Valve train noise

mrflexicoil

mrflexicoil

Joined
Jun 11, 2014
Messages
1
Location
alberta
Bike
2004 Honda ST1300
I have what I would call " Valve train noise" and I am trying to determine what and where it is coming from. I have check the valve clearance and they all seem to be a bit on the tight side of the specs. I was expecting them to be loose not tight. That would make up some of the noise that I am hearing. Is there a way to determine if it is the cam chain itself. The bike has over 235000 kms on it. The valves has been set at least twice that the previous owner has told me about. Is there a chain adjustment that I should be looking for? From what I have seen in the Tech manual I do not see anything but maybe I am missing something. I have found a
LIFTER, TENSIONER in the parts manual but I am not 100% sure what this actually does. Can someone tell me please. Is that my possible problem.
 
mrflexicoil said:
I have what I would call " Valve train noise" and I am trying to determine what and where it is coming from. I have check the valve clearance and they all seem to be a bit on the tight side of the specs. I was expecting them to be loose not tight. That would make up some of the noise that I am hearing. Is there a way to determine if it is the cam chain itself. The bike has over 235000 kms on it. The valves has been set at least twice that the previous owner has told me about. Is there a chain adjustment that I should be looking for? From what I have seen in the Tech manual I do not see anything but maybe I am missing something. I have found a
LIFTER, TENSIONER in the parts manual but I am not 100% sure what this actually does. Can someone tell me please. Is that my possible problem.
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I can't say for sure what the source of the noise is, but I can offer some of my experience in setting the valve clearance. It's actually more common for the valve clearance to tighten as the engine wears rather than loosen, so what you're measuring is likely normal engine wear. If the valve clearance is out of spec it would be worth adjusting them (doing so on my bike noticeably improved start-up and fuel economy) but it may not be the root cause of the noise. The cam chains are tensioned by a spring and should shelf-adjust to hold the chains at the correct tension unless the chains themselves have stretched so much that the tensioner has run out of travel. You can access the tensioner on the left-hand side of the bike fairly easily - if you don't have a manual I can post the relevant info. If the tensioner is at its maximum travel then to my knowledge the only fix would be to replace the timing chains. I don't think there is any way to manually adjust the tension.
 
Camrysandcoffee said:
If the tensioner is at its maximum travel then to my knowledge the only fix would be to replace the timing chains. I don't think there is any way to manually adjust the tension.
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What you posted is correct, but I cannot remember anyone posting a thread discussing cam chain replacement. There have been a few discussions about the tensioner on the 1100 (which uses a kevlar or fiberglass belt) but none for the 1300's timing chain. I believe the chain is bathed in engine oil so wear is minimal.
 
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