RPEker Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Good afternoon all, long time member but first time posting anything to this forum. I previously owned a 2006 VFR800 and loved it but life got in the way and it was sold to the next owner back in 2018. Fast forward 4 years and I acquired this 2003 VFR800 w/18k miles for a steal... because of this semi-sporadic noise in the engine: I replaced both the copper exhaust gaskets at the head as well as the silver collar gaskets in the mid-pipe area, then I followed the directions for rewinding/servicing the CCT but the noise is obviously still there. (Towards the end of the video you will see a little smoke from oily hands on the exhaust pipes, this is not coming from the engine.) Any suggestions on things to inspect or try before I go down the long road of sourcing a good used engine to swap in? Overall the bike is in really good shape for being 20 years old and was garage kept nearly all of its life. The only mechanical modifications are a Staintune slip-on exhaust, everything else is cosmetic. Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted August 25, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted August 25, 2022 Well if it is the CCT's it's about the worst I've heard. Does it appear to come from the head area of either front or rear cylinders or both? Does the sound disappear when the engine is revved? Rewinding or retensioning the CCT is not successful long term. Can only suggest first off is to fit new oem CCT's and see how that goes. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Knute Posted August 25, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted August 25, 2022 Wonder if there's any chance it might be the clutch? Try pulling the clutch lever in to hear if there's any change. Probably a long shot, but worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPEker Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 12 hours ago, Grum said: Well if it is the CCT's it's about the worst I've heard. Does it appear to come from the head area of either front or rear cylinders or both? Does the sound disappear when the egine is revved? Rewinding or retensioning the CCT is not successful long term. Can only suggest first off is to fit new oem CCT's and see how that goes. Good luck. I lifted the tank and pulled the airbox to get a better listen and now I believe it is coming from the mid-engine area between the front and rear cylinder banks. I also noticed that a previous owner installed a manual CCT on the front bank, I loosened the jam nut and played around with the tension and while the low pitch clackety sound changed with adjusting the CCT, the higher pitch metallic ticking sound did not change. The sound follows the engine RPMs when I rev the bike so that would make me believe its something in the timing chain system. Perhaps the timing jumped when the manual CCT was installed or a valve on the RH side is way out at only 18k miles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPEker Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 11 hours ago, Knute said: Wonder if there's any chance it might be the clutch? Try pulling the clutch lever in to hear if there's any change. Probably a long shot, but worth a try. I started the bike and pulled in the clutch with no difference in the noise 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweeper Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 The caps on the cam chain tensioner are prone to falling off during installation. Possible the PO had an issue with the install? That is really loud compared to normal cam chain noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPEker Posted August 27, 2022 Author Share Posted August 27, 2022 18 hours ago, Sweeper said: The caps on the cam chain tensioner are prone to falling off during installation. Possible the PO had an issue with the install? That is really loud compared to normal cam chain noise. I ordered a borescope inspection camera so I can have a better look around inside the motor. If I dont see anything too wrong I might try ordering a OEM CCT for the front so I can have the motor back to the stock parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apscurrah Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 How did you go? Please tell us the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer ShipFixer Posted December 2, 2022 Member Contributer Share Posted December 2, 2022 Yikes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPEker Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 On 12/2/2022 at 5:29 PM, ShipFixer said: Yikes... On 12/2/2022 at 4:01 PM, apscurrah said: How did you go? Please tell us the outcome. I was never able to figure out what that noise was, I drained the warm oil and there were tons of sparkly metal particles in the motor so it was toast as far as I am concerned. I was able to source another donor motor from a 2006 with only 14k miles and just got it installed and started this past weekend. I still need to assemble a few more things and install the new chain but the bike should be healthy and on the road again within a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted January 16, 2023 Member Contributer Share Posted January 16, 2023 Since the noise was timed with crank speed its more likely related to piston rod crank than CCT... To test the rod knock theory set the engine at high idle and remove one spark plug wire at a time... if the noise stops then that's the cylinder with the bad rod... if noise continues after each spark plug wires were removed then the noise is something other than a rod knock because a rod will not produce a knock by just turning over the piston... it takes the spark of combustion to produce a sharp metallic sound... Motorcycle troubleshooting is a form of problem solving... It is a logical search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved... it ain't about jumping to the first thing one can think of... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer bmart Posted January 16, 2023 Member Contributer Share Posted January 16, 2023 48 minutes ago, BusyLittleShop said: Motorcycle troubleshooting is a form of problem solving... It is a logical search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved I generally just suggest that people hide a Honda sticker on their non-Hondas...and problems seem to solve themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Sorry to hear you had to source another engine for your VFR. FWIW, my old 6th gen. had a bad CCT, and it did not sound like that. Mine was more of a clickety-clack sound, which would increase in speed slightly as I opened the throttle, but disappeared once the throttle was opened a little more. Good luck getting the bike back to 100% soon! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPEker Posted January 29, 2023 Author Share Posted January 29, 2023 On 1/17/2023 at 10:31 AM, TimC said: Sorry to hear you had to source another engine for your VFR. FWIW, my old 6th gen. had a bad CCT, and it did not sound like that. Mine was more of a clickety-clack sound, which would increase in speed slightly as I opened the throttle, but disappeared once the throttle was opened a little more. Good luck getting the bike back to 100% soon! 🙂 Thanks man, I should have the bike back on the road soon. I had to order a new chain, which just came in, but I am still waiting on the battery cover and the plastic clips for the middle front fairing piece before I am ready for a good bath and shake down run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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