ticking noise in my exhaust valve when idling

[zumanity]

the motor (lifan 125) has developed a ticking sound while idling.
i have checked out the how to check valve clearances vid and am confident i can do that.
is there anything else i should check while i suss the valves and what would cause this ticking sound?

thanks guys

 

[red_demon24]

the ticking is because the valve is loose so it needs a bit of a tightening.
do you have feeler guages and do you know what the clearance is?

 

[zumanity]

i have the feeler gauges i just dont know what the inlet/ exhaust clearance is for the 125.
any advice on that would be great

 

[Andy*08]

if the valve was loose it would have fucked up when u ride it so it wouldent be that, wher abouts in the exhaust is the noise comin from

 

[zumanity]

hi andy.
the noise is coming from directly behind the exhaust valve cover.
ie, the round cover nearest the exhaust pipe.

 

[Cactus Jack]

IF there is excessive rocker arm to valve stem clearance it'll make a ticking sound all right ...... but it won't hurt anything unless you leave it like that for a fair while and thrash the engine .......

What happens is the end of the valve stem gets "micro jack hammered" .... That causes the clearance to increase even more and can flare the end of the valve stem ... which makes it hard to get out when you go to rebuild the motor .....

 

[zumanity]

well i am going to check the valve clearances on saturday.
hopefully they wont be too bad as im going riding on sunday.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Adjusting valve clearances is childs play as far as horizontal engines are concerned ...... Just do it with the piston at TDC on the power stroke ie "T" mark on flywheel aligned with the index mark (notch) on the LHS case and the mark on the cam sprocket facing towards the front of the bike ..... at which point both valves will be closed and both rockers should have slight movement when checked by hand ..

Incidentally , rocker arms are also known as "tappets" .... named after the obvious tapping sound they make .....

 

[zumanity]

thanks for that cactus jack.
from what ive read on here the best settings are 3 thou for inlet and 5 thou for exhaust is this correct?

 

[Cactus Jack]

Yes for horizontal motors .....

 

[zumanity]

well i have checked the valve clearances and the inlet was about 2 thou and the exhaust was about 3 and a half to 4 thou.
ive opened them up to 3 in, 5 out and the bike starts first kick no problem but the ticking sound is still there.
any ideas guys?

it has fresh oil in the motor but when i dumped the old oil i noticed it was very black.
i just hope this didnt cause any probs inside the engine.
i just have to check it more often.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Great !!! It never hurts to check the valve clearances .... I visited my younger brother yesterday and he has a DHZ (120 Loncin) which he has never checked the valves on since buying the bike a few years ago ...... so we decided to give them a check .

Amazingly the exhaust clearance was STILL OK ... But the inlet valve was so tight that you could turn the flywheel by hand and feel NO compression whatsoever ...... LOL . It's a wonder the thing ran at all but he reckoned it was going great ...... Anyway , I showed him how to do the valves and the compression increased by heaps after the clearances were redone ... He took the bike for a spin and you could see by the look of surprise on his face that it was going heaps better ......

In your case it might be an exhaust flange leak or worst case scenario ... a head gasket leak (both make a tic , tic sound) . Does the tick , tick sound get louder when the engine is under load in a taller gear at low revs while you're riding ??

If not , then I'd say you haven't got anything bad to worry about .... until it starts ..... tick , tocking ...

 

[Rider01]

Where and how do you check or adjust your valve clearences??

 

[Cactus Jack]

Where and how do you check or adjust your valve clearences??

The valves are adjusted by removing the small covers on the top and underside of the head .... near the intake manifold and exhaust pipe ... some are screw in and some are bolt on ...... CLEAN the head around the caps before removing them and wrap plastic or cotton sheet around from the under side of the frame to over the tank to prevent dirt and crap from dropping into the head ....

Bring the piston to TDC on the power stroke ..... by turning the flywheel counter clockwise . Watch the inlet rocker arm go down , then come back up . Keep on rotating 'til the "T" mark lines up with the case notch .... and ding you are at TDC on the power stroke

IF a rocker is tight or the clearance is wrong ... loosen the 9 mm hex head nut on the end of the rocker arm and turn the adjuster screw .... clockwise to reduce clearance or the opposite way to increase clearance . Then with a feeler gauge between the valve stem and adjuster screw .... lightly tighten it until you get a slight feel while sliding the feeler gauge in the gap ...... and when it feels right , tighten the 9 mm nut ......

Keep the "T" mark on the flywheel close to the notch when checking with the feeler gauge .......