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CAM CHEST CLANK on 96 TWIN CAM

  • ddreed
    ddreed
    5 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
    speedzter
    5 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
    ddreed
    5 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
    Ken in Cairns
    5 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
    speedzter
    5 years ago
    I find it easiest to just unplug the connector to the coil.

  • ddreed
    ddreed
    5 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
    brucefxdl
    5 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
    ddreed
    5 years ago
    thanks guys. I think I might get a 2nd opinion before going any further.
  • ddreed
    ddreed
    5 years ago
    sorry, make that first hand 2nd opinion... I'm ok at some things, but diagnosis is not one of them.
  • Nutty
    Nutty
    5 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
    robots
    5 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
    KiwiRob
    5 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
    Grease Monkey
    5 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
    ddreed
    5 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
    ddreed
    5 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
    KiwiRob
    5 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
    Grease Monkey
    5 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
    ddreed
    5 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
    Grease Monkey
    5 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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