Noisy Tappets
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,928
Likes: 69
From: Near Myrtle Beach, SC
Lifters are so easy to change out yourself, then you can install a real set of quality lifters along with some good adjustable pushrods, setting the lifter preload in that sweet spot around .135 and forget about it.
Novice
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: Casper WY
I used my suction gun since I had just changed my oil and took out a quart of my 20-50 and added a quart of 60 weight valvoline vr1 racing oil. Quieted down the noise considerably. Sounds so much better!!
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
From: Kamloops, B.C. Canada
Sucked out half a liter of oil using my wifes turkey baster and added STP. Then went for a 4 hr ride in 38 degree heat (100 degrees in the USA)
Engine noise has lessened. With this improvement, as soon as I can find some, I will drain all of this mix out and try some straight 50w, maybe 60w.
Engine noise has lessened. With this improvement, as soon as I can find some, I will drain all of this mix out and try some straight 50w, maybe 60w.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 10,216
Likes: 224
From: Glendale AZ
Replacing them with the same failure oriented part is not a "fix".
Lifters are so easy to change out yourself, then you can install a real set of quality lifters along with some good adjustable pushrods, setting the lifter preload in that sweet spot around .135 and forget about it.
Lifters are so easy to change out yourself, then you can install a real set of quality lifters along with some good adjustable pushrods, setting the lifter preload in that sweet spot around .135 and forget about it.
Remove the spark plugs
Collapse the pushrod covers and hold them open with a rubber band and paper clip
Find TDC on the compression stroke on a cylinder of your choosing by rotating the rear tire in top gear
cut the pushrods with a bolt cutter and remove
remove the pushrod covers, discard all the o-rings
remove the four socket head screws holding down the lifter covers in a crosswise pattern, and remove the lifter cover
remove the anti-rotation pin
remove the lifters
Install:
replace lifters with new ones (I usually orient oil holes all facing outwards, just remember which way the lifters are oriented if you're replacing the set you just removed)
replace the anti-rotation pin
replace the lifter cover with a new gasket, torque to 100 in/lbs
install adjustable pushrods inside the pushrod tubes, making sure all the o-rings are in place (either new ones, or if you feel lucky, replace the old ones)
set your pushrods
close the pushrod tubes
replace the spark plugs.
That's essentially off the top of my head, you need to check your service manual. The manual procedure via the rocker boxes, so if you're cutting the stockers out with a bolt cutter, ignore everything having to do with the rocker boxes. Make sure the motor is on tdc before cutting the pushrods out. You should be able to rotate them with your fingers. If you can't, the valves are partially open, and the pushrods are under pressure.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 10,216
Likes: 224
From: Glendale AZ
Put the bike on a stand
Remove the spark plugs
Collapse the pushrod covers and hold them open with a rubber band and paper clip
Find TDC on the compression stroke on a cylinder of your choosing by rotating the rear tire in top gear
cut the pushrods with a bolt cutter and remove
remove the pushrod covers, discard all the o-rings
remove the four socket head screws holding down the lifter covers in a crosswise pattern, and remove the lifter cover
remove the anti-rotation pin
remove the lifters
Install:
replace lifters with new ones (I usually orient oil holes all facing outwards, just remember which way the lifters are oriented if you're replacing the set you just removed)
replace the anti-rotation pin
replace the lifter cover with a new gasket, torque to 100 in/lbs
install adjustable pushrods inside the pushrod tubes, making sure all the o-rings are in place (either new ones, or if you feel lucky, replace the old ones)
set your pushrods
close the pushrod tubes
replace the spark plugs.
That's essentially off the top of my head, you need to check your service manual. The manual procedure via the rocker boxes, so if you're cutting the stockers out with a bolt cutter, ignore everything having to do with the rocker boxes. Make sure the motor is on tdc before cutting the pushrods out. You should be able to rotate them with your fingers. If you can't, the valves are partially open, and the pushrods are under pressure.
Remove the spark plugs
Collapse the pushrod covers and hold them open with a rubber band and paper clip
Find TDC on the compression stroke on a cylinder of your choosing by rotating the rear tire in top gear
cut the pushrods with a bolt cutter and remove
remove the pushrod covers, discard all the o-rings
remove the four socket head screws holding down the lifter covers in a crosswise pattern, and remove the lifter cover
remove the anti-rotation pin
remove the lifters
Install:
replace lifters with new ones (I usually orient oil holes all facing outwards, just remember which way the lifters are oriented if you're replacing the set you just removed)
replace the anti-rotation pin
replace the lifter cover with a new gasket, torque to 100 in/lbs
install adjustable pushrods inside the pushrod tubes, making sure all the o-rings are in place (either new ones, or if you feel lucky, replace the old ones)
set your pushrods
close the pushrod tubes
replace the spark plugs.
That's essentially off the top of my head, you need to check your service manual. The manual procedure via the rocker boxes, so if you're cutting the stockers out with a bolt cutter, ignore everything having to do with the rocker boxes. Make sure the motor is on tdc before cutting the pushrods out. You should be able to rotate them with your fingers. If you can't, the valves are partially open, and the pushrods are under pressure.
Stage I
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: lake peekskill
lifters
2012 road king-- noise happened coming back from a trip,7k mi on bike. the lifters in the forward head are the problem with my bike. dealer said same thing but broke down engine to check.if it ain't broke they won't fix it. Also switched to regular oil,noise not as bad but still there on a cold start.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 10,216
Likes: 224
From: Glendale AZ
Anyone using SE tapered know the tpi, a printout from SS says 32 and the instructions sheet doesn't specify?
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,741
Likes: 45
From: Indian Land, SC
SE Tapered Adjust. Pushrods are 24tpi.....Instructions say 2 1/2 turns but that surely didn't work on my bike....
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,537
Likes: 4
From: The Great River Road, Wisconsin
I hear people complain about their noisy, clattering engines all the time. I attribute this mainly to the fact that most fill their crankcases and everything else with synthetic 20W-50 lubricants. The hotter the ambient weather outside the louder they get. Read your owners manual very closely and you will likely see where you can run a 50 weight straight oil or even a 60 weight straight above a certain temperature. Synthetics are great but they damn sure aren't the end all answer to everything. The marketing zonks at the oil companies and the tech monkeys at the dealerships would like you to buy into the notion that synthetics are the answer to everything. There are alternatives out there.
To me 1/2 the beauty of these hogs is their ability to make mechanical music the way they do. They never will sound like a jap bike, most of which run over head cams, in which there is no hydraulics involved at all.
I know my new one has had a lifter bleed down on me twice, so when the time comes for new cams, the lifters will be replaced for piece of mind.