Going to order a tensioner for my engine. What is involved in the installation? Does this piece take the place of the cam plate? Thanks-Mackey

Do not- DO NOT- remove the spring clip before installation. It will be very annoying if you do. Don't ask me how I know this.

Yes, it just bolts on in place of the cam plate.

Great addition to a V8 smallblock.

It comes with 3 holes in the cam plate-you must drill the 4th.

My plate has a small pin hole in it , you compress the spring and pin it , put on your chain and remove the pin

What are the advantages to running one of those tensioners?

The timing is more stable when timing at higher rpm. I degreeed the cam with & without. Its much easier to do it before installing, changes about 1 degree.
Doug

Honestly those things scare me. I am a dealer tech, and they were the "fix" for the 3.9 timing noise. They do fix the noise, but I have seen them come in with 20-30K on them and the plastic guide the chain rides on will come loose and make a mess. Causes the chain to get eaten up, and also isnt pretty when there is metal filings everywhere. I suppose they wouldnt be too bad on a car you dont drive very much, but Ill stick with a quality billet gear set with roller chain.

Just my opinion of course.

You can't argue with seeing it with your own eyes, is that the rare occasion?

My buddy who has worked on street cars warned me about this when I asked him if I should get one. IIRC he mentioned them coming apart after a while.

Ran

I must be lucky, Ive run them on almost all my motors Ive put together and havn't had a single problem. And that includes daily drivers. I guess Ill keep my fingers crossed.

I put them on every engine we build that has a chain including our limited late model circle track engines.... the one motor runs between 6800-7600 for 25 laps every Friday night for last 3 years.... Same tensioner, No unusual wear.

The Mopar piece is actually made by Melling & I get them through them a little cheaper.

If the pin comes out prior to installation, just use a long screwdriver & pry the tensioner back in place by applying leverage against the oil dripper tab, & stick the pin back in, or you can use a small punch instead, & by using a punch in the pin hole you can gain leverage over the tensioner to make it easier to get the chain on & off.

The backside of the tensioner does have a single slot for oiling, I've added additional oil slots in past depending on use..... also I put a coat of CMD #3 extreme pressure lube on the backside where the cam will ride when first assembling.

I use 5/16" ARP SB header bolts to attach the tensioner with red loctite...

& I lube the chain & tensioner where the chain rides with ARP moly graphite assy lube.

This stuff is'nt rocket science, just use common sense.

The one strange thing I noticed was when trying to set the ignition timing, on the initial hit, the timing would jump up to about 39 degrees and then slowly settle back down to 32..

It was explained to me that it was the chain tensioner that was causing this.. I'm not sure if thats true or not, but it does sound reasonable..

My '97 Dodge Ram 1500 has a 5.9L in it. It uses the same tensioner you are all talking about.

The truck has 291,000 miles on it, never had a single problem with it. Never once have I seen metal or plastic in a filter or oil....