Engine seems to tap TOO much...

[Comfortably Numb]

Sounds like pinging to me. +1 CN

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[tootal]

The top of the push rod tubes are swedged to form the o-ring seat. The inside diameter is reduced because of this. The bottom part of this tube is 13.5 mm. I took a drill this size and drilled out the top which gave me the clearance I needed. I had the JIM's titanium pushrods and you could see that they were hitting the tube. This pops the pushrod out of the socket on the rocker and when it slams back in you get the tick. SE is now selling a tapered adjustable pushrod that should stop the problem. I can't believe it took this long to figure out the problem, and then to get the cure from HD. The aftermarket really blew this one. RevTech even makes tapered ones for the evo but not for the TC. Wake up people!!

[neonhomer]

ORIGINAL: kruzin

Sounds like pinging to me. Do you have a tuner on it?

No tuner... yet. Everything is stock. I run 93 octane gas in it. I have no idea what oil is in the engine. It was just changed when I bought it. A friend of mine was telling me to try running 50w oil in it. Given that we are in Florida, there shouldn't be any problems. Just kinda hard to find a 50w synthetic. (Was thinking on running Kendall 50wt in it.)

I got a itch now to crack the cam cover open to see if anything is amiss, but I really don't want to take the exhaust off to do it!

[shoveltrev]

if you have the patience to got the bolts out of the cover you dont have to pull the exhaust ive done it twice. an allen wrench cut down real short helps.trev.

[BB Sue]

Get one of those mechanic's stethescopes, or at least a long handled screwdriver against the ear, and probe until you find the noise. The probe stethescope is better as you can tape it to the motor and ride it in case it's a "only on the road" engine noise. But you can hear, not only where the noise is coming from, but what the noise sounds like...

Beware, tho... my Evo was doing the same thing until last Saturday... I knew it was there, figured, hell, after the riding season I'd fix it.

Guess the damn bike heard me and decided, Kewl, the riding season ends... now! ha haha... The innocenttic became a clatter becane a scrapeychunky within a quarter mile.

Oh,it runs really well - but only on the rear barrel. Crap. and Ug.

I knew it was gonna happen, at least I was close to home. Unfortunately, the garage is a mess, the place I go to have work done is backed up 2-3 weeks, so she went ))gulp(( to the local dealershop... Hope they don't freak over the Andrews cams, the Branch heads, the EZ-in pushrods, etc...

I *think* it had stock barrels, tho... so if that's the case (hope hope) I'll have them reddone (make that replaced, by the sound of what went wrong I want to start anew)and not worry about *that* for a while.

Oh, bike had 42K on it. Low miles. Damn. HATE it when that happens...

Find where your tic is. Then you know if you have detonation, or valve tap, oran exhaust leak, ora conrod bearing waiting to make your trip across town an adventure...

Sus

[neonhomer]

I just returned from the 150 mile roundtrip to Leesburg Bikefest, and the motor did this tapping all the way there. Performance doesn't seem to be affected, but I would swear it's getting worse.

I notice it more around 2500 rpm, and have also noticed a bit of a whine, which almost sounds like a belt whine. However, it goes away when you pull the clutch in. I really don't notice the clatter/tap below 2000 rpm.

Now I am worried about riding this bike too far, as I don't want to cause major damage to the engine. The bike only has 24,000 miles on it, so I seriously hope there is no major engine problems. If it does, it's going to sit a long time until I can afford to rebuild the motor. (Out goes the 88, in goes the 103!).

I thought about running to a thicker oil. Thought about 50w Valvoline or Kendall GT-1...

[neonhomer]

I just broke out the redneck mechanic's stephescope (a wooden dowel I had laying around), and you can hear a definate "tap" or "click" coming from the rocker covers at idle.IIRC< motors with hydraulic lifters ARE NOT supposed to make this noise, as the lifter is supposed to take up the lash.

So, I wonder what the next step is?

[panmann]

Just my 2 cents but I changed to Lucas synthetic and my 04 RK is much quieter. I know its not technical but I read it in an oil thread here.

[Jeff Dodson]

Werll mines been making this noise for 36,000 miles now and I dont sweat it anymore. Some days, like real humid days its worse, I figured it was the cooling fins on the heads. The motorcross motorcycles I rode when I was kid did the same thing. I am told my MANY Harley techs that its normal and dont worry about it. BTW, I use Royal Purple 20/50 eng., RP 75/90 in tranny, any RP 20/50 in primary. JUst ride it like you stole it.

[neonhomer]

Can't ride it like I stole it, cause I'm still payin for it!!!!

I changed my oil today to Valvoline Racing 50w, (it is grade SM, but NOT Energy Conserving), and it didn't seem to help. I didn't notice any metal shavings or powder on the magnet when I drained it, but didn't really see the oil as it drained.

I am really worried about this. I called the dealer today, and they are basically telling me "Oh Well". However, they did offer to let me buy a extended warranty. They will backdate it to when I bought the bike, and then I can bring it in to be looked at. It's $700 +tax for 1yr of warranty, and there is a $50 deductible everytime I bring it in. I think the warranty is a good idea, but $700 could be better spent elsewhere (on chrome goodies!)... Anyway, I have until Wednesday to decide if i want to or not.