Clicking sound when cold

[misterjames]

Hi Guys,[/size]Sorry if this question has been asked somewhere before. I've had my 2000 FZ600 on the road for 10 days now and She has about 64k miles on her. Got oil change and road local for the first 5 or 6 days before taking it on a 5 hr round trip ride to BHam. She road fantastically despite me.2 days later I started hearing a clicking type sound that went in time with the engine. It is clearly heard when I start it cold and probably for the first 10mins of riding after which it stops.One mechanic thinks its the cam chain and says I need 4 of them at 250quid to fix. The visible rubbers seals are cracked as well.I've also been reading on the web that the noise can be related to a tensioner as well. I'll spend what I have to to keep her healthy but am just looking for ways to confirm what the real issue is before I go throwing money around.Any suggestions or advice?

Also, I find that She can run very roughly at low speeds and not respond very quickly to the throttle. That all changes once we get going but if I end up having to go deep into cam chain money, I'd like to do whatever is needed to help her run smooth and be more responsive/tighter at low speeds.Thanks in advance for any insight or advice,

[unfazed]

Most likely cam chain at 64K mine was gone at 50K, there is only 1 cam chain and a DID with split link costs about £60 from the likes of Wemoto. It can be fitted without splitting the engine by a competent mechanic in about 5 hours as it comes with a split link. Biggest problem is getting at it, tank off,  Coils off , fuel Pump off, Carbs off, tensioner off, move thermostat housing, Cam cover off, plugs out and generator cover off. Tensioner design is good and do not normally give trouble. I have heard of them sticking occasionally. I would not go to that mechanic he might get a bit confused, would love to know where he thought the 4 chains would fit.
 
 

[darrsi]

My advice, change your mechanic rather sharpishly for starters....... 


The cam chain noise is okay for now as long as it goes away when the bike warms up, when it doesn't go away is when you need to think about changing the chain/tensioner.


If it's the inlet rubbers that go from the airbox to the carbs that are cracked, then that'll be the cause of the rough running, by letting too much air in.
They will need replacing, or at least the cracked one's, they're about £20 each i think.

[Fazerider]

Rough running at low speed is more likely to be the carbs needing balancing.
The rubber intake parts are thick and cracks take a very long time to get all the way through even if they look bad from the outside. Get some black silicone sealant and smear that into the cracks. You might want to do the same to the little rubber caps that fit over the vacuum take-off points too... I balanced my carbs a couple of days ago and found those caps quite badly cracked.

Poor throttle response might also be down to the cables needing adjustment/lubrication.

The cam chain does rattle at some points in it's life... eventually the tensioner decides things have got bad enough to move another click and it all quietens down again.

[Lawrence]

As said if the ticking noise goes once it's warm don't worry about it.  You'll probably find in a thousand miles or so it'll disappear.

[bikerboys]

Hi there do not worry  about the  ticking noise mine dose it and i have 76 on the clock  just plan ahead go out 5 Min's before you are going to set off let the bike warm up I have all ways done that with any bike or even a couple of Min's before while you put your helmet on and stuff

 it goes once it's warm don't worry about it its not a time bomb .

[markbubble]

as already mentioned if its just ticking when cold but goes once warm dont worry bowt it,id look at get your carb rubber/s replaced and have a carb ballance that will no doubt improve the running of it altogether but if you cant do the job yourself dont use the muppet who said 4 cam chains!

[misterjames]

Thanks for all the info & schooling guys!


Apologies for implying the mechanic meant 4 chains.  I'm sure He meant the 4 rubber intakes at about 50 each new or 30 after market.  Took it in first thing to another shop so they could hear it and they also said cam chain at about 300 total and recommending replacing the intakes too.  They did suggest I might just ride it until it got worse & didn't stop after warming up as long as I let it warm up before working it.


Now the question is whether to try my hand at doing it myself or spend the 200 to have a pro do it.  I'm no mechanic by any stretch but I'm not entirely useless and have done most basic maintenance on my cars when needed (brakes, oil leaks, etc.).  Is it a majorly difficult job requiring special tools and experience or just patience and attention to detail?


Interesting how I've found that motorcyclists on and off road seem to operate with a kind of brotherhood.  Makes the world seem like a much better place.  Thanks again all!


Wayne

[Lawrence]

Just because it's noisy doesn't mean it's knackered.  The tensioner is like a plunger on a ratchet, you just need to wait til it clicks out to the next notch to take up the slack.  When mine started doing it at about 26k I tried the rolling backwards thing and resetting the tensioner to no avail... Just rode it in the end and after a thousand miles or so it went away.

[Jamieg285]

Also, I find that She can run very roughly at low speeds and not respond very quickly to the throttle. That all changes once we get going but if I end up having to go deep into cam chain money, I'd like to do whatever is needed to help her run smooth and be more responsive/tighter at low speeds.Thanks in advance for any insight or advice,

What sort of revs, and what gear are you in?


Mine can be a bit chuggy below 3K, but I'm often running to high a gear.  I've assumed it is a characteristic of the cam profile on this bike.  Drop it down a cog or two and problem is solved.


It is worth cleaning and adjusting the throttle.  It wasn't a massive change, but definitely a change for the better on mine.

[His Dudeness]

you could take out the tensioner and see how many adjustments are left. that will tell you how worn the chain actually is. its not difficult but you have to move the carbs out of the way to get at it and set the engine to tdc on cylinder 1 so its a bit of a faf and there is room for making a bags of it.

[markbubble]

if you can weild a spanner or 2 then id sugest you get the carb rubbers and do them yourself as its an easy job,while carbs are off you can also check you cam chain tensioner while your at it,as for ballance carbs that again is quite simple if you can borrw te gauges or do wat i did and buy a set(paid for itself in 1st carb ballance by saving on garage bills,i find it better to do te jobs you can as you get te satisfy you done yourself and saved some cash!
 

[unfazed]

 
Some good advice on the posts here. I put a set of intake rubbers on my sons fazer, they cost about £75 for the set from Buster Accessories. Even though the originals were badly cracked and deep none of the cracks appeared to go all the way through, but the vacuum take off plugs were shot (as Fazerider also said in his post) and that was most likely causing the rough running.
 When I went to remove the vacuum take off plugs the tops came away even though they looked ok. I replaced with new Yamaha ones and they cost £10 for 4 including delivery
 As I had the carburettors off I opened them and cleaned them out and checked the Diaphragms. Put it back together warmed it up and balanced them. Compete job took me 3 hours.
 If you take on the cam chain at a later stage get some experienced assistance when joining the chain as failure of the split link would do some serious damage.
 The cam chain on my own Fazer was 1.5 links longer than the replacement when I finally changed it. I was stopped in traffic a few days before I changed it and a friend 2 cars back could hear the rattle above the traffic. Most amazing thing was that the Fazer still ran well even though the cam shaft timing out by a tooth and a half with the worn chain.
 

[edc]

Could it also be the valves? Not an expert mechanic in any respect I have to add!
I think that if the valve shims need changing then it can give a little rattle once cold.  Once they warm up and expand to fill the void then they shut up - hence that's why valve checks need to be done on a stone cold engine.
Experts - please feel free to tell me that's crap!
 

[Dave4521]

Some good advice on the posts here. I put a set of intake rubbers on my sons fazer, they cost about £75 for the set from Buster Accessories. Even though the originals were badly cracked and deep none of the cracks appeared to go all the way through, but the vacuum take off plugs were shot (as Fazerider also said in his post) and that was most likely causing the rough running.
 When I went to remove the vacuum take off plugs the tops came away even though they looked ok. I replaced with new Yamaha ones and they cost £10 for 4 including delivery

Sorry to dig up old thread but wondering where you got the vacuum plugs?  Had a dig around the breakers on ebay to no avail. 

[bandit]

Yamaha dealer or just get a short piece of pipe, screw a self tapping screw which is nice & tight into one end & if you haven't got the clip use a small zip tie to secure. 

[darrsi]

https://www.yamahamotorcyclespares.co.uk/genuineparts/9656/10/yamaha%20fzs%20600%20fazer/intake?uID=0

[Dave4521]

great, thanks both.

[Fazerider]

A bit of heat shrink sleeving (the type with glue inside) over the cracked rubber part should work too.

[Bretty]

What does the can chain rattle against?

The only metal-on-metal is between the chain and sprockets. All the guides are plastic. No?

My bike developed a bit of a rattle but it was actually one of the exhaust manifolds coming loose, making that cylinder particularly load with a tick/rattle, worth checking maybe?

Brett

[His Dudeness]

What does the can chain rattle against?

The only metal-on-metal is between the chain and sprockets. All the guides are plastic. No?

My bike developed a bit of a rattle but it was actually one of the exhaust manifolds coming loose, making that cylinder particularly load with a tick/rattle, worth checking maybe?

Brett

It's doesn't rattle against anything. If the tensioner is at its limit you'll have a slack chain spinning at up to 15000 rpm so it's going to make a bit of a racket.

[anutz]

hows the bike OP, my chain was rattling a while back and after a few hundred miles its is ok, but i knew it was the adjuster as i had just put in a new tensioner gasket i forgot about when i re-built the head, so the adjust was a fraction off clicking....now its clicked and its silent

[darrsi]

hows the bike OP, my chain was rattling a while back and after a few hundred miles its is ok, but i knew it was the adjuster as i had just put in a new tensioner gasket i forgot about when i re-built the head, so the adjust was a fraction off clicking....now its clicked and its silent

This post was 3 years ago!

[anutz]

er.....no idea why i did not see that.....maybe i should stop using the delorian to go to work