Oil system myths

cudamark said
Maybe on a race engine it would be a different story, but, has anyone had a good quality double roller chain assembly fail because of lack of lubrication? I've pulled engines apart with 300k on them with the stock chain. Yeah, it was real loose, but, still functional, not blue from heat, and not about to fail. The setup with the silent cam gear (the ones with plastic coated teeth) will fail for sure, but, mainly from the plastic cracking due to age.

Harley had the same problem with their early twin cam chain tensioners coming apart and the gerotor oil pump sending plastic and/or pieces of fine metal throughout the motor until crunch time. Anywhere between 1,000-20,000 miles. Because of supplier change ups the plastic was blamed or the poor finish on the chains edges.