Cam chain issue pls help!

Hey guys new to the site. Been working on this 1980 xj650 maxim and am having trouble with the chain tensioner. The engine was turning over and firing just fine then all of a sudden it started making a clatter noise from the top end. I popped the valve cover off and there was slack in the cam chain. I think I adjusted both tensioners right but I still have slack. Any ideas? Please help I'm at a loss..

 

BOTH tensioners? Exactly what did you monkey with? (There is only one tensioner.)

It's also possible one of the guides or its mount BROKE.

Describe exactly what you adjusted and how and we'll go from there.

 

when you take the valve cover off, you see the front and rear cam chain guides. you can take the front one out and look at it. the rear one is held in place on the bottom by a vertical bolt and lock nut on the cases, it shouldn't pull out. the one cam chain adjuster is kind of a cone shaped thing on the back of the cylinders, it has a plunger and spring that push on that rear cam chain guide.
if you loosened the wrong bolt the rear guide could have come loose

 

By second tensioner I guess I was talking about the set screw for the rear tensioner. I took the actual tensioner off and the spring was jammed up and not allowing the plunger to apply enough pressure to the back on the tensioner plate. Got that fixed.

Now I'm trying to get the carbs working right. The bike will run but when I turn it on the bike will rev up and then come to a decent idle and die. Meanwhile white smoke is pouring out of the exhaust. I think Its running too rich and the guy I got it from said he messed with the pilot screw on top (next to the choke plunger). The Haynes manual I have says don't touch that, that they come preset from the factory. Anyone know how many turns out they are from bottom? It's all stock with a 4 into 1 exhaust

 

Are the valve clearances in spec? Did you do a compression test? Soft bottom (so you don't squish the rubber o-rings) the screws then set them at 2.5 turns out. If it were me I'd remove the guts to make certain the order of the spring, washer and o-ring is correct since the po tampered with them. Hope this helps.

Gary H.

 

2.5 to 3 turns then colortune.

CN