front cylinder tappy sound when hot

[Youngwarrior]

Hi I've been on here before talking about my noisy 99 nomad, and told things in the order of they are a chattery/noisy motor, get on it and ride it.
Long story short, I don't believe it is a normal sound. It appears to be coming from front cylinder and fluctuates with rpm. It only makes the sound when it is hot. Any ideas what this could be? Any process I can take to diagnose it further?

[DragonLady58]

Probably be the extenders need installing, chain hitting the tube, or a lifter not pumping up correctly....

[Youngwarrior]

I've put tensioner extenders in. if a lifter, is this something I need to address urgently, in your opinion?

[DragonLady58]

Sometimes they'll quieten down after getting hot, clean your oil passages and all with either some seafoam.....yes, you can use it in your oil,too! Just read directions before trying it. Also, you can use Risilone oil additive. Think of it like thinner and cleaner for the oil....use it sparingly, its a good powerful tool!
Usually when a lifter starts acting up, since they are super high precision pieces, I just replace when not at 100%....

[MAS Tequila]

If it is an HLA, it would be like riding a bike that requires manually adjusting the valve clearances without adjusting them.

It will make a bunch of noise for a very long time.

Eventually after getting louder than you can imagine, and hurting performance, since the valve is no longer opening fully, it could cause some damage.

I have one in my Nomad that take a couple of minutes to pump up.

It will stay like that until I get the new engine ready to go in.

I haven't even decided what is going to go in, let alone started working on it yet.

[Spondulas]

Only making the noise when it is hot makes me wonder if your oil might be thinning out. Have you tried using a slightly thicker oil to see if the noise is reduced or goes away?

These motors are very noisy even when they are healthy!

[Jllm02199]

I had that problem when I was running 20w50. When I switched to 10w40 mobile One. The problem fixed after a few miles. You can also try some additives. A couple ounces of Seafoam may help.

[roadking0678]

+1 for seafoam, add it to your oil and do a 100 or so miles then change your oil and filter. It will help clean out all your oil passages.

Also add some to your gas And do a hot soak on your top end. This will breakup any carbon build up.

[Youngwarrior]

Originally Posted by DragonLady58

Sometimes they'll quieten down after getting hot, clean your oil passages and all with either some seafoam.....yes, you can use it in your oil,too! Just read directions before trying it. Also, you can use Risilone oil additive. Think of it like thinner and cleaner for the oil....use it sparingly, its a good powerful tool!
Usually when a lifter starts acting up, since they are super high precision pieces, I just replace when not at 100%....

My seafoam arrived today! I'll try that before I tear down.
Not sure what lifters are worth where you are but they are $60 each here. will see how I go.

[Youngwarrior]

Originally Posted by MAS Tequila

If it is an HLA, it would be like riding a bike that requires manually adjusting the valve clearances without adjusting them.

It will make a bunch of noise for a very long time.

Eventually after getting louder than you can imagine, and hurting performance, since the valve is no longer opening fully, it could cause some damage.

I have one in my Nomad that take a couple of minutes to pump up.

It will stay like that until I get the new engine ready to go in.

I haven't even decided what is going to go in, let alone started working on it yet.

In my opinion it has gotten quite loud. not sure about performance, before I stopped riding it I was nursing it. Winding up abit when I get paranoid, but seemed ok performance wise.

[Youngwarrior]

Originally Posted by Spondulas

Only making the noise when it is hot makes me wonder if your oil might be thinning out. Have you tried using a slightly thicker oil to see if the noise is reduced or goes away?

These motors are very noisy even when they are healthy!

Oil hasn't done 4000kms yet. It has evolved to at times make the noise at startup. Also has not been wanting to start, even when warm. THis has been the most worrying as it has always been a good starter.

[Youngwarrior]

Originally Posted by Jllm02199

I had that problem when I was running 20w50. When I switched to 10w40 mobile One. The problem fixed after a few miles. You can also try some additives. A couple ounces of Seafoam may help.

I have thought about running thicker oil. I use 10w40 semi synthetic. I thought the numbers were a temperature reference... was thinking of going the other way, 20w50??? just got some seafoam in mail today.

[Youngwarrior]

Originally Posted by roadking0678

+1 for seafoam, add it to your oil and do a 100 or so miles then change your oil and filter. It will help clean out all your oil passages.

Also add some to your gas And do a hot soak on your top end. This will breakup any carbon build up.

100miles??? I been told 10 in the past. I think I will definately try this in reference to oil passages. My issue with it is I don't want to run it with seafoam, for 100miles, change oil. and it doesn't fix problem and I have to tear down and waste $60 of oil.

what is a 'hot soak' of top end?

[MAS Tequila]

A couple of things;

You don't need $60 worth of oil, get high mileage or diesel oil as long as it doesn't have 'energy conserving' or 'resource conserving' in the lower half circle on the back.

Next, they ARE NOT lifters.

The 1500/1600 engines are overhead cam engines and DO NOT have lifters.

They are lash adjusters, they take up the slack where you would normally have to manually adjust your valves.

Where are you located?

You may be close to someone who could offer some help.

Put 3-4 ounces of the SeaFoam in the crank and let it idle for 10-15 minutes, if it doesn't change, take it for a ride.

And for God's sake, bounce the thing off the rev limiter a few times.

Nursing these engines is definitely not good for their long term health.

After it's warmed up run it out, all the way out until the rev limiter kicks, you will know when it does, in a couple of gears several times.

I'll bet that it will help.

[Youngwarrior]

Originally Posted by MAS Tequila

A couple of things;

You don't need $60 worth of oil, get high mileage or diesel oil as long as it doesn't have 'energy conserving' or 'resource conserving' in the lower half circle on the back.

Next, they ARE NOT lifters.

The 1500/1600 engines are overhead cam engines and DO NOT have lifters.

They are lash adjusters, they take up the slack where you would normally have to manually adjust your valves.

Where are you located?

You may be close to someone who could offer some help.

Put 3-4 ounces of the SeaFoam in the crank and let it idle for 10-15 minutes, if it doesn't change, take it for a ride.

And for God's sake, bounce the thing off the rev limiter a few times.

Nursing these engines is definitely not good for their long term health.

After it's warmed up run it out, all the way out until the rev limiter kicks, you will know when it does, in a couple of gears several times.

I'll bet that it will help.

I'm in Australia, oil will cost me $50-60. In the past I have sought help about oils, given examples of diesel oils etc. and got slammed for it. Doesn't matter, I'm thinking of going full synthetic (based on recommendations) and I'll just have to take the hit with the money.

Sorry, I said the wrong thing HLA's not lifters. My mistake, but there are lots of terminologies thrown around (when you're seeking help to a problem you know nothing about) for the same part.

We don't deal with oz over here. The can is 16FL OZ (or 473ml). I assume you mean FL OZ, so 1/4 of a can, I'll put 118ml in. ..and follow the procedure you explained.

Will see how it goes.
Thanks