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CAM CHEST CLANK on 96 TWIN CAM

CAM CHEST CLANK on 96 TWIN CAM

ddreed
4 years ago

Looking for a bit of advice on what could be wrong. I recently had a drag at the lights (lost) and pulled up 2kms later with a hell of a clank coming from the cam chest region. I don't redline the bike but gave it a good squirt thru a few gears.
Let it cool down. Still the same, so trailered it home. Sounds like a very loose pushrod.
It's got Andrews 48H, SE lifters, SE quick install pushrods with 20,000 kms on them. Engine has 97,000kms and was running great...
Just checked the pushrods and they are still tight. I guess I'll have to pull the lifters out. What do bad lifters look like? Does the hydraulic piston slop up and down or what?
cheers.
Reedie

speedzter
4 years ago

So many things could cause the noise.
Did you still have oil pressure ?
Pull the spark plugs, check the compression, and see if it's noisy just on the starter.
Next step would be to pull the lifters, and check the condition of the rollers, and check the cups aren't collapsed or soft.
From there, you would need to go into the Cam chest.

ddreed
4 years ago

Quoting speedzter on 01 Jun 2019 06:39 AM
So many things could cause the noise.
Did you still have oil pressure ?
Pull the spark plugs, check the compression, and see if it's noisy just on the starter.
Next step would be to pull the lifters, and check the condition of the rollers, and check the cups aren't collapsed or soft.
From there, you would need to go into the Cam chest.

Hi Speedzter... thanks for the reply. Do you know correct procedure for cranking on the starter? Some say ground the spark plugs, but I've seen videos where they just pull the out and leave the ht leads hanging in the breeze...
Reedie

Ken in Cairns
4 years ago

Anything with an ecm I usually ground the plugs, is easier and cheaper than replacing the ecm etc.
Hope it is somthing simple mate.

speedzter
4 years ago

I find it easiest to just unplug the connector to the coil.

ddreed
4 years ago

Thanks guys. I pulled the fuel pump fuse (wrongly marked in the diagram in the manual...) and left the plugs in. Cranked it with the pushrod tubes pulled up. Couldn't hear any unusual noises...

brucefxdl
4 years ago

Quoting ddreed on 01 Jun 2019 11:05 AM
Thanks guys. I pulled the fuel pump fuse (wrongly marked in the diagram in the manual...) and left the plugs in. Cranked it with the pushrod tubes pulled up. Couldn't hear any unusual noises...

big end ?

ddreed
4 years ago

thanks guys. I think I might get a 2nd opinion before going any further.

ddreed
4 years ago

sorry, make that first hand 2nd opinion... I'm ok at some things, but diagnosis is not one of them.

Nutty
4 years ago

Pop the lifters out and rotate the motor whilst checking the cam lobes for damage. Don't short the HT side of the ignition, it increases pulse current to the coils, best to disconnect (and float) the 12V conductors to the coil primaries.
Could be an oil pump issue, probably worth opening up the cambox and sussing things out.

robots
4 years ago

with that many kms i would just start dismantling things until anything specific showed up.
get a manual, buy things as required.

KiwiRob
4 years ago

I suspect one or more of your SE lifters have collapsed, or worse. Harley lifters aren't the best these days, to put it mildly. - Rob

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

Be interested to hear what you find, fella's above have covered it, don't start it again until you know what it is, check your filter for debris, hopefully you caught it before it's got to that point though.

ddreed
4 years ago

Quoting KiwiRob on 02 Jun 2019 07:14 PM
I suspect one or more of your SE lifters have collapsed, or worse. Harley lifters aren't the best these days, to put it mildly. - Rob

Hi Kiwi, how can do you tell if a lifter is collapsed? cheers

ddreed
4 years ago

Quoting Grease Monkey on 02 Jun 2019 11:59 PM
Be interested to hear what you find, fella's above have covered it, don't start it again until you know what it is, check your filter for debris, hopefully you caught it before it's got to that point though.

Hi GM, I've kept the oil from the filter and will have a good look at it... cheers.

KiwiRob
4 years ago

Quoting KiwiRob on 02 Jun 2019 07:14 PM
I suspect one or more of your SE lifters have collapsed, or worse. Harley lifters aren't the best these days, to put it mildly. - Rob

Quoting ddreed on 03 Jun 2019 03:51 AM
Hi Kiwi, how can do you tell if a lifter is collapsed? cheers

As you described, clanking from the cam chest area. Collapsed lifter is only one of a couple things that are a problem with the SE lifters. Harley's lifter Quality ain't the best since they "down graded" to the 99c lifters.

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

Quoting Grease Monkey on 02 Jun 2019 11:59 PM
Be interested to hear what you find, fella's above have covered it, don't start it again until you know what it is, check your filter for debris, hopefully you caught it before it's got to that point though.

Quoting ddreed on 03 Jun 2019 03:53 AM
Hi GM, I've kept the oil from the filter and will have a good look at it... cheers.

If you still have the filter cut it open and have a look at what's trapped in the filter media.

ddreed
4 years ago

Well, I checked the oil from the filter. All looks OK. I found that the bolt holding the cam drive sprocket on the end of the crankshaft had come loose. The adjustable pushrods were not loose. Pulled them out and pulled the lifters out. They're fine. Re loctited the cam drive bolts (both pinion and primary with red loctite) and reassembled. Sounds fine and run fine. Phew. Only thing I can think of is the red loctite I used a year and half ago when I did the cams, was too old. I'd had it a long time. Should have spent the extra 20 for fresh loctite.

Grease Monkey
4 years ago

Loctite will go off, I normally change those bolts, have seen pics of broken ones, Ando had the head pop off one in his 120 awhile back, probably be ok if they were new at cam swap. Glad it wasn't too major for you.

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