Before you go though all of that hassle you'd best price out that cam cover gasket, try and find at least a 1/2 dozen replacement bolts and figure a few days to get it all back together. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. HotrodMamma.
----- Original Message ----- From: "tharrisn" <[email protected]> To: "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 6:16 PM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: 650 engine noise According the the previous owner the engine was never opened before but based on some scratches on the frame I do wonder. If air gets in a hydraulic tappet will it work its way out eventually? I suspect not based on the cross section of a tappet displayed in the shop manual. But, if there was air in a tappet wouldn't it collapse each time the valve opens/closes which means the tappet would always be noisy. In my bike's case the tappets do quiet down eventually. Is it possible to check these things visually, i.e. can I "rock" a rocker arm and assume any that are loose have a bad/leaking tappet under them. I would assume all of them should be tight against the valve stem when the valve is closed and the cam lobe is at the shortest radius to rocker distance. In other words when the valve train is in it's most relaxed state for that valve. Even if I found a couple bad ones with some sort of visual inspection I'd probably take 'em all out and clean and bleed 'em if that's prudent. On Mar 13, 3:51 pm, [email protected] wrote: > Perhaps the hydraulic tappets have been disassembled in an engine opening > and not carefully bleeded before reassembling. If any air bubble gets into > one of them, you surely get trouble. > > At 09:33 13/03/2009 -0700, you wrote: > > >Ok, I'm with you on your explanation. I too think there is dirt or > >some other substance interfering with the hydraulic system related to > >the zero clearance adjusters. Maybe in a oil delivery passageway or > >probably more likely in the tiny hydraulic valve adjusters themselves. > >Is this sort of thing prevalent with bikes that have been sitting more > >than running? > > >Bit of history about this bike. I'm the second owner and have been > >able to chat extensively with the previous owner. With only 15k miles > >he obviously didn't ride it much and when he did was only around the > >block. Most of the miles were put on in the first few years of > >ownership. The previous owner also delivered with the bike old service > >records. A couple of those records indicated the original owner > >complained about a tapping noise 20 yrs ago. At that time the Honda > >service response was to rev it to 3,000 rpm 'till it goes away. Ok, > >that works kinda but I'm not satisfied. > > >I'm more than willing to take a methodical approach to really fixing > >this thing. I plan to put a lot more miles on this bike than the > >previous owner did in 25 yrs and want to make sure I've done my best > >to help the bike deliver. > > >So, I can verify the oil filter (Fram) is currently installed > >correctly, i.e. the spring and seat are present and on the "cover end" > >of the oil filter. The oil is fresh 5W-40 Shell Rotella-T and at the > >proper level. What next? Is it possible to remove each adjuster, clean > >and reinstall? I know you can't disassemble them but in your > >experience will flushing them with kerosene or some other solvent > >work? > > >By the way, I purchased some used hydraulic adjusters from eBay in > >anticipation of swapping parts for test purposes. In my makeshift > >testing of the eBay adjusters they seemed to be fine. (I could not > >collapse them without unseating the check ball. Although, I know it's > >unlikely that I could physically exert as much pressure on them by > >hand as they'd see in an engine.) > > >Much thanks for your help. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
