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Thought noise was cam chain, now not so sure
- seanof30306
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Have had an intermittent noise I suspected was the cam chain.
Took it to a shop. The guy listened to it and immediately diagnosed it as a cam chain noise. Said he believed the automatic tensioner was bad.
He later told me the tensioner was all gunked up from the oil not having been changed regularly, and all it needed was a good cleaning to correct the problem.
I got the bike back, and the problem was not corrected. I took it back to the shop, he said he could hear the problem was not corrected, and told me he'd get to it the next day.
A week and a half later, after not having any of my calls returned, I went to the shop. He told me he'd ordered a complete tensioner assembly from Kawasaki, and had not recieved it yet. I looked at the bike, and saw the tensioner had not been removed. I asked him how he knew which parts of the assembly were bad if he hadn't looked at it. He had no answer.
I took the bike. We pulled the valve cover, and the chain tensioner. The cam chain is tight and looks good. We can't see anything visibly wrong with the chain tensioner. We reassembled the bike and ran it, using a long screwdriver, and listening along it, to try and isolate the noise. It is loudest on the upper side of the engine case, away from the cylinder; closer to the starter. I'm wondering if what we're hearing is even the cam chain at all.
The noise sounds exactly like something like a chain making light contact with the case or other soft, or round metal; it's not a grinding sound, more like a rubbing sound.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Post edited by: seanof30306, at: 2007/09/29 08:36
"That @#$%!!! KZ650"
79 KZ650 B3
Dual front disc brakes
Z1R 18" front wheel
Pumper carbs w/pods
MAC 4-1 w/ drilled-out baffle
Dyna S ignition w/ Dyna Green coils
WG coil mod
'81 CSR charging system
17/41 gearing
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- steell
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If so, that's a characteristic of primary chain noise, and it's right where you are hearing it.
Pretty common complaint, and normally if you sync the carbs it gets quieter.
Of course it could be something else, it's pretty hard to diagnose a noise over the net
Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/09/28 23:59
KD9JUR
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- seanof30306
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Loudest at idle, goes away when you rev up the motor?
If so, that's a characteristic of primary chain noise, and it's right where you are hearing it.
Pretty common complaint, and normally if you sync the carbs it gets quieter.
Of course it could be something else, it's pretty hard to diagnose a noise over the net <br><br>Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/09/28 23:59
Thanks for responding.
Yes, it's loudest at idle, and yes, it goes away when the motor is revving up, but, you hear it start when the motor is settling back down after revving up.
When you say "primary chain", do you mean the drive chain?
"That @#$%!!! KZ650"
79 KZ650 B3
Dual front disc brakes
Z1R 18" front wheel
Pumper carbs w/pods
MAC 4-1 w/ drilled-out baffle
Dyna S ignition w/ Dyna Green coils
WG coil mod
'81 CSR charging system
17/41 gearing
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- steell
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It's #6 in the pic below
KD9JUR
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- steell
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The parts diagrams at kawasaki.com "really" help
Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/09/29 08:24
KD9JUR
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- seanof30306
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Now, how serious is it when the primary chain is making this noise? If it's still doing it after we get the carbs right, is there an adjuster? I don't see one in the diagram.
"That @#$%!!! KZ650"
79 KZ650 B3
Dual front disc brakes
Z1R 18" front wheel
Pumper carbs w/pods
MAC 4-1 w/ drilled-out baffle
Dyna S ignition w/ Dyna Green coils
WG coil mod
'81 CSR charging system
17/41 gearing
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- RonKZ650
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321,000 miles on KZ's that I can remember. Not going to see any more.
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- steell
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It will make a lot of noise long before it gets to that point.
Sync the carbs and it will probably be a lot quieter.
A new chain is near $200, plus the labor to install it.
Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/09/29 14:20
KD9JUR
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- jccwall
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please bear with me. im new to cycles.
but have 30+yrs with automotive. dealing with the carbs. after rebuilding the carbs is there a standard adjustment on all the jets? ie. turned all the way in and 2.5 turns out. like on a rochester quadrajet?
next question, what manual would be recommended to properly tune a bike. just until i get more comfy with knowing what to listen for?
thanks jim.
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- seanof30306
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mileage is 28,600 ish. i assume this noise at idle will also be heard when starting?
please bear with me. im new to cycles.
but have 30+yrs with automotive. dealing with the carbs. after rebuilding the carbs is there a standard adjustment on all the jets? ie. turned all the way in and 2.5 turns out. like on a rochester quadrajet?
next question, what manual would be recommended to properly tune a bike. just until i get more comfy with knowing what to listen for?
thanks jim.
FYI
Jim is the guy working on my bike.
"That @#$%!!! KZ650"
79 KZ650 B3
Dual front disc brakes
Z1R 18" front wheel
Pumper carbs w/pods
MAC 4-1 w/ drilled-out baffle
Dyna S ignition w/ Dyna Green coils
WG coil mod
'81 CSR charging system
17/41 gearing
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- jccwall
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- hardr0ck68
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- Who put the what in the where?
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All the pictures you could want!
1977 kz650 c1
bought it because I was told it would never run again...I like to prove people wrong.
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