First things first: are you saying your 'probe' is too big to get into 'the passages behind'? Oh my.....
Last thing- Yes, I mean is the cam chain tensioner still tight enough to prevent the chain from gaining enough slack to cause a problem. And yes, I mean to push back on it from the 'inside' (Easy Boys!), which I do not think you can do but you can try tensioning the chain against the tensioner (trying to pull the 'bow' out of the chain where the tensioner is) and seeing if there is any appreciable give in the system. All I am trying to do is to rule out a bad CCT. You can also do this by carefully removing the CCT and seeing if you can push it back in, as the chain is always trying to do; the tensioner should be locked up tight as a bank vault and absolutely prevent you from moving it outward at all (it should be engaged in a tooth on the ratchet and not allow any retreat).
I believe the ECU will require that tooth to function properly. That said, I do not know for a fact that it will start / run without that tooth but I do know the firing timing would be far enough off (something like 10 degrees) to cause the bike to run poorly and / or without a lot of power- more than 1/2 of its potential power not available. There is no way you could ride a bike with the timing that far off and simply not notice. So I am assuming, by logical determination, that the tooth breaking off was the actual cause of your current situation. It is the root problem, and I do not think it could have been that way when you buttoned up the engine after a valve lash check / adjust.
All of the above said, it <may> depend on which way the crankshaft rotates because it is possible that if the missing tooth is on the leading side of the gap (the missing teeth), then the ECU <may> not respond to what amounts to correct timing but simply too big of a preceding gap. Even so, if that was not the cause of your problem, you will need to find the actual cause anyway. But again, I believe it is the tooth falling / getting knocked off that started the chain of events that led to what you show in that photo (the intake cam timing being a result, not causal).
A missing tooth system works by sensing the first tooth AFTER the gap. So if the crankshaft turns clockwise in your photo, and I believe it does, then removing that tooth would retard the entire timing structure in the ECU by too much to go unnoticed.
There are also cam position sensors in the C-14 but I doubt they are sensitive enough to detect an [out of phase] condition between the crankshaft and camshaft(s) by one tooth; the ECU and the sensors are just not fast enough to catch that nor are they supposed to do so. The camshaft sensors are there to verify which part of the 720 degree crankshaft rotation the crankshaft happens to be in. Put another way, the crankshaft turns twice (720 degrees total) for a complete engine cycle so the ECU needs to know if the crank is passing -0- degrees rotation in the first turn or the second turn of the engine to determine spark plug firing.
Back to the beginning, I think it is important to determine if that lost tooth was the cause or not, and try to determine where it is. I doubt it rode an oil stream into the crankcase proper but I guess it is possible; either way, it should be sitting in the bottom end of the crankcase proper or the sidecase envelope somewhere. Of course it is possible that the broken tooth is not causal and is just a coincidence but I honestly do not think that is the case.
Shades of Haraldo's valve lash saga.....
Brian
I looked for the tooth on the floor where I was working and did not find it It is not anywhere in the engine that I can see or reach with my eyes or fingers. My large magnetic probe is too large to get into the passages behind what I can see, and my small probe (oops) is broken, I will have to buy a new one. If that fails will need to drain the oil and hope something comes out with it.
I still feel certain that that tooth was already missing when I closed up the timing cover. But at my age nothing is truly certain. But i would think it would cause a noticeable miss at least.
The sensor is snug and no sign of a hit and there is plenty of clearance everywhere else around the perimeter. The chain is nice and tight. I have not removed the tensioner yet. Do you mean push against the tensioner from the chain side. I need a break and plan to ride the 08 to the Kawasaki dealership and order a timing wheel.
