Engine knock

[bbbbbb911]

??? Hello group
I have a 1999 1500 nomad with 16,000 miles when I bought it it had been jetted with hyper charger and vance & hines pipes .I run 87 / 91 gas in it never any problems ,never any noise .I was comeing home the other day 60mph temp around 50 degrees when the engine dies.....roll over to shoulder hit start button fires right up ,but now I have a rather loud knocking in the front cyl...oil was good moble 1 synth,no temp light ,no overheat lite ,no real lose of power ...but knocking gets louder with throttle ...now my pipes are loud so to hear this knocking in a helmet and over the pipes is a little scary.I baby it home (4 miles) no real lose of power but the knocking sounds real bad. I changed the oil (900 miles before due) still knocking .I'm new to nomads any help /any ideas?.
Thanks ahead of time ,love this bike love the site .

[ringadingh]

They are normally a very sound engine although a bit clattery. Check if you have the plastic oil gear replaced. If not, perhaps this is what caused you noise. Although if you drove it another four miles I assume it would have seized with no oil pressure. Other than that check the cam chain, if it is stretched and jumped on the sprocket it could be that valves are hitting the piston top.
Check the compression also if the first two don't check out.

[macmac]

DO as Ring says, ck the oil gear!!!! odd the engine cut out and started with a rap.

Next buy a mechanics stethescope and start the engine to run real easy and listen around.

Dampen the rod on the scope so you don't hurt you ears, with a finger. You'll see what I mean.

Listen to bothe sides near things that spin. the crank case covers, the chain galleries, the cam ends, and define where the noise is.

Think about the speed of the noise. In other words is it a rod noise, or is it a cam noise, or perhaps lifter ticks. Listen to the chain take up too on both clys. listen to the spark plug sleeves.

Compare cyl 1 to cly 2.

The tool is around 10 bucks in most any auto parts stores.

Before any of this make sure you have oil pressure!

[bbbbbb911]

:) Thanks guys for the advise, will try those things now ,will post results as soon as I know .Thanks again

[voyager]

Easiest way to check on mechanical problems (serious ones that is ) is to drain the oil, remove the filter and cut the filter open. You can rent a filter cutter or purchase one from any Auto store near you. Look inside the pleats of the filter and if you see metal, then sorry to say, it's bad news. This confirms that your engine is making metal and the root cause needs to be found out, but at least you'll know if it's serious or not. Keep us up to date please.

voyager

[macmac]

I use stethescops. long extensions and other rods to listen.

I can pick out bad rod bearings, by the sound and the timing. On cars you can pull the plug wires and put them back on and when you get to the bad rod it rides for free, and quits makin noises. You know which rod it is them.

You can hear chains, lifters, and related valve train sounds and pin point them.

In this case thar's no tellin yet, but if I could hear this engine I woud know alreay what and where was making this noise..

I just hope there is not a plastic oil gear.... gone to bits....

[Top Cat]

Even though it is a 1999 Nomad, shouldn't the POG be covered under warranty ???

[lomax]

hey TC
As far as I know, Kawasaki USA has never refused to cover the repair on a failed POG. However, they will limit what parts they replace. They will cover the labour to re and re the engine, tear it down and replace the POG. They also will pay for a new set of rings, and necessary gaskets. I think they will also pay to hone the cylinders. But, if the engine was run without oil pressure for any length of time and further damage was done, they will not cover it. Here in Canada, I have heard that they no longer will cover this on warranty at all.

Mike

[macmac]

Kawii might not like it but they have no choice in the USA with law, but to warrenty any plastic oil gears. Of course you can't go riding around and total the engine and still get warrenty.

A few minutes testing won't harm a engine all that bad if the gear is trashed..

The first noises would be the lifters that bled down and the light should stay ON. 8 lifters would set up a fair clatter.. rapid ticking.

[caddman11]

I had a main bearing go bad on a honda, bike died and when restarted it sounded like there was a guy with a hammer in side---no warning, no loss of power, just pounding. Didn't drive it very far before getting it fixed. Naturally you had to replace the whole crank because you couldn't just buy the bearing---hallelujah bearing are findable today.

[schoeney]

I think one of our NW members...RKSAW (Rich) had his POG on his 1999 Nomad replaced under warranty just last year. he might have some insight.

[psychocycle]

If your not the original owner of the bike and not sure if the POG has been replaced I would suggest you go to the dealer with the VIN number or phone Kawasaki directly. They can run your VIN and let you know if the POG has been replaced under warranty. If it has not been replaced, I would suggest you get he bike in to the dealer (do not ride it there) and let them diagnose it, sure sounds like the POG to me. The only strange thing here is that your oil light should have come on as soon as the POG failed, so it mat be something else.

[coacha]

I had my POG replaced by Kawa back in Dec of 08. Normally they only cover the parts that are POG replacement related, any other damage will be on you. In my case, the dealer did everything on their dime, including rings. It is what they call a FAS, factory authorized service, and your dealership may have to call MaKaw to see if they will cover it.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

Do the newer bikes still use the plastic? I just never did like plastic in any engine. Once owned a 1970 GTO and the timing chain used plastic in it. Someone told me that at about 60,000 miles it would go out. Sure enough once I got to somewhere around 60,000 it jumped time. When I replaced it I put an all metal timing chain back and had no more problems.

[ndbigfish]

Gene,
The POG was replaced after '99' in the Nomads. Judge's steel replacement gear is an easy fix. When I replaced my POG at 19,000 miles it was pretty worn.