I ride an 07 Deluxe. The engine is making a ticking sound. Any ideas?

Stone

 

stethoscope time. made mine from a real one and a steel brake line hammered over

 

First thing that comes to mine is a bad lifter, but as said get a stethoscope.

 

I am going to sound like a real dumb *** here but here goes, Tell me about the stethascope. I am assuming the engine needs to be idleing and use the scope to find the loud noise. The problem is that you really cant hear it when idleing. Maybe around 3-5k you can here it when rollin down the road.

Stone

 

You sure can hear good. Maybe borrow a sidcar. HA It will not hurt it to bring up idle to 3-4K for a short time. It may be pinging or just the exhaust tone if you cannot here it sitting still with a stethscope touching part with both plugs in your ears.

 

Another thread on same issue.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/engin...ing-noise.html

Is the bike new to U and/or Ur just noticing it.?

If not, how long has she been making the tapping.?

Have U changed anything lately and she just started it.?

Or has she been doing it a while.?

Some times the more we listen for a noise/rattle, the louder it get.!

What oils U using, did U just start using SYN oils.?
Normally Syn oils will have more lifter tap noise vs a reg dyno oil in the motor.


Aftger just reading up on this most others will say all Harley's will have a tick to them. Mine does and has for 39k, but If I don't listen for it I don't hear any it...
Heres more info on ticking, if U want to read on it
https://www.google.com/search?source...=Google+Search





..

 

I'd start by checking my oil level and take it from there. Any idea where on the motor the noise is co ming from?

 

I actually just use a long screwdriver. Set the tip on any part of the bike and put your ear right on the end of the handle and you can hear it all just fine. Sounds like you have a noisy lifter to me, but could be lots of other things.
Oh, and +1 on Harley's (softails more then others) do tick, but I know you've had the bike for a bit, so if it's a new noise, then time to start looking.
One other thing, do you have adjustable pushrods? If you do, try fulling the covers off and make sure they are tight.

 

Ive had this sled for about 3 years. It had 4k miles on it when I bought it. It has almost 30k on it now. I have heard the tick for a while now. It also pings a little bit. And has for a while also. I had it at HD last year, They ran it on the dyno and said everything is fine. I was thinking lifter. It runs good and has good power. Oil level is fine. Havent made any changes to it. Thanks for the input guys. I will take it to a good indy here localy to get checked out.

Stone

 

Might just have some built up carbon in the combustion chamber causing some pre ignition.