensioner. Look at the serial no. on the gearbox. if it reads cb360:xxxxx it was fixed if there is no ":" it was not. Either way you want the new version or equivalent.

Have you ever taken a 360 apart (or any motorcycle engine?)
ALL Japanese manufacturers use gaskets on production motorcycles between cylinder and cylinder head and, if block is removable, crankcase to block joint
Later model CB360's already had the modified part.
The early part works fine as long as maintainance is carried our at required interval, the service bulletin tells you about it and the possibility of motor locking up.
The later tensioner can also fail in the exact same place, I have 2 here that I changed in the last year or so.
You definitely DON'T want to use sealant on the base or head, you don't want to use Silicon sealrer anywhere on these engines
The only place you use 'Bond' (Hondabond, Yamabond, Suzukibond, 3bond 1104, etc) is the cam cover so the cam bearing bore stays correct diameter
 
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