Bought a Ballade TCT, ran it for about an hour and heard a whine. Never used bolts to force it in, fit it by hand and torqued to spec after it was flush. Realized it’s best suited for people with more agrresive cams, removed it. Decided to go back to stock until I order my Billman, but sandblasted my worm gear in hopes of a temporary fix. ALSO did not force that in, I tensioned with an M5 long screw and sat it flush, but now IT is making a very very faint, but subtly audible when the engine is warm, whining sound. Am I in trouble, should I not drive it? I wouldn’t think that the stock TCT would overtension the chain, maybe there is always a soft whine and I didn’t notice before as I had only driven this car 200 miles after purchasing before starting this maintence. Any opinions help, thank you.

The damage to the chain and camwheel bushing are likely already done. Bolt retracted tensioners come in an incompletely compressed form. If there is zero clearance between the tct piston and the guide upon installation, it will serverly overtighten the chain, as there is no room for expansion as the engine temperature rises.

Hm, so at this point in time at I risking more damage by driving? What is the solution/your recommendation for my next course of action?

Couldn’t find anything called a camwheel bushing. What parts should I be looking to replace? Sorry for all the questions, just haven’t had owned an S before.

EDIT: Billman Gen-X ordered.

Wow. So everyone who installs a Ballade TCT on a stock F20C will severely damage the chain? I feel like that should be mentioned in the Ballade website somewhere....