paint can rattle on newer bikes

[warp9.9]

Update;
So I bought a used cam chain tensioner off ebay so I would have another center bolt to work with, I didnt want to modify the original one on the bike so I could put back in If It goes to the dealer. I did Warp's modification to it to see if this made any difference to the noise. I installed it in my bike and it made no difference at all. After both my wife and I did some focused listening to try to pinpoint the location we think it's not coming from the front right of the engine. The noise is coming from the right side but more from the middle of the engine, instead of the front as thought earlier. IT is in line with #2 cylinder and it's low in the engine, where the upper and lower case half's meet. I'm now thinking Balance shaft bearing but if it were that i would think it would be a little more forward in the engine. I know that noises can travel in an engine and sometimes you will here it in a different location than it originated from. What are everyone's thoughts on this new information. I plan to take this to the dealership as soon as I get a chance, I am just trying to figure this out somewhat before I go.

Thanks in advance,
Ridefree

Hey bud my mod does not stop the rattle it just insures the tensioner will not release causing Mr piston to meet the valves which can be highly expensive. it is not used to adjust the tensioner its just a fail safe ani-kickback device. I have seen tensioners release and the contact between the valves and seen broken exhaust valves from it. along with the need for new pistons, liners, and a head.

 

[tdragger]

This may be way off point but what brand oil are you using? Back in the day, I tried Amsoil and my engine started making all kinds of rattling noises. No issues since going back to Mobil and now with Castrol.

A Captain on this board, Bobby K, had the cam chain jump the sprocket and it damaged all the values on his 05 model.

 

[Ridefree]

Hi guys, thanks for your response.
Tdragger, I have amsoil in it now but usually use redline. It has progressively gotten worse regardless of what oil I use except for right after the 10,000 mile service when they looked at the tensioner as well and put in the amsoil. It was quiet for about a thousand miles.

Warp, I know your mod was intended to save the engine by maintaining shoe position if tensioner failed but I had a theory. After pulling the crank plug and seeing the chain snug I thought perhaps it's just being held that way, while engine is at rest, by the spring. And then when the engine is started and the chain is coming off the crank and being pulled around the shoe, even though it's on the tight side pulling the cams, maybe it was pulling the shoe back past one or two teeth and creating slack and noise. With your mod I just touched the piston in the tensioner but did not push farther. If the tensioner was backing up a little, this would stop it. I still want to have this mod on my bike just to protect from now on as its a great idea.

Thoughts?
Thanks, Ridefree

 

[Ridefree]

I just proofread the above post and I hope I made sense in it to everyone. I was at work and had my hand full when I hammered that out on my phone.

 

[Ridefree]

well I found two different sound bites on the other forum of the infamous paint can rattle. Both of them sound exactly like the sound coming from my bike, wife thinks so as well. So now the search is on for a competent dealer in the central Florida area that has actually opened one of these engines up. I live in Orlando but am willing to travel some distance. I am not comfortable with the dealership in Orlando because they think the Rocket has a hydrolic tensioner. They also did some other sloppy work on my bike. In my introduction thread a couple people suggested the dealer in Spring Hill and a shop in Melbourne. I stopped in at the melbourne shop and they are not a dealer so they can't do warranty repairs although they seemed to know their rockets, the owner has two and the head mechanic had one till he totaled it as i understand. does any one have any recommendations. So far my choices are the dealer in Spring hill, which I'm seriously considering, Or the one in Daytona which is owned by the Orlando dealership.

 

[Ridefree]

Well, the bike is now at the dealership.

 

[steve59]

Any new news?

 

[warp9.9]

On another note which this may not be your problem but it is important to all Rocket owners. You should check you throttle cables to make sure they have the proper amount of slack in them. If they do not the throttle cables could be working against the throttle stepper motor. this will make the bike stumble. also if they are not set right the throttle bodies can be out of balance. (one of our members has been having problems and of course his throttle bodies were balanced. But as soon as he set his throttle cables right his throttle bodies were out of balance again. It is important that these cables and bodies are set right for it affect the amount of fuel the location on the map the bikes ability to adapt correctly, plus the ignition timing firing properly. all this could make for some slight pinging/detonation and or rattling of the engine. It may not be your issue but it is something that should be checked as it could be some of the noise you are hearing. We should all realize these bikes com in crates without the handle bars and controls attached and no front wheel either. here is where human error can creep in as it could be many people are setting the bike up a wee bit different although unintentionally. Some places have the bikes assembled at a different warehouse and then trucked to them who knows if the guys setting them up are even Triumph techs as they could be setting up many makes and models of bikes Heck they might not even be trained mechanics to save money. I also know there are some dealers that do set up their own bikes so this is not a kick to any dealer but most handle different lines or have had different lines before taking on the Triumph logo and bikes.
Again human error is a large cause of issues!!!!!!!
After all we are all human

 

[cr0ft]

Anecdote time - an unexpected bonus when I got new cables from Barnett for mine is that the cable sleeve is entirely separate from the fittings (the cheap stock cables are basically a unit). Checking tightness is very easy... if you can easily pull the cable sleeve out of the part of the cable assembly that bolts onto the bike, it still has play. I got mine perfectly tensioned in seconds.

 

[Ridefree]

Well my bike has been in the shop for 4 weeks now.at first they thought it was a bad wrist pin and when starting to tear the engine down found a cam chain guide that was loose and moving around on the pivot pin and they thought they found the culprit. They replaced it but it didn't make any difference so they tore the engine apart and measured everything. All perfect. The only thing they found was a couple sticky buckets in the head with a little scoring, but not real bad. Now triumph is him hawing around for a week and a half now. Dealer wants to replace some parts since they are in there by replacing the parts it could be so that they are at least changing something while it's all apart. The engine has a nasty noise, just because it measures out ok doesn't mean there is nothing wrong. Triumph has denied the claim y twice