i have a 2001 F4i with 18,000 miles on it and i am not really familiar with this type of engine (4-Stroke DOHC) as i deal with 2-strokes. well there is a few noises coming from the enige.. when i rev the engine from idle very quickly to about 4 or 5,000 it sounds like the cam chain is grinding the side of the case. its not very loud and the power isnt effected it, all of the power is there. any help???

[IMG]local://upfiles/9828/27C4E45017764D4EB148B5C93DA1CE70.jpg[/IMG]

 

cam chain tensioner?

 

is it somthing i should worry about??

 

Cam chain tensioners are designed so that when slack occurs in the chain, the tensioner tightens and won't loosen without removal. It is possible that the tensioner has simply bound up and doesn't self adjust anymore. On anoother note, cam chains can stretch rapidly if the bike is often accelerated and released quickly under load often (blipping the throttle while riding down the road). You might have a stretched cam chain. Or perhaps someone has installed an aftermarket manual cam chain tensioner that needs to be periodically tightened by hand.

 

well if the chain was lose wouldnt that effect the timing thus not run right??

 

yea...but if it does jump timing...you will know cause it will run like crap...in fact, probably won't want to run at all.

the stock cctl just rattles and makes a lot of noise over time because the design is just horrible. basically you have too many 'part', as opposed to the APE, but the good thing is that in about 99.9% of the time, it's just making noise but it's still applying enough tension to the cam chain.

basically, you have the cctl body, the shaft and the tip...the area where the tip connects to the shaft rattles because of play in the area...you can get rid of this easy by flaring the pin that holds the tip to shaft...the other area of sound is from the shaft. there's some play between the shaft and cctl body...so that makes more noise there...

most of the casese i've come across, just flaring the pin eliminates the noise, but some guys here are still getting some noise, which i think is coming from the shaft. if hond would just fix this, by making tip and shaft 1 solid piece, and then maybe an o-ring between shaft and cctl body, then the noise should be gone! why don't they? dunno, i'm not an engineer...

 

I think my CCT is going as well, I looked it up in the manual but it's very vague on how to replace it. Can anyone give me instructions on how to replace it (I have tools) or should I take it to a shop ?

 

you looked at the service manual right? it's pretty specific from my experience. you can take it to the shop but they will not do it any different than the manual, which you can do yourself...but they will probably be faster doing it and at times, they may even cheese out on some steps...

remove the fairings, loosen front tank bolts, remove rear tank bolts, prop it, get enough room with extentions to get to the cctl, take out the tiny small bolt at the rear of the cctl, remove it, put in the new one with new gasket, tighten to spec, pull the pin at the rear of the cctl, install bolt and new washer and you're done.

also check the cctl mod, i'd flare the tip pin before installing the new one.

 

I just changed out my CCT about two years ago, but have only had about a year's riding time on it (stored for a year). I too recently started to experience the familiar rattle, but I know the CCT is still good. What I did was put my bike up on both stands and thoroughly clean my chain with a can of Bel Rey lube (works wonders in cutting the grime that accumulated on the chain), a clean rag, and a lot of elbow grease. Sprayed some more lube on after it was all cleaned and I swear the bike's been quieter. I agree with Tahoe...if your CCT was crapped out, the bike wouldn't function well, if at all. I do a lot of stop and go, lane splitting riding in L.A., and I'm always blipping the throttle to get out of jams, so I suspect my CCT will start whining quicker than if my mileage was mostly light traffic freeway riding.

Your CCT probably just needs to be changed, you might have a manual one that requires periodic tightening, or you'll probably just have to clean your chain up a bit. I always like to try the little things first before I get into the more serious aspects of maintenance. Good luck with yours.

 

Tahoe SC
I found CCT removal/install in the the CYLINDER HEAD/VALVE section (some how I missed it the first time I looked [sm=headbang.gif]) but it says I need a "stopper tool" and I have to remove the throttle bodies. Are these steps necessary in your experience or are they overkill ? The rest seems almost too easy. Is it a good idea to check the cam chain guide while I'm there ? What's the liklihood of it needing replacement as well ? The reason I ask is I'd like to have one in my hand ready to go rather than stop and have to order one then wait for it to come in. The bike has 12,900 miles and the noise just started getting really noticeable about a week ago. And finally, if it turns out to be a manual CCT how are they adjusted ?

stephygee
I'm pretty sure it's the CCT because the bike only makes the noise, any unusual noise for that matter, when accelerating hard from a stop up to 5000-5500 RPM after that it quietens down considerably or when cruising between 4000 and 5000 it's a (constant electric mixer) sound.