Ticking noise from engine

[flocoshel]

Hi guys i noticed there is a ticking noise as soon as i start the engine and while riding :cry: the mechanic said it is the valve clearance that is too high... :??: Have u guys had this problem before? Could you guys give me some technical advice about how to fix that and what sort of tools i would need. Im thinking about doing it at home in my garage...

Cheers!

Flocoshel

[blaine]

DOES NOT SOUND RIGHT AS THE VALVES TIGHTEN WITH USE«

[burkbuilds]

Except, I had a stem nut come loose on my GZ and it started ticking, took it straight to the shop and the mechanic even had to replace the stem because it was stripped out, so it could be. I stood there and watched him do the work so I know he wasn't putting one over on me.

You can certainly do the valve adjustment if you are fairly mechanically inclined. You will need a special little tool from the Suzuki dealer that holds the stem from moving while you turn the nut to tighten it. I think there's a picture of it in the manual on this site's home page, but basically it's a little shaft with a square hole in the end that fits over the valve stem and it has a "knob" at the top for you to hold while you tighten the nut up. Other than that, you'll need some feeler guages, readily available at the local auto supply house and some metric wrenches, I can't remember for sure but I'm thinking the stem nut is about 8mm, anybody know for sure? I think the directions for how to adjust everything is pretty well spelled out in the manual and the GZ's a pretty good one to learn on since it just has one cylinder you don't have to mess around with getting two pistons to TDC when doing the work. I think there are a couple of threads on here with pictures too, you might search for that.

[bonehead]

8mm offset box end wrench.

[Easy Rider]

DOES NOT SOUND RIGHT AS THE VALVES TIGHTEN WITH USE«

Another blanket statement that is not always right.
It depends on which parts wear faster whether they go tight or loose.

The ticking usually means loose and it should NOT cause any (immediate) problem.
Mine had a pronounced tick when new that was worse when hot.....and lasted about the first thousand miles or so.....and then gradually went away.

[blaine]

The valves got tighter thats why noise went away after thousand miles.

[Easy Rider]

The valves got tighter thats why noise went away after thousand miles.

Very well could be.....but that is not what ALWAYS happens.
When my Shadow was last checked, 3 of 4 were loose.

[JWR]

Shim under bucket vs top adjustment???

[frempath]

This probably isn't it, but how old is your oil? Some engines develop a ticking when the oil gets old and thin. When the oil is changed the ticking goes away.

Just a thought.

[flocoshel]

Thanks for the advice guys!
The bike is a year 2000 and its got 46k on the tacho so it couldnt be the 1000 kms break in noise... the funniest thing about this whole issue is that when i got it the idiot didnt have hardly any oil in it but it didnt make any noises as soon as i changed the oil and put some 10w50 (apparently its best for australia cuz its hot most the time) the ticking noises started....

cheers

Flo

[Easy Rider]

Shim under bucket vs top adjustment???

They are "conventional" screw and nut adjustment.