Would you like to know how to do that on your Citroën SM ? Tensioning the secondary chains with the valve covers remaining on the cylinder heads isn’t hard if you know the steps.

It is imperative to bear in mind the grave risk of misaligning the camshafts , causing possible damage to the valves or engine.

When the chain tension is slackened, it is possible for the valve springs to overcome the pressure of the cam lobes , forcing the camshafts out of alignment.

To prevent this:

On the right side…

1. Bring the piston No.1 to TDC of the exhaust stroke.
2. Attach a 6 or 8 mm. socket type Allen wrench to a standard torque wrench . Insert it into the head of the tensioner adjustment bolt and retain a torque of 15 ft.lbs.
3. Loosen the two nuts locking the chain tensioner while retaining the torque.
4. After these nuts are loosened, re-adjust the chain tension torque to 15 ft.lbs. Then tighten the nuts to 15 ft.lbs.

On the left side…

1. Bring the piston No.6 to TDC of the exhaust stroke.
2. Follow the same procedure outlined above.

Hope this Citroen Tech Tip helped and please leave a comment to let me know what other Citroen questions you’d like answered.

Later,

Denis

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