Valve tick...

Can having one valve clearance at .13mm (.005") cause a noisey valve?

I've been noticing a slight bit of valve noise from the right side of the valve train when the bike is first started or cold. It goes away after the engine comes to full temp. It is also only noticeable at idle.

All my valves are in spec except for one at .13mm. I didn't think .13mm was wide enough to cause a noisey valve, but I guess so.

I'm going to bump up one shim size, but of course it's always got to be the shim size you don't have on hand (I have to order it). Supposed to be sunny all week too. :pinch:

savedrider - When you park on sidestand, keep in mind that there are two oil journals. One on the #1 cylinder and the other on the #4 by the rear studs. Note that engine oil in the cylinder head near the intake and exhaust cams flows down towards the #1 side and the #4 will have less oil. It takes awhile for oil to get up and around the #4 side so there will be a bit of noise if you start the bike and put it on sidestand to warm. There should be enough oil in the trough on the head where it should not be a problem. The .13mm is out of spec with the clearance too large for a 900 head but won't hurt anything I think. The 1000 head is essentially the same head and they allow a max clearance of .15mm. If the clearance is a bit wide, the vavle will be noisy but unless it is excessively so, won't cause a problem I think.

In this case it continues while riding for the first few minutes (only noticable at idle), until the engine gets completely warm. Makes sense since once the metal starts expanding a bit the tolerances close and the noise goes away.

I'm almost 100% certain it's valve noise. I'll know once I get the shim I need.

Thanks

Hey I reshimmed that valve and still have the same tick.

Sounds like it's coming from the #4 exhaust or intake valve. Guess it's not due to clearance. What else could it be?

Put a stethascope (sp) on it. If don't have one use a long 3/8 extention or piece of metal ie: like a rebar or even a long screwdriver. One end on engine and the other in your ear. You can move the end on the engine around to various place to find where tick is loudest. Listen for the noise your trying to find and try to ignore all the other noises.

Sounds like a good idea and I might just do that. Even if I do isolate the noise (assuming it's in the head), I don't think there is much I will do about it right now. The bike seems to be running fine so I'm not going to get too concerned. The head was just redone not too long ago so I'm not going to pull it unless something major happens.

a piece of garden hose works too,and you dont have to worry about those leaking plug wires!dont ask!!!!!!!!! bwaha goodluck,happy wrenching!

Might be an exhaust leak. Sometimes they sound like a tick.

RonKZ650 wrote:

Might be an exhaust leak. Sometimes they sound like a tick.

Thanks. I was thinking the same thing so I snugged up my exhaust mounts at the head last night. Check later when I ride to work.

So this tick, tick, tick just won't go away. All valve clearances are in spec, cam chain adjusted/checked twice in the last 200mi. or so. Anything else I should look into here? Sounds too metallic to be an exhaust leak, but you never know.

Doesn't seem to be down on power or anything. Again, the lower the idle the louder the tick. It is almost unoticeable at 1500 rpm and up.

It's always something ain't it?

check your oil pressure!goodluck,happy wrenching!

Didn't someone here mention once that sometimes a valve guide can be loose and cause a tick or rattle at idle ?