Cam chain noise?

[matzec]

Hello,
I've been looking at a '02 FZS 600 for sale and I have one doubt. I noticed a slight rattling noise coming from the engine. I believe, but can't say for sure, that it was only present after the engine was warmed up. Together with the owner we went to talk to his mechanic, who said that what we hear is the cam chain, but it is nothing to worry about. The bike did 46000 kilometers and for this reason I also asked the mechanic whether he checked valve clearances, to which he answered that there is no need to do this in this model... I found this quite weird.
So my questions are:
- would you say this mechanic is even trustworthy?
- if the cam chain tensioner would require replacing, is this costly?


Best regards
Maciek

[Fazerider]

The rattle may be due to the tensioner having become temporarily "stuck"... they seem prone to this on the FZS600 but aside from a bit of noise it doesn't appear to be a problem. It usually clears after a bit (a thousand miles or so).


The mechanic does sound a bit blasé, but valve clearances don't alter significantly in my experience. When I swapped my original engine out at 185,000km (piston slap was making it sound like an elderly tractor by then) they still measured well within specification. I did check the replacement engine before installing it, but don't intend to bother again.


If second gear engages cleanly there probably isn't much else to worry about as far as the engine is concerned.

[matzec]

Thanks. I asked another mechanic today (described it, didn't show the bike) and he says that if the sound is only present on idle then it's normal. Also he said that it's very easy to distinguish between valves and cam chain, and so I think I can believe the first mechanic when he says it was the chain. I mean, he wouldn't be that uneducated, would he.


From what I remember the sound while switching certain gear was louder but I wish I remembered if it was 1st or 2nd... Though I don't think that was anything out of ordinary.

[Fazerider]

A big clunk when selecting first in particular is normal. The problem I was suggesting you check for is that second gear can be unreliable on some engines, engaging only partially and then dropping out into neutral when you open the throttle hard.

[kebab19]

Subby on the old site had his camchain replaced & has Youtube videos of 'before' & 'after' noises here:

http://fazerowners.yuku.com/topic/32904/New-tensioner-installed?page=2

If you can listen to the videos then it might help to determine if the noise is familiar or anything to worry about

[matzec]

Thanks for that. I think it was less profound than in this video, and also unlike Subby I noticed that on a warm engine. Which would suggest that it's not the same problem.

[matzec]

All right! I got a second opinion from another mechanic, he looked, listened and said it's all good. So here's my new bike:

[Slaninar]

That is a very, very nice bike! Congradulations!   

[Skippernick]

Good choice, exactly like mine in fact