www.zxrworld.co.uk

ive been to skegness to day first time ive ever been out of nottingham
or derby ive been riding bikes 8 years. But when i got in to skeg i noticed a tapping its not the clutch coz it stayes there when you pull the leaver in.
it sounds
like its coming from the top end it wasnt doing it when i left this morning.its 94 miles to skeg from here so its been set off riding that far and it was worse when i got home.another 94 miles.iam not gonner use it till its been sorted its only done 10700 miles on a T reg noy been serviced for a while tho any ideas what it might be,cams,shims ?.how much should i pay for a full service as well oh and how much will it cost me for any top end work do you recon.iam going to ibiza in 4 weeks so it might looks like its out of use for a bit .

Could well be the cam chain tensioner is sticking, try a search on the site for how to check and adjust

oh dear thats the worse sound going on a zxr400, there's the usual clutch rattle but when the top end rattles it means its shagged!! big time!! new engine jobbie!! best thing is to sell it now! let me know if you decide to sell yeah??

are you serious is it fooked

no hes only joking, as allways!

But seriously, top end rattle is not good, but tbh they all rattle like fuk, even after mine had the valves done, new cam chain and tensioner there is still cam chain noise, BUt its not excessive, and thats all that matters.

i was joking yeah my bike taps like mad, have you changed the oil recently? cos maybe the oil is getting a bit thin if it hasn't been serviced for a while, a simple change of oil sometimes does the trick.

yeah ive been thinkin that might help the oil is very thin and dirty black looks like my birthday funds are goining on oil and filter then see if that helps

Oil and filter wont cost you that much, when's your birthday, I'll send you a filter.

its been and gone mate thanks iam goner sort it this weekend. ive just brouht the haynes motorcycle maintenance techbook.theres quite a bit based on the zxr400. synchronisation of the carbs,ajusting the chain,body work section,removal of the tank,oil changes (might be handy lol),foot pegs rearsets servicing sure this will all come in handy

hey all well the taping is still there on my bike didnt use it for the rest of the summer so its been sat for a few months.ive got the bike in bits at the min had a look at the the cams and all is in good order up there well oild.i checked the cam chain tenshioner removed the casing to see it and one of the bolts for the ignition pulse coil had a few very fine metal bits stuck to it like it was a magent so iam thinking its the cam chain tenshioner.what does one look like in good condition i mean how do i know if mine needs replacing is there any way of telling if its fully extended or nakerd. what i do know is that an area of a about 3mm on the arm is very shiney suggesting that is been moving any help would be very helpful as the better wether is only a few months a way
thanks kev

Hi mate, not too sure about testing the tensioner, but when you looked at the top end did you take the cams off and give them a good look over, and the rocker arms too?

Had this on mine recently, case hardening wears off the rockers and then they flatten out really quick (basically the more they wear, the louder the tapping gets as the cams are not rolling across them just whacking em). Did a quick inspection with just cam cover off but didnt notice anything wrong, till i stripped it down. Its worth checking as riding it will make it worse and probably end up needing a new cam too (like i did!)

regards

its only on a t reg tho 1999 less than 10000 miles surley they wouldnt have gone yet.But i should have a proper look i supose not 100% tho as ive never gone that far on an inline 4 befor could i get away with taking the camshaft caps of one at a time and checking the rocker arms that way or would that upset the timing?. Forgot to say that a mechanic had a listen to it and said it wasnt that bad said it sounded like the cam wasnt get oil so it might be the oil feed it only comes up one side of the engine he suggested the oil feed might be split but all seems in good order up there nicely oild he allso suggested the cam chain tenshoner might be at fault but iam not sure what a bad one looks like. i was looking on the workshop manual tonight you can remove the tenshioner but cant put it back till its been reset has anyone ever tried this
thanks for any help iam sure i will get there in the end
regards
kev!

yeah you just push the rod in and hold it in place with a bit of wire, it should tell you how to do it in the manual.

Mine has 12500 miles on it and ive had to change a cam and a couple of rockers. Problem usually starts when theres not enough oil getting onto the rockers at higher speeds.

Taking the caps off wont harm it, you will only upset the timing if you move the cam around on the chain (if that makes sense?!).

Best way to check is to run the engine at idle with the rocker cover off to hear where the tapping is coming from. Trying to hear it normally is difficult as noise travels very easily around the engine. If you do this though be carefull as you can get oil everywhere like i did!

Al the best

all rite well ive had right good look at the cams turning the engine by hand had a very cool inspection mirror and ive found some pitting/scratches on two of cam rollers one seams to be quite bad the end that was making all the noise the other one not bad at all. is it this thats making all the noise ive all so reset the cam chain tenshioner as well. all i need is to know that this pitting is the cause of the ticking and i will make plans to drop the engine out not sure if i should try putting a new cam and rocker arms in tho what do you guys n gals think.oh yeah can any one tell me do you have to buy the cams in a pair or can i buy just the one i need the inlet cam n how much are they
thank you i think iam getting closer to sorting it out
regards kev