Gday again team. Perhaps I was too excited first time riding my bike, and loving it so much, and too caught up in the other minor problems with it that ive been able to fix (thanks to your guys help)...but.... I noticed the other day that when I started the balius up, almost immediately there was a disturbing rattling sound coming from the engine. It sounds exactly like a chain grinding on metal. 25 seconds or so later it just stopped. I think I can also hear it when im revving her up a little but quite muffled with the helmet on. To be fair its very inconsistent. Ive been reading about cam chain tensioners and cam chains and my symptoms sound like possibly something is loose in there? How much can I expect to pay at a mechanic to have a look and fix the problem? Or is it something that I could venture and do my self? Cheers
Take a video and let us have a listen. I'm not familiar with the balius but maybe have a look at the cam chain tensioner and see how extended it is
could be the cam chain or tensioner if its on the rhs of the engine, but in that case it would be making noise all the time.
Well I the rattling got worse and worse as the days progressed.... So decided to take the cam chain tensioner. It seemed like a couple of the balls on the bearing were very much stuck which could have prevented the tensioner from providing the right tension... Gave them all a clean and regressed everything and it sounds much better now. I have a feeling the cam chain will need replacing soon... It's an older bike with no service history and claims tkto have done 14500kms but itsit's from 94' ha... My ass... Will probably be a mechanic job as I don't trust my self or know where to start with replacing the cam chain
Take a look at the guide in the Yamaha inline 4 forum. The principle is the same, but you should consult the service manual for your bike.
cam chains should last a long time, dont think you should grease the bearing as its lubricated by engine oil.
@zixxer too late. Manual says grease or leave dry. So I went for grease Should last a long time but how long?? I doubt the kms are legit on this 94 balius. What else could explain the engine rattle that got better once I took apart and refurbished the tensioner?
Pull it out again after running engine and see how far extended it is. If it's almost all the way out then your cam chain is stretched. If it's not then it's probably OK but keep an eye on the tensioner. This is running on the assumption your tensioner auto-adjusts.
could be legit k's or could be 114,000. Ive been told different things by people about cam chains some say 30 odd thousand and some 50 plus. the tensioner itself causes noise, its happened to me twice, ive put 35,000 on my zxr and gone through 2 tensioners, both times i swapped them because it was getting noisey and both times it fixed itself up when i changed the tensioner, cam chain is still good. the tensioners do wear aswell, easy to spot as they get visible marks and the bearings degrade. You will hear when the chain is worn as it will clanking like crazy.
@zixxer Sounds about right. Im leaning towards 114000... Anyway tensioner seems to be the problem as after I took it off gave it a clean and fixed the tightening screw which was preventing it from extending the clanking noise went away. Do you happen to know if there are any manual cam chain tensioners avaiable for the zxr? my balius is 94 and from what I know it has the same engine as the zxr. I could just replace it for an automatic one again but would rather a manual. seems like less things could go wrong with a manual one
not sure on the manual tensioner, there is another thread where it was brought up and they do look similar to the zxr tensioners but no answers yet. the ninja 250 manual tensioner looks very similar though.
