Rocker arm play

[HarveyMushman]

I just did my valves; it hasn't been 6k miles since the last adjustment but I tried to adjust 'em on the loose side last time and I think I did 'em too loose. They were pretty noisy. So that's fixed now but I noticed three of the rocker arms (both on the left side, the exhaust rocker on the right side) had significantly more play than the last time I was in there. Previously, they've been quite snug, with just a little "wiggle" when at TDC.

Is this a problem? Do they need to be adjusted? If so, how? I'm thinking that some of the noisiness I've been hearing can be attributed in part to the loose rockers and not entirely to the loose valve clearances.

 

[bmwterrien]

Tim-

On the Adventurer Riders site there is OVAD; overhead valve adjustment for dummies. Hey, your NOT a dummy!

I'm guessing any questions about valve adj would be answered there.

Good luck.

Steve

 

[kbasa]

I've never adjusted for end play, though on airheads, I used to by carefully retorqueing the heads and squeezing the rocker end blocks together.

 

[ROYBARNES]

Rocker arme play

I had a knock in the head of my bike and took it to a dealer and they adjusted the the fuel injector butter fly and it seamed to fix it for about five miles. I later checked the end play of the rocker arm and found it at .012 inches which of max by the book. If it is over about .008" it will make noise when at full temp. You can reduce the clearance down to about .0015" when cold. To do this you have to loosen one head bolt and some suport bolts. Retighten the head bolt is a scary part as it is a stretch bolt and is tighten buy the turn of the nut. When the clearance is reduce it will be nice and quite. There are instruction out ther on how to do this . Happy wenching and may God bless.

 

[bmwmick]

Tim (or is it Steve)?

Go here http://www.ibmwr.org/r-tech/oilheads/valves.shtml
and page down to Rocker Arm Adjust. This will quiet your rocker arms if they are the culprit.

Mick

 

[HarveyMushman]

Tim (or is it Steve)?

Go here http://www.ibmwr.org/r-tech/oilheads/valves.shtml
and page down to Rocker Arm Adjust. This will quiet your rocker arms if they are the culprit.

Yep, I have that guide. Thanks.

I pulled the left valve cover off this evening and found everything snug. My smallest feeler gauge (0.127mm) was way too big. I don't see how any feeler would fit under the rocker. Maybe I was doing something wrong. Do you have to loosen the bolts before checking the gap? I didn't touch any bolts.

Anyway, as things stand now I don't think my rockers are loose. But something is making a lot of noise, especially on the left side and especially when the bike is fully up to temp.

Interestingly, this evening the rockers were not obviously loose like they were last weekend when I last had the cover off. I wish I had known to check for end play last weekend. Bugger. But why are they different now?

Ugh.

 

[bmwmick]

Tim,
You should only need to lift up gently on the rocker arm (to compress the oil) and slip the feeler gauge under the rocker arm. If you can't get a .127mm in there, it shouldn't be making too much noise. I just checked and that's about .005" I always use .0015" as the cold clearance.
There 'could' be a problem with the cam chain tensioner on the left side. If it is not holding pressure when the oil is hot, it could make some noise.

Mick

 

[yellowmike]

Mick is correct when he stated that the cam chain tensioner might also be part of the noise problem... I fought valve noise for a year, adjusted and readjusted the valves and the run out on the lifters and non of this helped. I finally asked a R11 GS rider at one of the National Rallys and he told me to replace the cam chain tensioners... Problem solved!!!

 

[HarveyMushman]

Update

I'm fairly certain my problem involves the cam chain tensioners. A friend and fellow oilhead owner suggested I try running heavier oil, since the tensioners reside on a low-pressure, high-volume oil circuit and can be effected by changes in oil viscosity. So I drained the Castrol Syntec 10W40 that was in there and replaced it with BMW's 15W50 synthetic oil.

Things are definitely quieter, but the noise is still there. I got it up to 6 bars in traffic yesterday and it was clattering away like mad. I know these bikes clatter when they're hot but I think mine is making more noise than normal.

I'm going to take it to a dealer soon.