Cam Chain Bolt - Stuck? How much torque?

Hi Forum,

Putting together a decrepit old 2004 Rockster. The PO crashed it and the head is cracked. The bike came with a new used head.

I have the cover off and am working at the cam chain. The bolt is very tight and I'm afraid to apply too much torque because I'm afraid I might snap the head. Any tricks to get it off? Are they usually really tight?

Also, I took a bolt off - the one with the red arrow. I'm guessing it attaches to the cam chain guide. I can't put it back on. Hopefully when I have the head off, I'll be able to push it back on with my finger. Any tricks here?

Thank you!

The manual for my 04 R1100S says this bolt is torqued to 65 Nm, so I wouldn't think it should be that hard. No mention was made of using a thread locker which could make it harder. Do you have a Clymer manual for the bike? As to the other bolt it appears from the manual it did not need to be removed for the work you are doing, it was the guide rail bearing screw for the cam chain. Did you remove the cam chain tensioner for this side? Hope this helps.

Hi Forum,

 

Putting together a decrepit old 2004 Rockster. The PO crashed it and the head is cracked. The bike came with a new used head.

 

I have the cover off and am working at the cam chain. The bolt is very tight and I'm afraid to apply too much torque because I'm afraid I might snap the head. Any tricks to get it off? Are they usually really tight?

 

Also, I took a bolt off - the one with the red arrow. I'm guessing it attaches to the cam chain guide. I can't put it back on. Hopefully when I have the head off, I'll be able to push it back on with my finger. Any tricks here?

 

Morning Imgnr

You are kind of in a tough spot now. As that chain guide bolt should be in place before breaking the cam sprocket bolt loose.

You might be able to reach in from the cylinder cover area then use a long screwdriver or metal rod to take the tension off of the lower cam chain & outer lower can chain guide then get that bolt back in place.

You don't want the cam chain to jump when breaking that cam sprocket bolt loose, if it jumps there is chance that you could break the tip off of one of the cam chain guides.

To get the bolt loose I usually use as tight of a fitting socket as possible on a 1/2" drive using the shortest extension that will allow access. Then I use a very long breaker bar (I have a 3' heavy duty breaker bar that I welded up that works great)

What you want & desire is a long bar with lots of leverage & very little spring in the extension or socket. The idea is to get the bolt to come loose SMOOTHLY without it suddenly breaking loose & allowing the chain to snap then break the tip off of a cam chain guide. (those bolts aren't terribly tight but the springiness in the cam chain & guides make applying smooth release pressure difficult)

If that cam sprocket bolt won't come loose with a moderate amount of torque then use a pin-point torch & heat the bolt head THEN try again to remove it (someone might have lock-tited it at one time in the past)

(above all try not to allow it to suddenly snap loose with a big jump)

Have not had a chance to order the manual - downloaded a factory manual from the internet.

Thanks for reminding me to loosen the cam tensioner bolt.

Thank you for the response. What are the risks of not putting on the cam rail bolt before I remove the sprocket bolt?

Thank you for the response. What are the risks of not putting on the cam rail bolt before I remove the sprocket bolt?

Afternoon Imgnr

The risk is breaking the tip off of your lower cam chain guide. I'm not saying it will happen if you don't reinstall that bearing bolt but not reinstalling it could increase the chance of it breaking.

If the cam sprocket bolt releases smoothly then it probably doesn't make any difference but if the cam sprocket bolt jumps as it releases then it could.

Would it help to stuff the area around the cam chain with an old rag so that the chain doesn't jump?

Would it help to stuff the area around the cam chain with an old rag so that the chain doesn't jump?

Afternoon Imgnr

It might though I have never found the need to.

If you try it just make sure whatever you do doesn't allow the chain to put pressure on the chain guide tips as those are the parts that break.

Success! I heated the bolt up w/ a small butane soldering iron (took the tip off to make a small torch). Don't know if that helped because there ended up being no Loctite in there. I applied ALOT of pressure and it released with a very loud snap. I thought something broke. I have plenty of experience breaking off bolt heads so I thought I was screwed. Extremely relieved.

Thanks again for all your help.