Worrisome sound...
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From: Philly Suburbs
Beer and eggs were fine... No danger there as it turned out. Now back to the bike...
On the odd chance that a pushrod may be slightly bent, I put the intake rod from the rear cylinder into the trouble spot and rotated the engine... It made the sound. Oh well, that would've been as easy fix!
I've now rotated the engine with the starter without any pushrods in place, and my fingers on each lifter... The trouble spot doesn't feel any different from the other three. I pulled that lifter out and looked at it carefully, then did the same with one from the rear cylinder. They appear exactly the same. Same play in the roller, same wear path. With the lifters back in but the alignment rods out, I moved each one around with my fingers. There really doesn't seem to be any play in any of the lifter bores. A visual inspection of the bore in the bad spot didn't show any weird wear marks either.
I'm just pulling the cam plate now...
On the odd chance that a pushrod may be slightly bent, I put the intake rod from the rear cylinder into the trouble spot and rotated the engine... It made the sound. Oh well, that would've been as easy fix!
I've now rotated the engine with the starter without any pushrods in place, and my fingers on each lifter... The trouble spot doesn't feel any different from the other three. I pulled that lifter out and looked at it carefully, then did the same with one from the rear cylinder. They appear exactly the same. Same play in the roller, same wear path. With the lifters back in but the alignment rods out, I moved each one around with my fingers. There really doesn't seem to be any play in any of the lifter bores. A visual inspection of the bore in the bad spot didn't show any weird wear marks either.
I'm just pulling the cam plate now...
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: Philly Suburbs
I kind of lied... I was about to take out the cam plate, but I went out and got a sandwich instead. In a moment I'll take out the cam plate.
I did have a thought, though... When I originally took the cam chest apart, the inner spring tensioner was completely destroyed (the outer shoe had normal wear, but was in MUCH better shape). It had largely disintegrated. I'm not sure how (since no parts were retained other than the pushrods, cam chains and sprockets), but I wonder whether that's a clue now...
I did have a thought, though... When I originally took the cam chest apart, the inner spring tensioner was completely destroyed (the outer shoe had normal wear, but was in MUCH better shape). It had largely disintegrated. I'm not sure how (since no parts were retained other than the pushrods, cam chains and sprockets), but I wonder whether that's a clue now...
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: Philly Suburbs
So... Cam plate and cams are out. I haven't disassembled them from the plate. Nothing really looks screwy... But can someone tell me whether it's normal to have this much play in the inner bearings? In this video I'm holding another fresh cam that I have lying around (don't ask) in the forward inner bearing. There is just as much play in the rear bearing. Since the bearings were new and it was the same in each one, I originally assumed it was normal... I do have a fresh set of them, I think.
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: Philly Suburbs
Yes, I've wondered whether the problem is the tensioner. Although I'm not sure why it would only behave weirdly when that one lobe (of four lobes) is under pressure... I guess I could run to the dealer right now and pick up a new tensioner to test it...
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So... Cam plate and cams are out. I haven't disassembled them from the plate. Nothing really looks screwy... But can someone tell me whether it's normal to have this much play in the inner bearings? In this video I'm holding another fresh cam that I have lying around (don't ask) in the forward inner bearing. There is just as much play in the rear bearing. Since the bearings were new and it was the same in each one, I originally assumed it was normal... I do have a fresh set of them, I think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNvQAkSspBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNvQAkSspBA
But you DID install those new bearings with a proper bearing installation tool rather than wail on them with a hammer?
But it does look like the click noise is coming from the cam chain tensioner. Maybe a few links of the cam chain are frozen/seized/much stiffer than the others? Or it's just a bad tensioner with some mechanical obstruction. The tensioner pad gets pushed back, then snaps back making the noise.
Thread Starter
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Outstanding HDF Member
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From: Philly Suburbs
That cam seems really loose to me - but I don't really recall the tolerance when I did mine, so it might be OK.
But you DID install those new bearings with a proper bearing installation tool rather than wail on them with a hammer?
But it does look like the click noise is coming from the cam chain tensioner. Maybe a few links of the cam chain are frozen/seized/much stiffer than the others? Or it's just a bad tensioner with some mechanical obstruction. The tensioner pad gets pushed back, then snaps back making the noise.
But you DID install those new bearings with a proper bearing installation tool rather than wail on them with a hammer?
But it does look like the click noise is coming from the cam chain tensioner. Maybe a few links of the cam chain are frozen/seized/much stiffer than the others? Or it's just a bad tensioner with some mechanical obstruction. The tensioner pad gets pushed back, then snaps back making the noise.