TT600R - loud ticking noice from cilinder head
 

A few days ago i posted a question for adjusting my decompression cable, i seemed a bit too loose and i wanted to adjust this. I noticed this while i was checking the valve clearance.

My TT600R is from 2003 and has done about 45000km in the last 8.5 months down form Alaska.

Well. about the valve clearance: Both right -side (exhaust side) exhaust AND inlet valve were without any play. I adjusted that and after starting it (difficult, as for a while now) there was a severe "ticking" sound. Normally you hear the valves ratling a bit but this was new to me.

After let it cool down i rechecked the valve clearance (outlet 0.15mm, inlet 0.08) which is well withing spec.

This morning i started it again and the loud ticking is still there...

So, what can be the problem? Which checks can i perform to diagnose the problem? Do i face a top end rebuild? Oil consumption is about 1ltr on 3000 km. I rode with other bike travelers a week ago and i didn't got complaints about smoking, except when engine is cold and using the choke.

Am in Copán, Honduras. Not many services around here. Nice place to hang around though.

Any tips/advise etc. are welcome!

cheers,
sander

I must confess I a not the best for engine diagnostics
, and I do not know how the decompressor functions on the XT, but it sounds to me like this is due to the decompressor cable being badly adjusted.

Did you know the cable was loose or was this a guess. I mean did you compare play with manual recommended freeplay and adjust it accordingly?

I am speculating, but I would start by backing of the decompressor cable so that there is a bit more free play, so you know it is not affecting the valves when the lever is not being used.... See if things improve

If at all possible, I would do a compression test, now and once you have adjusted the cable again: see if there is a difference in readings and if they are both within tolreances...

If I'm way off, I'm sure XT Xperts will be along to sort you out soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest!!

HTH & good luck

The decompression cable should have 1-2mm play, or 0,5-1mm depending which site youre looking at. Anyway, it was a bit more than 2 mm.
It's a TT600R, with basically the same engine as the XT600, lots of parts are interchangeable, but mine has no Estart, and a deco mechanism, and an XT has an Estart, without deco mechanism. Just as a TT600RE.

I will take your advise to loosen the cable.

Thanks!
sander

TT, not XT, sorry didn't look carefully: only the forum title!

Loosen it, re-check the valve clearances, and start it to see if there is a ticking noise.

If its really hard to kick over then perhaps the cable is too loose, but if you can start it after rechecking everything above and the noise is gone, then you know it was temporarily caused by the cable being too tight...

Good luck

....and thats exactly what happened. Decocable too tight. In my effort to keep it nicely in spec i thightened it too much. Without fully understanding the mechanism.

Loosend it to about 5mm play and it seems that all is well. After loosening the cable, valveclearance was too much, ofcourse so needed to adjust that. Engine sounds much better now, starting is easier too. Hope no permanent damage was done.

I'm a bad mechanic: it seems that 90% of all bike problems i have had so far eventually lead back to something i did wrong in the first place!

:hammer:

Ow well, maybe i should have kept my 1200GS and go to bmwdealers, instead of taking a TTR.

Still not sure where it went wrong though. Need to give i bit more thought.


Thanks for all support,
Sander

Welcome to my world!!!:blushing: