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Engine tick on cold start 6 years 6 months ago #19533

  • Ledkz1300
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Thanks Kawboy.

I'm using Shell Rotella T 15w40 diesel engine oil. Fresh oil change a few weeks ago. New filter of course. Oil is topped up where it should be.

Are you saying I shouldn't be worried about checking or adjusting that valve in a hurry? I'm not confident of my abilities to perform that task here at home so I'd need to set up something in the city and trailer my bike there.

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Engine tick on cold start 6 years 6 months ago #19541

  • Kawboy
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Judging from your video, it sounds like a slightly loose intake valve (# 5 or #6) and if it shuts up after a couple of minutes of running, there's a strong possibility that it's just out of tolerance and in my experience, valve tappets and or shim buckets start making audible noise around the .012-,015" clearance.
Valves grow with heat. Intakes are cooled by the valve seat, valve guide and the incoming air charge. Exhaust valves are cooled only by the valve seat and guide ( and a little by the valve overlap with fresh air charge passing through) That's why the intake clearances are less than the exhaust clearances. The exhaust need "more room to grow"

I would grab a set of feeler gauges and check the clearances just so you know where you're at. Should you be doing something about it? Yea, probably. I wouldn't let it go too long. Things don't like being tapped with a hammer.
For newbies doing the job, I suggest that you just ensure the cam lobe toe (the pointy part) is pointing up from the valve stem when checking the clearances. It's easier than following the manual where you have to set the crankshaft at a certain positon then checking valves ( this one, that one, and that one) .Changing out shims is a no brainer with the proper tools and following the instructions in the manual You really can't go wrong. The only mistake people make is installing the new shims with the size marking facing up. The only problem here is the numbers wll get wiped off and make it difficult for changing shims in the future.
If you do find a couple of out of tolerance valve clearances and you don't have a set of change out shims, you'll need to-
Remove the shims that are out of tolerance one by one, write down their sizes and which valve they belong to and put them back in until ready to change out,
Then decide which ones you can move to "other positions" and which ones will need to be changed out.
Go to your dealer and get the shims you need.
Change out the shims .

It's a satisfying job when complete and you'll get a sense of acomplishment and pride in doing it yourself. Don't be afraid to tackle it yourself
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Engine tick on cold start 6 years 6 months ago #19556

  • StanG
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Valves grow with heat. Intakes are cooled by the valve seat, valve guide and the incoming air charge. Exhaust valves are cooled only by the valve seat and guide ( and a little by the valve overlap with fresh air charge passing through) That's why the intake clearances are less than the exhaust clearances. The exhaust need "more room to grow"


Just want to add an example painting a picture of how much of the cooling effect there is on the intake side. One of the cylinders on my GL1100 was misbehaving and didn't fire at random times after a start up (corrected since), so it was just sucking air and fuel mix. I could literally see the intake manifold covered in fine frost.

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Engine tick on cold start 6 years 6 months ago #19561

  • scotch
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Just now catching-up on what's been going on here in the past 2 weeks.
Another reason for the "ticking" to be there in the first place is when the bike has been on the side-stand, all the oil up-top drains away from the buckets to the left side. To over exaggerate and to put it "Simply" - the buckets are dry upon start. Once the oil has been pumped up to the top and the bucket-wells filled - the ticking goes away !
I'd be inclined to ere on the side of caution and check the valve clearance(s) if the "ticking" became worse or didn't go away !.
1980 KZ 1300 sr# KZT30A-009997
Always High - Know Fear !
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Engine tick on cold start 6 years 6 months ago #19569

  • Ledkz1300
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Thanks fellas.

In the process of trying to diagnose and eliminate other things, I checked my header bolts because sometimes a manifold leak will present itself as ticking. I discovered more than a few were not nearly as tight as they should have been. After tightening them I cold started the bike and the noise is almost gone... the loudest parts of it anyways. I can still hear some ticking going on in the valve cover area but its not as pronounced as it was.

I'm not pronouncing it fixed until I cold start it several times. With Kawboy's description of how to check the valve clearances I am going to go ahead and check them anyways. I still have a complete gasket set so I've got no issue with pulling the cover. I should also inspect the cam chain sprocket while I am poking around in there. If the salvage yard that sold me the engine was accurate, the bike should have about 30K miles on it so these things should be checked anyways.

I'm away for work for the next few days but over the weekend I will take a new video and let you listen to make sure it wasn't wishful thinking on my part lol.

Scotch: I'm not a fan of the huge lean on the side stand for that very reason so I put a block of wood under it when it will be parked overnight or longer. It leans just enough to not fall over the other way :)
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Engine tick on cold start 6 years 6 months ago #19617

  • Ledkz1300
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Here I am on a cold start after sitting for a few days, not less24 hours like when I just pronounced it good. Haha.

The tick is still there on cold start. Starts a few seconds after start and comes and goes until its warm where it stops for good. Valve check it is. I was hoping I'd get lucky but as Kawboy says it isn't that difficult of a job with his explanation.

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