NEBO
New Member
Hey guys, just wanted to share about the timing chain job I performed on my 2009 FZ6S about a year ago. Lots of helpful information on this forum and still very active so I thought I'd contribute with my experience.
My bike had 131,000km at the time. With that mileage I suspected the timing chain was probably stretching to its limits, so this was the first 'major' service I would challenge myself to do.
This isn't a How-to, I'm far from being a qualified mechanic, so please do use some sort of service manual if you plan on doing this too
I went by the Yamaha service manual instructions, removed all the parts that were in the way: airbox, battery tray and ignition coils, AIS system, drained the coolant and removed radiator, valve cover and timing cover on the right side of the bike. Didn't need to drain the engine oil since I left the bike on the side stand, none came out from the timing cover opening.
Removing the 3 chain guides, all of them had rather deep grooves worn in by the timing chain. The tensioner also had witness marks on it showing that it was already fully extended in the engine.
Pulled the camshaft caps and removed camshafts, proper unknown territory now for a newbie like me. The camshafts had some weird brown spots on it, anyone know what these are?
The old timing chain (right) next to the new one (left), it visually didnt look too much longer than the new one, but i found the old chain links could flex sideways a lot more.
Removing the pickup rotor. I didn't follow the service manual for this step, which calls for a special flywheel tool to hold the magnet rotor on the other side of the bike. I just put it in first gear, tied down the rear brake lever and pushed as hard as I could on the ratchet to undo the pickup rotor bolt. It was TIGHT. But with luck it finally broke loose, really happy win right there!
Dropped in the new chain guides and timing chain, and torqued the pickup rotor back up to spec. Was so relieved when the torque wrench finally clicked.
Lining up the timing marks and slowly tightening down the camshaft caps up to spec. Had to really go slow on this step or the camshaft would 'bind' and refuse to seat fully. Then I forgot to install the tensioner before turning the engine over by hand, of course the timing chain jumped a couple teeth and I had to take it all back out and restart.
Finally got everything lined up again and put in the new tensioner, gave the engine a few revolutions by hand and it all checked out! Super happy at this point. Checked the valve clearances, all were in spec. Also put in a new timing cover gasket (this ultimately fixed a slow leak I was having there).
For anyone putting in ignition cables, the service manual has a very clear diagram of the cable layout, should've checked that first before I wasted half an hour doing trial and error.
My bike had 131,000km at the time. With that mileage I suspected the timing chain was probably stretching to its limits, so this was the first 'major' service I would challenge myself to do.
This isn't a How-to, I'm far from being a qualified mechanic, so please do use some sort of service manual if you plan on doing this too
I went by the Yamaha service manual instructions, removed all the parts that were in the way: airbox, battery tray and ignition coils, AIS system, drained the coolant and removed radiator, valve cover and timing cover on the right side of the bike. Didn't need to drain the engine oil since I left the bike on the side stand, none came out from the timing cover opening.
Removing the 3 chain guides, all of them had rather deep grooves worn in by the timing chain. The tensioner also had witness marks on it showing that it was already fully extended in the engine.
Pulled the camshaft caps and removed camshafts, proper unknown territory now for a newbie like me. The camshafts had some weird brown spots on it, anyone know what these are?
The old timing chain (right) next to the new one (left), it visually didnt look too much longer than the new one, but i found the old chain links could flex sideways a lot more.
Removing the pickup rotor. I didn't follow the service manual for this step, which calls for a special flywheel tool to hold the magnet rotor on the other side of the bike. I just put it in first gear, tied down the rear brake lever and pushed as hard as I could on the ratchet to undo the pickup rotor bolt. It was TIGHT. But with luck it finally broke loose, really happy win right there!
Dropped in the new chain guides and timing chain, and torqued the pickup rotor back up to spec. Was so relieved when the torque wrench finally clicked.
Lining up the timing marks and slowly tightening down the camshaft caps up to spec. Had to really go slow on this step or the camshaft would 'bind' and refuse to seat fully. Then I forgot to install the tensioner before turning the engine over by hand, of course the timing chain jumped a couple teeth and I had to take it all back out and restart.
Finally got everything lined up again and put in the new tensioner, gave the engine a few revolutions by hand and it all checked out! Super happy at this point. Checked the valve clearances, all were in spec. Also put in a new timing cover gasket (this ultimately fixed a slow leak I was having there).
For anyone putting in ignition cables, the service manual has a very clear diagram of the cable layout, should've checked that first before I wasted half an hour doing trial and error.
