Superclean09

Hey guys,

I am a noob but have searched around and cannot find any info on whether Honda ever addressed the dreaded CCT issue. Seems like a lot of the guys that switched had '98-00 models. I have a 2003 with 4000 miles on it and wonder what I should do. Is there a period where the engine makes a noise before they go or is it one minute all is good and then it all goes bad? If Honda fixed the issue I will stick with the ACCT.

Thanks.

Just_Nick

Basically you really have no idea when they're gonna go. At some point they simply going to fail.
Honda made updated CCTs, however I do not know how long they last, nor if they fix the problem of failure. They simply use a thicker spring.
Personally I'd rather deal with adjusting Manual CCTs than risk the damage a failed cct can cause.

Tweety

Honda can't, and haven't "fixed the issue" as there is no issue...

CCT's are a wear item... They need to be replaced at certain intervalls...

It would be like you saying "Why haven't Honda fixed the issue with the oil, I still have to replace it after so-and-so miles..."

The stupid thing Honda did though, was that they didn't put a mileage intervall in the service manual telling people when to swap them...

There is a period when CCT's make noise before failing... But it's short and easily missed with a big twin... So when in doubt, change them...

RK1

On my '03, the front cam chain started to rattle away at about 5k miles. I'd have to call that both a "wear item" AND an unfixed "issue".

Tweety

Yeah, agreed... It's indeed an issue that it keeps blowing engine's and needing repair/replacement on inconsistent intervalls... I'm not disputing that in any way...

But I am trying to challenge the common logic of people around here that the CCT's are Honda's fault alone... All manufacturers have had the problems to some extent... And in some cases you can trace it back to hard riding or bad maintanance... But definetly not all cases...

The issue isn't that they fail... It's that they fail at inconsistent intervalls and without warning...

But even with some re-design or however Honda could have solved it, it would still have been a wear item... You have a spring in there, and you have a self adjustment... Logic and the laws of physics dictate that they will wear, so they need replacement at some point... So there should have been a "safe" wear limit in miles printed in the service manual... Or something similar... If so, this discussion wouldn't have been about "faulty design", instead about the "faulty" CCT's that blew up early...

My point was, don't sit on your behind and expect Honda to solve an issue that has been around since 97... They are clearly ignoring it...

Either pick a manual CCT, from APE or do a DIY project (I can give pointers...) and keep it adjusted (once every other year or soo?)...

Or go for a Honda Original CCT and know that it will need replacement somewhere in the future... And can fail with rather short notice...

RickB

Its better to just replace them with manual CCTs and you never have to worry about it failing... I did mine at 10k...

trinc

they did upgrade the auto CCT's.

i read on the BARF forum ( thread about changing CCT's on the F4i ) that the original CCT's had an orange dot & the upgraded ones have blue dot.

tim

Just_Nick

They may be a wear item, but they are a stupid-*** design. Why they didn't design it to have a fail-safe in case of failure is beyond me.

Superclean09

Sounds like a timing belt type thing as in cars. I have heard of people skipping the replacment at 96,000kms on Honda Civics with dire concequences. Even if I replace with manual CCT's what is the life of the Cam Chain? I never received a manual with the bike but I think I saw one posted here and will go find it.

killer5280

I put a manual adjuster on my CBR600F2 way back in 1992. The OEM tensioner was different than the OEM tensioner on the Hawk (it was hydraulic, not mechanical), but they still had issues long before the Hawk came along. I guess the manufacturers are scared to death of putting manual ones on stock machines because they know that lots of idiots will mess with them and cause damage to their engines.

Manual ones are a no brainer in my opinion.

Tweety

Agreed...

And with good reason as a fool with tools can just about destroy anything... Don't need the help...

Tweety

Yep, a service manual is linked here somewhere, it's a very good way of finding out usefull stuff about your bike...

As for cam chain life... Well since there are bikes on 20000 mi or more without a teardown I'd say long... How long I wouldn't know...

But once you have manual tensioners in there if you need to adjust more than once a year you know it's starting to stretch...

shayne

Cam chain should be good for at least 60,000 miles.

As for CCT's, I know a guy that has the original CCT's in his 98 model. I also know a guy that is now on his third set of CCT's in his 98 model. Both have done similar miles.

As Barry Sheene used to say "Answer is on a postcard".

Superclean09

"But once you have manual tensioners in there if you need to adjust more than once a year you know it's starting to stretch... "


Thanks for the info Tweety and others. You just answered my last question before I buy some APE Manual CCT's.