Possible Bad Cam Chain Tensioner

[Jeff Roof]

Hey guys, as usual I'm looking for advice. I had a ticking develop a while back and it was weird because it was intermittent. My bike has had the upgraded cam chain tensioner on both sides and it is now at about 50K miles. Anyway typically when I start hearing ticking I know it is time to adjust the valves which I did. By the way my ride intervals can be up to a month as my rides these days consist solely of going to the mtns for a couple of days. Other than that she is a garage queen.

But after the first adjustment on the next ride I kept hearing the ticking, there again it was intermittent. So when I got back home I checked the valves and nothing was extremely loose but a couple not exactly as tight as I wanted them. Then after a month or so I made a trip and this time the ticking was even worse.

So this past weekend we went and the night before I checked the valves and everyone was spot on, where I've put them many times. So this time on the ride the ticking became so bad that when I pulled up from a stretch my friends noticed and pretty much anyone within earshot could hear it. But then you sit there and take a break and when you crank it up to go it is not doing it. While you are riding it doesn't increase in sound nor do you even hear it while riding.

Well when I pulled in yesterday morning it was ticking really bad especially in the garage, so I left the bike running and got down by the right cylinder and sure enough that is where the ticking was coming from, the right cylinder. I cannot say definitively though that it was the cam chain tensioner. But that is what it sounds like to me.

So my question is, can these things go bad and not pump up intermittently or is it an all or nothing proposition. Does it make sense that it could not be pumping up at times but be doing it at other times? Any help or advice as always would be greatly appreciated. I did some searches but couldn't find much info as all of it was mainly on the upgrade.

[wswartzwel]

put your finger on the throttle pulley where the throttle cable attaches... if it gets quiet when you push against it, it is probably a worn throttle body.

there are threads here showing how to rebuild them.

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

put your finger on the throttle pulley where the throttle cable attaches... probably a worn throttle body.

I should have mentioned that I did that and it is not worn out TB's. My bike used to belong to Phil Cortright and in his descriptions of mods he said he rebuilt them and of course modified them much like everything else on the bike.

but thanks, I had recently run into that information searching for something else and that was the first thing I tried.

[wswartzwel]

Have you adjusted the play of the rocker arms between the mounting blocks when doing valve clearance adjustment?

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

Have you adjusted the front to rear play of the rocker arms when doing valve clearance adjustment?

Well no, I sure haven't. To be honest didn't know that was something that needed to be done. I'll look it up in the Service Manual, but you are sounding pretty confident these cam chain tensioners must not wear out.

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

Have you adjusted the front to rear play of the rocker arms when doing valve clearance adjustment?

So Bill, this is all I find in the manual with regards to any type of rocker arm adjustment. I did have the head off season before last. But I've done 8K miles on it since then. The strange part is the manual really doesn't go into much detail about it. This was all I could find. So is it self explanatory when you look at it if they are out of spec as to how and adjust them.

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

Have you adjusted the front to rear play of the rocker arms when doing valve clearance adjustment?

Disregard Bill, finding tons of info on the subject. I'll figure it out and check that before replacing the tensioner. Have you ever heard of one out that made a lot of noise.

[ksplumy]

Originally Posted by Jeff Roof

Disregard Bill, finding tons of info on the subject. I'll figure it out and check that before replacing the tensioner. Have you ever heard of one out that made a lot of noise.

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjri5fh_5bQAhUlBcAKHYAxB_UQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.r1200gs.info%2Fhowto%2Fend-play.html&usg=AFQjCNEIShlCBWIU17iSuWuPRz8UqXeOvg&sig2=UCKmm96mvQByGePeG8hewg

Should be the same for hte R1200s

[wswartzwel]

To answer your question Jeff, I haven't seen any of the newer adjusters give problems. Thats why would look for some of the more common ticking sources. Yes they make a light knocking sound when the clearance is loose.

[SergioK]

My '01 would do that, randomly... out of the blue. Then, it'd just magically go silent on me. Irked me to no avail as I never found the culprit.

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

To answer your question Jeff, I haven't seen any of the newer adjusters give problems. Thats why would look for some of the more common ticking sources. Yes they make a light knocking sound when the clearance is loose.

I hear you, but unfortunately for me, I'm one of those people that when something is not supposed to break, it is the very thing that breaks for me. LOL

Either that or a broke spring or something very hard to find.

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

Have you adjusted the play of the rocker arms between the mounting blocks when doing valve clearance adjustment?

Thanks Bill, on the right side exhaust rocker I have more .63mm slop, that is the largest feeler gauge I have and it goes in and out effortlessly max slop is .30mm. The rest are all on the low side of spec, on both sides I do have question though. I've found conflicting information. One article says to loosen all valves and then adjust rocker arm slop. Then I found another that says to do it after you adjust the valves. What gives ?

[tjs]

Do it before you adjust the valves. 2 cents from tjs

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by tjs

Do it before you adjust the valves. 2 cents from tjs

Thanks guy appreciate the info

[GS ADDICT]

Check/adjust the rocker arm end play as suggested above.
If that does not solve it.....

I had a very similar issue on my 1150GS. Finally tracked it down to one of the pushrods.
The steel ends are pressed into the aluminum body.
When the bike got hot the end would loosen and start ticking.
I fixed the issue with 1200 pushrods (solid steel) but replacing with the original is probably more cost effective.

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by GS ADDICT

Check/adjust the rocker arm end play as suggested above.
If that does not solve it.....

I had a very similar issue on my 1150GS. Finally tracked it down to one of the pushrods.
The steel ends are pressed into the aluminum body.
When the bike got hot the end would loosen and start ticking.
I fixed the issue with 1200 pushrods (solid steel) but replacing with the original is probably more cost effective.

Thanks guy, I'll take all the information I can get. I've had a couple of these bikes and have a couple of friends and my brother that have them. I've noticed everyone of them sound a little different in terms of how noisey they are and now that I've found out about the rocker arm play and your pushrod issue it is becoming obvious why some are quieter than others.

[pmc847]

Jeff

You have the new style and the R1200R cams.

Cheers

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by pmc847

Jeff

You have the new style and the R1200R cams.

Cheers

Good deal, thanks Phil. Got to love last night. I felt like I woke up from a nightmare this morning. About an 8 year long one. You guys sure helped out with the situation.

[Groceryrun]

Not sure if you tried this or if it would help, but did you look at the right side cam chain tensioner ?

[Jeff Roof]

Originally Posted by Groceryrun

Not sure if you tried this or if it would help, but did you look at the right side cam chain tensioner ?

I was headed there but Bill Wartzel said check the Rocker Arm Slop, he was spot on. I was about to just go ahead and order a tensioner as they are not that expensive. He said look elsewhere as he had never seen the new style tensioners fail. Like I said, learned something new. In fact I've come to the conclusion that is probably why some boxers are very quiet and others very noisy.