| Author | Message | ||
     Cecilsan |
Hey guys I just picked up a 03 XB9S pretty cheap as a 3rd bike. It only has 2500 miles on it and has been sitting for a long time. The 2nd owner didn't ride very much but said it started to develop a noise so he stopped riding and hasn't touched it. His ad said it occasionally only ran on 1 cylinder but so far as I can tell, both appear to be firing now. Both headers get hot. There is also smoke that starts to appear off the headers when I had it running for 5-10 min. I went ahead and swapped the fluids (except gas), plugs and adjusted the idle somewhat to keep it running at the normal idle. The rattle got a little better but still pretty considerable when giving it gas. Everything I've grabbed ahold of seems tight, so it doesn't seem like something is just loose. I fear its something internal in the engine. To me it sounds like its coming from the front cylinder but hard to tell. Heres a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdn91LfgddE | ||
| Sparky |
It almost sounds like a lifter that hasn't quite pumped up. What that means is the lifter may have some air or possibly a bit of debris in its valves that is keeping its internal parts from stroking through its complete travel resulting in excessive free play or valve lash causing the loose rattle sound. If that is the case, there's nothing to adjust as it's somewhat common with hydraulic lifter engines, but the noise should go away after riding the bike easy for about a half an hour. However if the noise continues and definitely gets worse, steps should be taken to verify the integrity of the hydraulic lifters and other internal engine parts. | ||
| Pammy |
"There is also smoke that starts to appear off the headers when I had it running for 5-10 min." Did you check for an exhaust leak? That would cause a lean condition and definitely a ticking. Possibly a rattle depending how bad it is. | ||
| Pammy |
oil coming from a head gasket would smoke as well and there would be ticking.... | ||
| Cecilsan |
Appreciate the responses I haven't tried running it that long and its currently missing the shifter so I can't ride it (its on the way) Went ahead and follow suggestions on another forum to use a magnet and fish around in the swingarm for debris or metal chunks. None were found, also cut up the old oil filter but no metal shavings in there either. I have not checked for an exhaust leak but I'll try it. Never done it but from what I've read you just shoot some WD-40 on both sides of the manifold. If the idle drops you have a leak right? No oil from any gaskets, heads are completely clean. Could have been cleaned off but I doubt it as the rest of the bike has quite a bit of dust on it. | ||
| Sparky |
What you described using WD-40 is really for checking intake leaks by squirting it around the intake manifold gasket areas. I don't think that technique will work on the hot exhaust gasket areas. WD-40 on the hot exhaust pipes/gasket areas would just create lots of smoke and possibly fire while doing nothing to affect the idle, I'm pretty sure. What I've done for checking exhaust leaks is listening for clicks or seeping noises at the pipe/head area with a rubber tube up to the ear like a stethoscope with the engine running. Or try feeling for leaking gases with finger tips at the pipe/head junction (preferably with a cold engine!). | ||
| Andersonhdj |
Hey Cecilsan, That noise sounds almost exactly the same as mine, strangely enough also an 03 XB9SX. I'm curious now about chassis/eng #'s and what may have lead to this on these two low mileage engines, mine only has some 15k miles on it which isnt a lot. | ||
| Andersonhdj |
As an after thought, it did'nt get any better or worse, and i have ridden it around the neighborhood a good few times, i find it hard to believe it's a lifter, also have no miss. | ||
| Buelliedan |
If your primary chain tensioner is too loose it makes an awful racket as well. | ||
| Cecilsan |
Sorry for the delay, I have a thread at Buellxb.com that I've been updating but hadn't gotten a chance to update this one Went ahead and did a compression test done on both cylinders. Came back with final readings over 120 on both (around 150 on both I believe) Followed the service manual but just to make sure I'm doing it right, I'll describe what I did Attached the gauge to cylinder, held throttle all the way open, and tried turning over engine for at least 5 sec. Compression shot up pretty quick and made it over the 120 mark so according to the manual, everything is good there. Also pulled off the primary cover and visually everything looks fine. Nothing appears loose, no teeth missing I'm going to drain the gas and refill but after that I guess I'm going to have to tear the engine out and see how the top end looks. *EDIT* I did check the chain tension, it was within spec but when putting the primary cover back on, I had to push up the chain to make it clear the shoe. Is that normal? (Message edited by cecilsan on April 14, 2012) | ||
| Blake |
Yes, perfectly normal. | ||
| Andersonhdj |
Sorry Cecilsan, i dont mean to hijack your thread, just makes sense, we appear to be dealing with the same issue. Just another thought, for the 2nd time my machine has fouled plugs, now while i understand this could be related to the tps being off and causing it to run rich at idle, it has occurred to me that, if there is a lifter/s that are not stroking through their travel correctly due to fouling or whatever, then it's possible valve openings are not what they should be and therefore she may be tending rich at idle. That said, the racket is the same no matter the engine speed. Any thoughts or comments? (Message edited by andersonhdj on April 15, 2012) | ||
| Cecilsan |
No worries man. Anything that helps our problem is good. Unfortunately I don't have an answer to your above post. I'm just going to try new gas, possibly a TPS reset and if that doesn't work, tear into the engine My question is, visually how can I tell a valve or lifter is not working properly once I have it apart? | ||
| Andersonhdj |
No sweat, i'm probably at the point where i'm going to drop the motor and strip the top end to see where i'm at. Given the fact that mine does'nt get any better, i would expct that if it is a lifter that's stuck or siezed it will look visibly different in terms of lift height within its housing/casing. Up until now I've been convinced it's a crank problem but maybe i'll get lucky. Sure hope so! (Message edited by andersonhdj on April 15, 2012) | ||
| Cactusjack578 |
Cecilsan, with both exhaust and intake valves closed at the same time there should be excessive play in the rockers of the bad lifter if it is indeed a bad lifter. Also you can use a piece of tubing as a stethoscope to zero in on where the sound is coming from. I had an 87 Sportster which had a lifter go bad. It collapsed completely. Heluva racket. As soon as I took the top off I could see that the pushrod was loose in the pushrod tube. I hope that's all your problem is. Good Luck | ||
| Reepicheep |
Correct me if I'm wrong, but even at top dead center, you should NOT be able to spin the pushrods with your hands, right? That would be a simple test if you already have the top end off... |
