s2000maniac

yes it does. I been running a sand blasted oem tct in my s2k for the past 20k miles and counting. Plus my buddy’s running one too. No issues. Only thing we used a glass bead blaster so that way no material is taking off the tct piston.

Breandawg

Yes I think that's good advice, my next step for sure. I reinstalled the oem tensioner today, no difference in terms of sound. I'll take the valve cover off and look at the tensioner piston in relation to the chain guide. While I'm in there I'm going to check all valve gaps again for peace of mind.

Breandawg

In fact the engine sounds worse with the oem tct reinstalled.

Chuck S

What was the valve clearance before adjustment? If the valves were tighter than spec before it's normal for them so sound clicky when properly adjusted.

I don't trust the Ballade TCT but have no personal experience with it -- 'cuz I don't trust it.

-- Chuck

Car Analogy

The Ballade tct only works well if the chain is stretched out. Billman told us using it on a good chain will cause immediate chain damage.

So perhaps running the Ballade on your chain has damaged it to the point that now the Ballade is quieter than the stock one.

Breandawg

Every last one was overly tight, so what you're saying would make sense.

Breandawg

The car has 130k miles showing, so it's reasonable to expect a bit of chain stretch. I was getting some hot engine tct ticking prior to the work I've undertaken. The Ballade tct has only been in the engine a day, and in that time the car hasn't been driven, only idling for a couple of minutes at a time, so I wouldn't have thought the Ballade tct has done any damage.
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Breandawg

Latest sound clip sounds pretty crap to me.

s2000maniac

I’m not sure if that video is cold start or hot. But cold start will be always be louder and might give false impressions. Go for a normal drive and then take another video. Below is a video of my s2k idling hot after I did a valve adjustment. Also mine had the oem sand blasted TCT.

Breandawg

Thanks for the video, doesn't sound totally dissimilar to mine, a little smoother but as you pointed out, heat will help. My engine was stone cold in that video. Still think it sounds rough, so at some point in the week I'll get the valve cover off again and see what's what.