one screamin eagle

To all you guys out there, the screamin eagle really does exist. i'm looking for some top notch help on this one, can't find any talk on this particular issue.

i had my o2 springer softail sporting 60,000 mi on her back in 2012. took her in for service at that time due to the compensator rattling around just a skosh. everything close to it was replaced, thats how harley does things. so now i know what a loose compensator sounds and feels like, one doesn't forget that experience to easily.

leading up to the present, only two years later i took her up to 70,000 mi and this time things took a strange turn. my beast slowly over the coarse of a few weeks morphed into what i can only describe as a screamin eagle. it actually screams like the sound of a turbine or a turbo engine, ok a reciprocating saw. i know what your thinking but i know what i heard two years ago and that ain't the same. now this is the weird part, it comes from the compensator area.

i ran it into the local hd shop and the two techs that heard me coming told me right away that it was the compensator, that "all harleys develop this problem" and that i needed to bring it in right away. well i didn't.

i came home, found your website, and reviewed as much info on the subject matter as i could absorb (i'm only a novice). then i went back to their shop, bought all the necessary parts they used two years earlier and decided i would do it myself. not crazy yet. i studied your posts, other sites, bought the official factory manual and step by step i used every bit of information i had available to me and completed the entire project. when i opened up that primary cover nothing appeared loose, damaged, or worn out, the lube was dark but it had 10k on it, not hard times.

well, got done, fired it up and the freakin thing was still screamin at me, from the idle right up the line, any rpm. i knew of coarse something much bigger then i can handle is going on with this old bird. so i took a b/f screwdriver and used the handle end as a stethoscope and moved it around the engine while she was running, and the center of the storm was coming from the area located behind the oil filter at the base of the front cylinder. that was my evaluation my best detection.

the stator is working fine, have no starting problems or electrical issues. oil and lubes changed and topped off. any other advice someone can offer me? i know i'll see those techs again but i would like to tell them that no! it wasn't the compensator like they originally stated but that i found out what it was on this web site that i stumbled across and this website told me it was the blankity blank and that was without even seeing or hearing it. anybody have any words of wisdom for me? oh, i know, everything costs, it's a harley, i get it! but your help is free, ain't that a screamer. thanks, fxsts_88

Tensioner pad is gone on the cam chain. Chain is hitting the piston pad making a whineing sound .pull the cam cover!

BP does it again. I bet you got it on the nose BP.

Even the late models have that sound when the pads or bearings take a shat. Always sounds like its coming from the primary side cuz it echos threw the case I pull the primary and check if its good I pull the cam cover and find it every time .bottom end wont growl it will knock with the compression event.and is rithmic type sound a whirling sound is chains and or bearings.

Balancer bearings, had it happen a couple years ago, major expenses, I did a complete rebuild. Did a 103 strocker and added a 6 speed, call it my 0513, 05 fatboy with 2013 motor and tranny.

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The stuff you learn here . . . so cool.

Yeah, not sure if I'd ride it until you found what it is...tensioners,not too bad,but if it's a counter balancer bearing and it comes apart,it would get expensive.....
Cross your fingers and hope your tensioners are shot....

I wouldn't be riding it. A buddy of mine rode his for a bit when it was making a whining noise. He had worn thru his tensioner pads and it was metal on metal after that. Cost him a engine rebuild. That you don't need.

My wallet hurts!

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Put on louder pipes........

Hope he hasn't been riding it.

crap, sorry, i couldn't communicate while using internet explorer....i had to switch over to chrome in order to post

anyway, out to hotroadking, you were right on target. it is the cam chain tensioners. here is the update now.

took it in specifically for the cam chain noise. written up as c/s i/r noise in cam area. estimate $99.99

went home, they called me ( the service rep) said it was opened and it was a mess drove back, the rep escorted me to my bike, the tech was present, had only the cam cover off and both nylon tensioners were intact however they were worn down showing signs of partial metal on metal. i saw no crap or plastic or metal inside the case housing. i tried to move the primary tensioner but it would not budge. it was there but the tech did not want to assist me, it was only a visual check allowed by me.

now the bullshit starts. the tech gave me three options. 1. complete rebuild back to stock 2. remove the stock and replace it with the new upgrade cam approximately $2000.00 and 3. remove the engine and send it east to be refurbished and returned for approximately $4500.00, i laughed

i took door number 2. figured i'd keep the bike so i might as well do the right thing and do the upgrade. couldn't do it myself, don't have the special tools or the know how. i wanted no changes to the engine that would alter my power commander settings, made that clear. no more costs after the job was done

we write it up. i get home, i check my work sheet and see over $1100.00 in parts. cam shafts (2) coarse. tappet lifters cam install ser ? spacer kit, cam drive gear, cam bearing asy? rocker gasket, new cam plate upgrade coarse and two more parts for $47.00 can't make them out.

i call the service rep, ask him why do i need cam shafts? why tappet lifters?
and he tells me the tech said there was a burr on one of the cams. i say OH
i had to hang up. everything i have seen on the site so far and in videos there is no way a mechanic can see any part of the cams because they are behind the cam support plate, am i right? the work has not started because they are waiting for the second cam to be shipped to their shop, been a few days waiting but the work has not started yet.

what do you think! also i thought it best to flush the oil tank

Did they at least give ya a reach around while they were effin you?! Holy chit that dealer is a thief and another reason techs paid commissions sucks.


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