What to Do About a Stripped Cam Chain Tensioner Bolt

A stripped cam chain tensioner bolt (or any stripped bolt for that matter) can be a royal pain to remove, but there are tools available to tackle broken bolt situations

Partzilla’s powersports expert John Talley does live question and answer sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this edition of Partzilla Live Q&A, John gives his advice on what to do about a stripped cam chain tensioner bolt on a 2018 Honda Grom motorcycle.

Stripped Cam Chain Tensioner Bolt Q&A

I stripped the cam chain tensioner bolt on a 2018 Honda Grom. What route should I take?

John Talley: Alright, I assume you’re talking about where the chain tensioner mounts to the head itself. My bit of advice is you’re going to need to of course redo the threads in there, and my weapon of choice for that is a Time Sert. Mainly because the Time Sert recesses back in. A Heli Coil does as well, but with the Time Sert, they make them of different lengths. And this will be recessed in, but it’ll be as close to the top or the outer edge as possible, because your chain tensioner has to go all the way up against that for it to work properly, as you probably already know. So use a Time Sert and take your time, no pun intended. And actually we did a how-to video on Time Serts vs Heli Coils, where I walk you through the application of each. So check that out.    

Watch the video below to see the differences between the Time Sert and Heli Coil thread repair tools.

Watch the video below to see the differences between the Tap and Die and Thread Restorer thread repair tools.

Watch the video below for tips on how to remove a broken bolt.

Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.