Cam chain jump guard

[TomL]

I don't know that I would be too happy with that.

[Costas]

Having bought my bike last Saturday I phoned BMW as although the service book is stamped there were no past invoices with the bike which had been serviced at the Emergency Services workshop in London. BMW told me it had not been for four recalls which as they described them to me were , cam chain guides ( not sure if he meant the tensioner or the jump guard referred to here), something to do with the fuel pump, a rear suspension relay link?, and a something to do with the brake reservoir. Having read about the rear wheel flange recall I asked them and they said BMW would write to me about the rear wheel flange if it affected my bike.

Sorry I've gone off topic a bit but how do I check if I have the later cam chain tensioner, it's going into the dealers next Tuesday? 

There is thread with all the recalls so take a look there too.
Finally there is one provisional and has to do with the installation of an extra cable link to ZDE for Hot Start issues. Open until end of March. This is only for certain bikes might worth mentioning.

[gramey]

Thanks for the advice and the photographs, I appreciate your concerns re my safety which I obviously take seriously as well, the bike has done 36k so lets just hope it's not the 40 miles to the dealers when it all goes wrong. Probably best that I use the throttle a little less judiciously than I have been!

There is a slight rattle on start up but literally before you can start counting how long for it's gone again, I'll check the profile of the rear tyre that the dealer fitted prior to me buying the bike. It has new Bridgestone tyres although I don't know if these are suited to the bike. Some bikes seem to like a particular make and type of tyre where as another bike will happily run on whichever tyre you put on it.

I posted on the American site and a n other, Bikers Oracle although there appears to be more activate in a cemetery, as these were the only ones I found on a Google search. It was only when somebody pointed me in the direction of this site with a link that I knew it was here. 

[Phmode]

There are tyres that suit bikes and ones that don't.

My bike had spanking new BT 014's on it when I bought it, courtesy of the kindly previous owner.

They nearly killed me. I threw them away at 1,000 miles and Michelin PR3's. Perfect!

Others seem to like them, some prefer others but they are a good starting point. PR4's not worth the extra.

Brian (who's just remembered there's a PR4 thread, give it a read, it's quite enlightening)

[chriscanning]

I don't know that I would be too happy with that.

From a mechcanical point of view the bike never did it with the old cam chain adjuster and it never did it with the new one either but after going to 5wt it does it when it feels like it and of course the 5wt is all to do with clutch and gearbox hassles

From my point of view I treat and deal with my other 3 bikes like you do your K as for mine if it goes bang the warranty wil put another motor in knowing two people who have had exactly that and while the noise is iritating it's not something that I'll loose any sleep over.

But of course if someone wants to start a thread about why we should need an extended warranty on these bikes now that is something I get excited about

[Costas]

The extended warranty thread ghost returns.

There is another possible cause for that noise you know, its the starter.

[JayB]

This is a copy of the information I posted on the old EuroKClub forum about the problem I encountered when my cam chain jumped after I had filled up with petrol after a weekend in Wales.

BMW K series slant four engine cam chain jump guard.
Those of you with BMWs with the K40-K43 engines (K series slant four engines) should by now be aware of the problems caused by the camchain climbing around the crankshaft sprocket as shown in this photo of my engine.

This problem can be prevented by fitting a camchain jump guard part number 111318526932 which costs about £7.

If you're not sure if this is fitted to your engine you can check by removing the large aluminium plug shown in this photo in the right hand clutch casing cover. This requires a T60 torx adaptor.



The cam chain jump guard is not fitted if the crankshaft sprocket teeth are visible to the right of the large hexagon on the end of the crankshaft.

When my cam chain jumped on start up the noise was horrendous. Luckily I guessed what had happened and decided not to restart it.

It cost me about £135 to change the cam chain, cam chain guides, camshaft sprocket and fit a cam chain jump guard. BMW recommend replacing the aluminium clutch cover bolts but I re-used the old ones.

The consequences of the cam chain jumping could completely wreck the engine with valves hitting pistons.

TomL, can you help and point me in the direction of sourcing these parts please?
I have not had my bike long and BMW kindly informed me that mine "is a bit loud" when I went to the dealership with mine.
I had and have only heard my example of a K13s as I bought the first one I tried, but the engine noise difference between hot and cold is quite marked.
For the price of the parts you mentioned I am thinking I will have the job done to put my mind at rest.
Thanks, Jay.

[raesewell]

Your bike should already have the jump guard, and if it's a bit noisy the cam chain itself might be stretched. It really depends on the bikes mileage, how many miles has it done. I had a complete cam chain assembly on my K1200GT at about 40,000.

[Phmode]

As ever Jay, if you put your bike model and age in your profile it really helps those who are trying to help you if you have problems and saves them scrolling all over the place trying to find it.

Assuming your bike is younger than about five years old it will definitely have the later cam-chain tansioner and jump guard fitted in production. Older than that (approximately, can't remember the exact date) and it should have been done as part of a 'campaign', a recall in any other maker's terminology but BMW don't 'do' recalls unless forced to! This was all to prevent the terminal engine failures caused by the chain jumping the teeth on start-up and letting the pistons hit the valves!

Depending on use, mileage and service history it could be a case of the seal in the cam-chain tensioner needing replacement. It also depends on the 'noise'. A rattle on start up, especially when cold can point to the seal needing repacement as the oil seeps out of the tensioner when stationary and then the first rev or so of the engine is with a 'slack' cam-chain as the tensioner waits for the oil pressure to build up so it can do its job properly.

If the engine is simply running noisier when cold then that is a different matter altogether.

Brian (who is a great lover of sticking plasters  )

[Blobby]

When you guys have a minute google BMW 330D cam chain problem I only stumbled across this while looking for one it's seems to be in BM's DNA 

Wasn't aware of any inherent problems with the straight 6 3 litre lumps (I have 535d) the 4 pot 2 litre lumps are notorious for it which is made worse by the cam chain at the rear of the engine.

[JayB]

Yes, have the jump guard, maybe the cct seal is a good starting point, but I am interested in just ticking the job off if all the parts are around £150 to be honest. Hopefully TomL is still around and can give info of where the parts were sourced.
Bike done 25k with Police history..
 

[Phmode]

The parts are just simple BMW parts. Any dealer can source the bits for you but it is a 'recall'; I can't imagine your bike hasn't been done.

You can tell by looking at the cam-chain tensioner. If the cylindrical part is about 60-70mm tall it has the new part, if it is about 35mm then it is the old part. The jump guard was fitted at the same time as the new tensioner! The guard costs about 50p but you need a new clutch housing gasket and bolts set which is about £50. If you remove the silver circular cover shown in Tom's post you will see the plastic guard to the right of the centre and as Tom says, if you can see the teeth to the right, it hasn't been fitted!

Otherwise, your dealer should be able to tell you if the job has been done.

[TomL]

The cam chain rattle is a very distinctive clatter and once heard is never forgotten. It normally stops after a couple of seconds as the tensioner starts to do its job.

If yours is clattering on start-up especially when cold, then I would start with new "O" rings in the tensioner as Phmode suggested. I never bothered with a new clutch cover gasket and bolts whenever I took the cover off and never had a problem with leaks. Be aware that the bolts are aluminium.

If that doesn't stop the noise I would then fit a new cam chain. Although I also changed the cam chain guides and camshaft sprockets, I wouldn't bother to change them if I was doing the job now.

[Phmode]

...and just to clarify, the cam-chain tensioner doesn't need the clutch cover removed; it sits on top of the cylinder block on the right hand side and although fiddly to see with the dress on, it is easy to get to once you strip the old girl down 

The oil seal in the tensioner is the easiest first step assuming you have cam-chain rattle on start up and as Tom says, once heard, never forgotten, a bit like the death rattle 

[raesewell]

When I first heard the rattle it sounded like a blowing exhaust.