www.zxrworld.co.uk

theres a rattling sound that has started on the right hand side of the engine what is it?

im thinking the cam chain adjuster has given up. if so how do i go about sortin it out and is it expensive?

thanks

Has it got steadily worse over time or has it started rattling fairly suddenly?


It could be the cam-chain adjuster has seized. This is pretty easy to take off and find out. You can pick up a new one off ebay for a tenner or so if it is gone. Putting it back on is a bit harder, because the manual bears no resemblance to the actual tensioner (on my bike at least). I'll tell you how I did it if you like.

Could be the cam chain has stretched beyond the range of the tensioner. Should be fairly obvious because as you start to undo the tensioner from the engine it won't click the rest of the way out.

Could be the valve clearances want doing. I was quoted about £100 labour plus the cost of any shims that need replacing.


All the above I would expect to result in a rattling that got progressively worse over time. If your rattle has appeared suddenly you might find one of your cam followers is shot - they are only surface hardened and they are like butter underneath. This happened to my bike, and the damaged follower knackered the inlet camshaft. I paid £600 to have it fixed, which was about 50/50 parts and labour.

I really, really hope this hasn't happened to yours! If you are comfortable doing so then get the camshaft cover off ASAP and have a look.

it has got steadily worse over time i think it will be the chain adjuster that needs replacing

can you please tell me how you did it? and add pics if possible

thanks

If you look here there's a few pics I took while I was doing it, but they're not much help. I'll try and explain in words how I did it.

- If you look at the cam tensioner and there are three bolt heads sticking out of the bottom, then it's not the one in the manual.

- You still take it off as per the manual, by undoing the two smaller bolts. However it will make your life much easier if you first loosen off the big one in the middle while it's still attached to the engine - especially if like me you don't have a vice (isn't hindsight great).

- Once it's off, stare meaningfully at it until you work out what's wrong with it, or just buy a new one.

- To put it back on, first take the big bolt out the bottom. Two springs will fall out with it.

- Now disengage the ratchet and push the plunger back in as it says in the manual. Because you have taken the spring out it will stay down without you poking bits of wire through a non-existent hole.

- Bolt this bit back onto the engine.

- Poke the springs back up inside and put the big bolt in. As you screw it in you will hear it clicking up the ratchet as it takes up the tension. Job done.



Hope this helps. It confused the hell out of me when I couldn't do what it said in the manual!

dose any one know whos sells new cam-chains and adjusters?

because i can't seem to find one on ebay.

Thanks

had the cam chain adjuster fixed but it was fine in the first place

the rattle seems to be coming from the top of the engine i was told it would be the shims.

is this an expensive problem to cure and will it be causing any damage?

thanks
psycho

Shouldnt be that expensive, its just a case of checking the clearances and putting in new shims if they are needed. See a dealer and ask, they should be able to give you a round figure

I was quoted £100 labour plus the cost of any shims. Unfortunately it cost a bit more than that in the end!

fucking hell how much do they charge an hour? Surely its only a few hours work? Mind i suppose there is 16 of them to measure, up, work out the size of the new shim and replace if need be. But still.

that was a certain Derby based Suzuki/Kawasaki dealership - about £50 an hour.

wont be using them again for various reasons

deviant wrote:that was a certain Derby based Suzuki/Kawasaki dealership - about £50 an hour.

wont be using them again for various reasons

All you need are a set of feeler guages from Halfords (£4.99) and a Micrometer from Maplins (£7) and a couple of hrs.

If you are still in Notts I'll show you how to do it if you like.

Save yourself a small fortune.

EDIT: Just noticed your post is like .. a year old.