03 ticker

So I have done some reading recently on first gen FJR's having a ticking issue. My bike has developed a semi frequent tick that is sometimes silent and other times very noticeable. The noise is more obvious on the left side after the motor is warmed up. When listening with a stethoscope I can hear it clearly when I'm listing into the head/exhaust manifold. It's definitely engine speed related.

I've read about the toxic valve guide tick and I'm hoping that I don't have it... but it's pointing towards that. The bike has 6100 miles on it. Anyone care to comment?

The acid test is to pull the header and look for oil in the exhaust port. Tickers are caused by loose exhaust valve guides. If the guide is loose it will leak oil from the seal.

^^^^^ What Fred said. With such a young engine you may only have slight traces of oil. The good news is that being a ticker doesn't mean your engine is broken, you can run it until oil drips out the tail pipe and/or performance falls off or you start having to add oil to the engine. This could take a very long time to happen. If the valve guides could wear without making any noise you wouldn't notice anything wrong until it became evident that some oil is being consumed.

When it finally needs to be addressed the cylinder head comes off and goes to a machine shop where the worn valve guides are removed and new guides are pressed in, then new stem seals will be installed. It's the stem seals that are the root cause of 'ticking'. Some stem seals were too tight which starved the valve guides of lubrication which leads to wear which leads to the valve stems rattling in the loose guide which we hear as the ticking sound. The new stem seals are just a smidgen larger (that is a metric unit) which allows for sufficient lubrication.

Good on ya for knowing what a mechanics stethoscope is and how to use it!

Well I am an auto technician so I ought to know the basics of a stethoscope lol! Is there an updated part number for the new seals?

An 03 with only 6100 miles? Holy crap!

Unless you can get Yamaha to help with some of the cost of repair, it will be much more cost effective to get a used engine off eBay. Approximately $3000 vs $900.

And whatever part numbers they currently list are the updated part numbers.

SkooterG, if it comes down to it, I'll pull the thing apart and have it machined and then put it back together myself. Should cost less than 1,000 bucks total. Just a little sweat equity

Part costs are astronomical too. You might get Yamaha to cover that cost. Back in the day, they were fixing tickets on their dime. Doubt you could get the whole repair covered at this late date, but it wouldn't hurt to try.

There are a number of heads on eBay from used bikes that still have the valves installed. A Gen2 head will fit on your Gen1, it may be much quicker/easier to simply swap heads and leave your engine sitting in the bike. Having said this, I don't see any Gen2 heads on eBay, but you have a lot of time to look for one!

If you're wanting absolute reliability, you can get a new head assembly for about $1000 https://www.mrcycles.com/oemparts/a/yam/50044a60f8700209bc7907ff/cylinder-head

As you can see, the original P/N has been superseded by the part found on Gen2 bikes.

Do note that a Gen3 head is a very different part number, and will not fit.

Nah, parts cost aren't that much unless you go whole hog and replace the valves and springs and everything. This isn't like a cam chain tensioner that went slack. Nothing has crashed in there. This engine is a baby. He could pull the head, replace the valve guides and seals and then put it back together for way less than a thousand.

To the OP, the problem was caused by soft guides. Yes the part number has been updated for those. The seals work fine when the guides don't hog out.

And even if you know what to listen for with a stethoscope, I'd want to confirm oil in the exhaust port before I went to the bother of ripping the head off. Lots of relatively savvy people have thought they had tickers but were just hearing things. Many. many, many of us have put hundreds of thousands of miles on engines that were in the "ticker" range with no problems.

Cart goes before horse.

Thanks for the help guys! I may be on the lookout for a gen 2 head. As stated above, I can replace the parts for cheap, and it should be okay.

I've heard things about the cam chain tensioner being an issue. Should I replace it as a preventative thing? If so, go oem, or aftermarket?

OEM. It's been updated too.

Seals alone won't do it...

The valve guides need replacing, too.

RookieRider said:

I've heard things about the cam chain tensioner being an issue. Should I replace it as a preventative thing? If so, go oem, or aftermarket?

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Get the OEM. The "fixed" CCT's have a blue dot on them. Recently, they have changed again, or run out of blue paint, so they have a green dot on them.

There are lots of writeups on replacing the CCT, it's not complicated, but it is a little tight against the frame.

ORRRR.... you are over reacting to normal engine noise!! Go find someone else with an 03 and listen to it. If you are using a stethoscope to hear the tick it must be normal engine noises you are hearing.

Rob

More noises coming out of my bike than you would imagine... Do what I did and put on some TwoBrothers pipes. Only noise I can hear now.

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="fjrob1300" data-cid="1263344" data-time="1444165181"><p>

ORRRR.... you are over reacting to normal engine noise!! Go find someone else with an 03 and listen to it. If you are using a stethoscope to hear the tick it must be normal engine noises you are hearing.<br />

<br />

<br />

Rob<br />

<br />

<br />

More noises coming out of my bike than you would imagine... Do what I did and put on some TwoBrothers pipes. Only noise I can hear now.</p></blockquote>

Well the funny thing is, it's definitely audible without the scope. Sometimes louder than others. But when it's loud, it definitely cuts through the whine of the motor.

RookieRider said:

it's definitely audible without the scope. Sometimes louder than others. But when it's loud, it definitely cuts through the whine of the motor.

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Normal FJR head whine will do that too. For me it was the "steak knives being dropped on a metal counter" sound that was always the give-away.

General memory is that about 3/4 of people that have insisted/fixated they had the dreaded tick the past few years...didn't actually have it. Memory was two were actually CCT, one was a total hypochondriac, and one was a ticker in early stages.

For my first year of ownership I heard EVERYTHING !!!! Always trying to figure out each sound and noise and clunk. Drove my self nuts!!! What was that and that oh nooooo. Finally I accepted that this is how the bike sounds. Guess what.... 9 years later nothing NOTHING has happened . 200 000 kms. The only time I had to fix something was because I put it together wrong after doing maintenance. Relax already. Now I just ride it. Regular oil lube and filter. If she's gonna blow , well so be it. I'm not sure how many bikes have imploaded on this forum but I've only heard of Carver's engine going boom and I think he caused it.

Rob

Go to the Tech weekend at Bikergeeks this weekend. Plenty of very knowledgeable people are going to be there (couple of dicks too). He's near Columbus I think.

FJR engines are not the quietest ones out there. I make sure to have ear plugs in before starting... sounds a whole lot better that way!

SkooterG said:

<snip> An 03 with only 6100 miles? Holy crap!

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...all it takes is a low mile survivor to get Skooter going!

--G