Power Commander vs Race Tuner Harley Tuner & High Performance Discuss Power Commander vs Race Tuner in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; Originally Posted by sgtcowboyusmc Bluesfan: What oil? HD SYN after first 1000 mi change. How many miles between changes? 5,000 What filter? All but last 2 were Harley. Last 2 ...

[VRYQUIK]

Originally Posted by sgtcowboyusmc

Bluesfan:
What oil? HD SYN after first 1000 mi change.
How many miles between changes? 5,000
What filter? All but last 2 were Harley. Last 2 were K&N


My Thoughts is I should probably run a cooler. My Temps in the Summer run aroung 250 degrees.

The cam had an 1/8 inch wide grove starting at about 1/8 from the end of the cam. It would be in the area covered in the bearings.

Hope that helps and Thanks for your help.

Definitely run a cooler.

Try to describe where exactly where the cam is worn.
Is it on one of the lobes?
Is it on the bearing surface and if so, which
bearing surface (crank side or cam drive side)?

[unclepsycho]

Hi there,

Babbit is the soft dull grey material on a bearing. I think it looks like lead. hard bits of debris can work it' way in there and get forced into this softer material (babbitt} and then cause more damage to the harder cam, crank etc.

[sgtcowboyusmc]

That was the second time I heard that term and was wondering what it was.

[Wrightturn]

Originally Posted by unclepsycho

Hi there,

Babbit is the soft dull grey material on a bearing. I think it looks like lead. hard bits of debris can work it' way in there and get forced into this softer material (babbitt} and then cause more damage to the harder cam, crank etc.

Hate to bring this up but there isn`t any babbit in a Twin Cam. If you scored a cam you most likely had a bearing failure. Most likely the INA inner bearing.
Babbit like material is used on insert bearings which can be found on plain bearing cranks and cams. Babbit is mostly lead but useless for making bullets.
I would like to have seen the bearings pulled from the engine. I would like to have cut open the oil filter to lookfor debri.

[unclepsycho]

Hay thanks Wright,

I havent been inside a Harley motor yet, just car and truck engines....

[sgtcowboyusmc]

Would berring failer be due to overheating?

Try to describe where exactly where the cam is worn.
Is it on one of the lobes?
Is it on the bearing surface and if so, which
bearing surface (crank side or cam drive side)?

It was on the berring surface and I am 99% sure it was on the inside berring as you are looking at the motor with the cam plate off. So that would be the crank side right?


Thanks

Bill

[Wrightturn]

Hey Sgt,

Heat might be a factor but I think a smaller one. The TC had spring loaded tensioners until 2007 and 2006 for the Dyna. There is considerable load on the bearings with this design. I think bearing failure resulted from being overloaded rather than a lubrication failure. I am sure synthetic oil and a cooler would help but the solution was a better design. Harley continued with the INA inner bearing even though the stronger Torrington 148 solved the problem. They did solve the outer cam bearing problem in 2000 by using a roller bearing on the rear cam and continued with the ball bearing on the front cam(quieter) wich wasn`t causing any problems.

The TC96 does not have any outer bearing. The cam runs directly on the cam plate without any type of bearing. The tensioners are hydraulic and don`t seem to stress the bearings or tensioners the way the spring loaded system did.

The ultimate solution is to convert to gear drive. No tensioners, no chains, no bearing failure. Just expensive.

[sgtcowboyusmc]

I was intending on changing to the gear drive but could not afford it at this time. Hopefully I will be able to in the future. The HD shop put in takeoff cams on a 5000 mile bike they did a 95 kit on. so I am hoping these will last for a year or so. I know that is not the best way to go but at this time money is tight!

Thanks for your help.


Bill

[VRYQUIK]

It was on the berring surface and I am 99% sure it was on the inside berring as you are looking at the motor with the cam plate off. So that would be the crank side right?


Thanks

Bill

It sounds like you had an inner bearing failure. These bearings are a "needle" type bearing and unfortunately is a common problem. Make sure that the Tech. cleans the engine best as possible. I would also suggest that you change the oil and filter every 500 mile a few times to help get the debris out of the engine. Remember that the bearings in the engine are "roller" type and any debris can get in the rollers. Good luck

[sgtcowboyusmc]

Thanks for your answer. I guess I will need to buy some xtra filters. It is a lot cheaper than replacing cams I want to thank all who answered and helped me out. If anybody has anything else to add please do so.


Thanks
Bill