5. It is now time to slide your APE CCT in. Make sure the adjuster is all the way out. It won't go it if not all the way out. You can use the 2 bolts to hold the gasket in place then make sure the adjuster sit against the engine properly and start the bolts by hand and tight them up.

Now here's the most critical part. There's a fair amount of drag on the CCT thread and getting a feel of when it touch is a bit tricky. The way I did it was by moving the timing chain on the slider until it get tight (you can now remove the pliers from holding the slider). When you get to that point stop and spin the engine with the ratchet keeping track of the chain play.

Our bike are relatively new now so the chain should not be stretch too much with a lot of variation. Once you feel happy with it back up the adjuster 1/2 turn as APE instruction says. If you move the adjuster and not the nut... 3 flat = 1/2 turn.

All you have left is to bring the jam nut against the adjuster and tight it up. Make sure the adjuster do not move. Keep holding the adjuster with the allen key.

 

All pretty much done now. Install the cover back on and don't forget to reinstall the end cap and timing mark bolt on the other side... nothing worse than hitting the starter button with the ratchet still in place!

Start the bike and pay attention to the cam chain noise... shouldn't have any by now [emoji3]

Hope it help. Like I said at the beginning, there's more than one way to do it.

 

I have a question, is there enough clearance between the frame and the engine for the old cct to come out and new one to go in? And the other thing is I called APE and asked them if the oil passage is getting blocked off from the cct and they told me that is not. Is that true? And if it is how would I block it?

 

Mod... im done, lock it up!

 

Reserve 4

 

I received mine today and its very well made thanks to APE!!!!! And thanks Marthy!!!!

 

Did you reuse the gasket on the engine cover or did you purchase a new one?

 

A new gasket come with the APE CCT.

 

A new engne cover gasket came with the CCT? Wow, them's some good folk at APE!

 

It comes with the CCT gasket only, not the side case. Might be a good thing to get one while you wait to get your CCT. Mine didn't break and I reused it.

 

Should have mine in a few days. Thanks for the write-up Marthy. I'm sure it'll be invaluable in getting this thing installed. I'll post up progress if I have any experiences different than yours.

 

Thanks for taking the time to make this post, excellent job!

 

Thanks Marthy

Jay

 

Thanks Marthy!

Pretty easy and straight forward, I would add that it would be good to have of stubby allens to make accessing the #5 allen that hold down the cct easier.

Thanks again

 

What are the major differences between the APE and the fizzer cct fix?

 

Yes XJ, I had to cut one off a bit to have better access to the adjuster.

The Fizzer kit does a great job on keeping the hydraulic adjuster to back off, good band aid on a poor design.

The APE CCT is a good old school adjuster that will never fail. Just a long bolt that rest on the cam chain guide and it never move unless you decide otherwise. LOL

Just to do the math here, I change mine on my FZ6R 3 time now in its 46K miles life. Once it start to get noisy, it goes out and get replace by a new one. At $75.00 a pop is quite a lot of money for something I shouldn't have to replace in the first place. Time will tell how good the Fizzer kit will be but for about $90.00 you can fix the problem once and for all. Some here have to park their bike for weeks if not months because they are waiting on Yamaha to bring an upgrade... I rather spend the $$$ and ride.

YAMAHAZONE...

 

What is this bit about???

IMPORTANT: WHEN REPLACING ANY HYDRAULIC OEM TENSIONER WITH A MANUAL TENSIONER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE OIL PASSAGE THAT SUPPLIED THE OEM TENSIONER IS BLOCKED OFF. FAILURE TO DO SO COULD RESULT IN A LOW OIL PRESSURE SITUATION.

 

Some bike have CCT issues, timming chain bouncing around until the oil psi load the cam chain tensionner. Yam are on their 3rd version already... The fizzer kit is simply a M6 set screw, nut and plastic washer that keep the adkuster from backing off. Work well but doesn't fix a defective CCT.

What happen is the screw that preload inside the oem cct back off and the tensionner loose his tention at start up. And some get worst than others. Was the same with some FZ6 back in the days from what I heard.

The APE adjuster is a manual adjuster. You need to keep an eye on it but if the chain start to be noisy at start up all you need to do is had a little bit of preload and lock it up again for thousand of worry free happy miles.

The APE tensionner was design to cover the oil passage inside the bore where it fit.

 

Thanks..

 

Nice detailed write up Marthy,

Am I wrong in thinking that the original CCT design was intended to utilize the oil passage in order to increase tension on the chain as the engine speed increases? A dynamic tensioner so to speak?

With the APE tensioner it seems that the timing chain receives a consistent amount of tension regardless of the engine speed or engine temp.

Perhaps Yamaha wanted to avoid a consistent amount of tension on the timing chain in order to avoid pre-mature wear due to the way the timing chain metal expands and contracts during its heat cycles?

The Ape design seems simple and straight forward, why would Yamaha choose to go a more complex route utilizing the varying oil pressures created while the engine is running?

 

Because it would be too easy. The whole thing about hydraulic tensioner is that they are suppose to adjust themselves. As soon as the chain pick up some slack the oil psi push the tensioner out. So if there's anything... the oem tensioner constantly put pressure on the chain for no reason. The manual cct is pretty much a long bolt and a jam nut. About as basic as a hammer and chisel! LOL But it work!!! IMO it doesn't add pressure to the chain on acceleration and when the bike get on decel (this is when the back side of the chain get under tension) it simply laid against the chain guide.

 

the tensioner needs to be automatic because the average person can't be trusted to correctly adjust cam chain tension.

i can't think of a single modern production bike that doesn't have an automatic tensioner.

 

Mine is manual now because I can't trust Yamaha LOL [emoji12]

 

So dose anyone know if this issue has been corrected on later production models?

 

Bulldog, I haven't heard solid statistics on it. Seems even riders who have installed the newer CCT have had trouble. I'm going with the APE, already have it, will install during the next oil change.

 

Automatic/oil pressure assisted tensioners are, generally, lower maintenance.... However, they are not used in performance bikes by professionals because when RPM drops, and oil pressure does as well, slack is introduced, which is not desirable. Dynamic tensioners are great for the non mechanically inclined, but they are not ideal, by design.

 

Questions

Marthy, thanks for the great how-to. I've done a fair bit of wrenching on other parts of bikes but when it comes to engines I'm a bit timid.

From step 1. “A 19mm socket is required to turn the engine over CCW. Turn until the timing marks line up inside the small hole”
Which timing mark? Isn’t there more than one? How is it labeled etc? Also the crank turns twice for each turn of the cams, but for this that doesn’t matter?

“3. Here I will suggest you to go an extra step. Removing the RH side cover will make sure the chain doesn't skip a tooth and it will make it much easier to adjust the chain. I use my plier and some duct tape on the tip of the pliers to gently wedge between the engine case and the CCT slider.”

So the point isn’t to make the guide tighter. You just want to keep it from being looser while there isn’t a CCT in place? I might use a socket wrapped in a shop towel.

Gasket for the timing chain cover:
The only thing I can find in the Yamaha shop manual for this this the torque for the 8 Allen heads, 8.7 foot / pounds. So if the original isn’t torn or delaminated etc just reuse it? I have a new one if needed. Only the gasket is needed, no additional sealers etc? Any other related tips for this?

On page 5-10 of the shop manual it is called the Timing chain cover and gasket. But in the parts diagram: PartShark.com
It is #26 Oil pump cover and gasket. No, the oil pump is below the clutch and covered by the clutch cover. If anyone else wants to order the gasket it is:
GASKET, OIL PUMP Cover 1RC-15456-00-00

I'm going to combine the APE install with the 2nd oil change and a low profile drain plug.

 

Took me few turn to find it out too. Its like a triangle, flat on top and at an angle on the bottom. You kind of see it when you zoom in the picture. Line it up with the line on the case.

 

A couple more questions...

Does the engine temperature while doing the APE install make any difference? Warm is ok?

How much chain play should you feel at the guide? Both before and after backing out the APE 1/2 turn.


Note:
The Allen key for the APE adjuster is 4mm (or that size works, a 5/32 inch Allen key also works well). But the lock nut is in inches, both the wrench size and threads. The wrench size is 11/16 inch but I don't have one, seems a 18mm wrench will work, a bit loose but it doesn't need high torque.

 

As I understand it, simply lining up that mark does not ensure proper cam alignment, at BTDC.

You want it on the compression stroke, which you cannot determine unless you remove the valve cover too.

 

Yeah Fizzer, but the way Marthy wedges the chain guide to prevent slack I don't know if the crank and cam position is critical. But it is what Marthy did, so I will.