another top end noise question...

[vitza]

ive never ridden another pan so i dont have a reference to compare the noise to but i think ive got a funky sound going on with my top end / timing.

engine is freshly rebuilt with <5miles on it. i havent retorqued it yet. bottom end has s&s generator cases, topend are STD. running an andrews J grind with solid aluminum lifters. oil seems to be flowing well but the pressure gauge shows absolutely 0 pressure from start to warm up. i have it placed on the hole for the outside oiler feed. anyways, so at idle the bike sounds healthy with no weird noises, just healthy gear whine and valve noise, listened with the screwdriver on the valve covers and both seem almost identical (front seems like it might have a very faint ticking sound but im not sure). im running "quickstart2000" pickup for the ignition, pressure tested the manifold with cottons method (before putting it on the road and heatcycling it) and all was well.

during acceleration and deceleration, it kinda sounds like a sewing machine, im not sure its healthy or not. i rode the bike and shut it off to coast it to a stop. the front valve cover seems hotter than the rear and the front plug was a tad lighter than the rear but not white. (i figured it was due to the front exhaust pipe being 3x the length of the rear exhaust pipe).

im going to recheck the valves tomorrow and re-pressurize the intake. anything else i should check guys?
-can my advance unit be bad? the bike isnt popping on deceleration but maybe it isnt advancing properly
-i want to time it with a light, how many degrees should i set it with?
-can it be due to the carb not being adjusted properly?

here's a video, maybe you guys can make out the sound, its especially prominent at the 3:22 mark. also, its my first jockey shift / suicide clutch bike and my 2nd time on it so please ignore my inexperience with taking off. lol.
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[Kuda]

The absolute *first* thing I'd do is make sure you've got oil returning to the tank. It likely won't be shooting out, but a good healthy spit is fine. Second, pull a pushrod clip and see if the pushrod is wet. If it fails either test, do NOT start it any more, it's time to figure out your oiling problem...

-Kuda
'49 panchop

[vitza]

The absolute *first* thing I'd do is make sure you've got oil returning to the tank. It likely won't be shooting out, but a good healthy spit is fine. Second, pull a pushrod clip and see if the pushrod is wet. If it fails either test, do NOT start it any more, it's time to figure out your oiling problem...

-Kuda
'49 panchop

those are all good. return stream is a healthy flow back into the tank and the pushrods were saturated last time i checked. can it be that im not getting enough oil to the top end? anyway i could check that?

[vitza]

oh and forgot to mention but the heads heads are internal oilers

[steve_wood]

Victor,

There does seem to be some noise there. I noticed it when you mounted the camera on the bike before you rolled out (so road noise can be ruled out). Could it be the valve springs impacting the covers? Can you feel anything if you place your hand on the covers? Not sure if this is a conclusive test, but it might be worth a try.

[jdpan]

Did it die at the end of the vid or did you turn it off and pull over? That noise sounds serious to me.... Look in the oil tank to see if there's a substantial amount of metal filings floating around, shove a magnet in there to see what metal it is, this could give you a clue where the problem lies.

[vitza]

so worked on it all day today and figured out what it was/is.

i opened up the pushrod covers and the front cylinder exhaust tappet adjuster is maxed out on the adjustment (meaning, its lifted like 3/4" or 1") while the other three are about 1/4" lifted. also, that pushrod base is a little offset in the tappet. i dunno how i didnt notice this when i put the new pushrods in a couple years ago (this was a LONG build). so anyways, i spun the pushrod and it was a tad on the tight side but what i also noticed was that the whole tappet/pushrod wiggled side to side easily and excessively when i moved it sideways. the other 3 did not do this. took off the front valve cover and the rocker for that exhaust valve has "R" stamped on it, seems like its suppose to be on the rear cylinder? are all the rockers the same or is this why my pushrod sits crooked putting sideways pressure on the tappet causing it to become loose?? and finally, the front cylinder exhaust valve spring/retainer is hitting my valvecover very slightly.

i also pressure tested the intake and ive got zero leaks with 10psi.

didnt start the bike and mess with timing because i didnt want to create more problems with this tappet/pushrod issue.


any advice on what i should do next?

thanks SO much to all for the help

[vitza]

Did it die at the end of the vid or did you turn it off and pull over? That noise sounds serious to me.... Look in the oil tank to see if there's a substantial amount of metal filings floating around, shove a magnet in there to see what metal it is, this could give you a clue where the problem lies.

i shut it off so i could check the plugs. didnt have a chance to do the magnet thing, will do so tomorrow

[steinauge]

If you will take the pushrods out you will notice that you have A-2 long pushrods and 2 short ones-long ones are exhaust.B-2 short pushrods one long one and one a little shorter-longest is front exh next longest is rear exh. Excessive tappet to block clearance will make noise.

[vitza]

so dug into it and all the pushrods are the same length. also, the front exhaust tappet and adjustable lifter are loose and i can separate them while the other three tappets/lifters are stuck together.

seems that because the loose'ness and the front pushrod being shorter and i have to adjust the lifter all the way out it puts a different angle on the bottom of the pushrod and moves it slightly sideways when lifting the rocker arm

thoughts on how to correct this? im thinking of purchasing this and moving the adjustment to the pushrod instead of the lifters being adjustable
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380229210006#ht_1659wt_943" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[steve_wood]

Victor,

Those pushrods are aluminum. Not a good idea.

Try to find steel pushrods and either solid or hydraulic lifters. Believe it or not, I was able to find OEM for both just last year.

Hang in there buddy!

[blewcrab]

R u sure that a pushrod is not bent ? mabey u should pull them and roll them on a flat surface to check for straightness,,,while there out check the lifters to make sure they didnt collapse....that is what happened to my 65FL

[vitza]

hey guys, thanks for all the info!

i went ahead and ordered some chromoly pushrods and lifters with the adjustment on the pushrod... hopefully this will fix this whole issue...

i'll update the thread when i get them installed and fire the bike up. fingers crossed.

[panhead george]

ONE THING I NOTICED WHEN YOU WERE RIDING IS THE FORK SPRINGS LOOK AWFUL SOFT. THERE WAS A LOT OF MOVEMENT OVER VERY SMALL BUMPS. AT SPEED THIS COULD GET A LITTLE HAIRY ESPECIALLY IN THE CORNERS. ARE YOU RUNNING INNER SPRINGS? HOW MUCH PRELOAD? JUST AN OBSERVATION,

LOOKS REAL SWEET THOUGH.

"PANHEAD GEORGE"