rocker box noise update

[1hd1egl]

Well after all the input I tried what frankys free suggested and lo and behold there was signs of the rockerarm hitting the cover I ground out a little bit put it back together and damn its still there.but only after bike warms up and only at 2-2500 rpms.Now I am confused if it was a rockerarm hitting the cover wouldnt it be throughout the rpm range not just at the specific 2000-2500?Also it doesnt seem to making sound when I am on the throttle which is cool but eventually I have to back out,Dont mean to be a pain in the butt,butI need help man seriously i need help

[yomomma]

1hd1egl,

I've had the same noise going on for almost 3 years. This past weekend it got worse and after a few beers I pulled the motor out again and I am trying to find this problem once and for all.

The sound seems like it comes from the front rocker box just like you said. Over the years I have inspected the rocker clearances per the manual a few times but I don't see what is causing this. I've tried 3 different types of push rods and have shortened the tubes, but the sound NEVER changes. I even changed the compensator and chain thinking it might be coming from the primary, but still nothing.

This weekend I checked the end play on the crank and the TIR at both ends but, all is within 0.0035 inch.

So now I think I'll install a set of roller rockers and SE push rods and try it again cause I am stumped too.

Once it is running again I'll check the oil pressure.

I don't know if this helps but it what I got for you for now. Oh, I got a 98 RK EVO with SE heads and EV27 cam. What are you running?

[nmaineron]

I run the EV27 and I had to cut down my pushrod tubes because the rods were hitting.

[ktwillys]

what valve springs are you running...
if the valve spring is to light it will allow the valve to "bounce" on the seat.
When the cam has a fast ramp the lifter may not be able to stay on the cam lobe if the spring is not strong enough and this is something that is very RPM dependant.

just a thought for you guys...

[gsxrboy96]

I dont know if this will help you guys or not, but i have chased a noise problem in my flht ALL YEAR! ......and it comes from the rocker boxes, it started out with a ev27, it was noisy, but wasnt enough cam for 10 to 1 compression, i was running, sooooo, i bought a woods w6, extremely noisy rocker box now, so i change, lifters, lifter blocks, pushrods twice, roller rockers, valve springs, check for clearance problems on the box itself and nothing has changed this...at all, so i bought a vthunder 3030 camshaft, tried it, much quieter,but still noisey for my taste,so for shits and grins this weekend, stuck stock cam back in...whisper quiet, So most people arent gonna agree with me, but if you change your camshaft, be prepared for some type of noise, with more lift and a aggressive opening ramp on these cams, thats what ur gonna get, plain and simple, and 9 times out of 10, people complain about the front exhaust, well it has the worst angle of all valves. just my two cents.

[Len]

The easy fix is louder pipes, or turn up the radio if ya have one!!!

[Dave63]

Same here........I went with .495 lift cam, and although considered a "bolt in" and not in the "excess noise" catagory, I've been changing a noise since.

I narrowed it down to the SE pushrods I installed. Instructions say 2.5 turns. Until I lengthened them to 4 turns for the exhaust valves and 3.75 for the intakes, it wasn't until then, they stopped making noise.

I replaced the lifters with B lifters, and did everything by the book......except for the pushrod recommended adjustment.

[rob71458]

Roller rockers typically make more noise too.

[1hd1egl]

i used new stock springs like i said stock everything except cam.there has to be an answer i am going to buy a stethascope soon as i figure out where the hell you buy them and figure this out.im worried about bending a valve or some other disaster just wanna ride and it is starting to cool off here cant accept this.my radio wont go loud enough

[nmaineron]

cams are going to noisier,just the nature of the beast.The best thing you can do is use the stock cam gear on the new cam and set your shim for as tight as you can .010 is a good fit.I found that I could tighten it up quite abit after I had run it for a while.

As cams go ,I found the 27 to be on the quiet side,compared to an EV3 or some of the early grinds for the EVO in that bolt in class.

I mentioned in an earlier post about the pushrod tubes.I have the Revtec rods which are quite fat at the bottom and they were hitting the inner sleeve which made a racket.These changes made a big difference for me.

[gsxrboy96]

Originally Posted by 1hd1egl

i used new stock springs like i said stock everything except cam.there has to be an answer i am going to buy a stethascope soon as i figure out where the hell you buy them and figure this out.im worried about bending a valve or some other disaster just wanna ride and it is starting to cool off here cant accept this.my radio wont go loud enough

Your not gonna bend a valve...or hurt it, ride it, , they all make noise, some come, some go, if it really bothers you that bad, put a stock cam back in it.

[RKJohn]

Guys, i chased a noise in my 1998 RK for a year or more and finnally found it in the lower section of the rocker box's. The ex. valve springs were hitting the section that sits on top of the head. I noticed in good light that the top coil of the spring was bumping an irregularity in the casting so i used a dremel tool to round out the pocket. Hold up that center peice of the rocker box's and look where the ex valve spring runs. One clue is the top of the spring and retainer will have shiney spots on it.
My noise went away after this modification. It was bad casting clean up from the moco
John

[1hd1egl]

the noise does bother me but not bad enough not to ride it.I have 900 miles on the new top end i am going to try what rkjohn sugeested then i am going ridin if something breaks then i will know what it was i will fix it and then ride on.I do appreciate all the help fellas will let yall know what the results are.Sorry it takes me so long to reply no puter in the field only when i get home

[rredneckn2]

Originally Posted by gsxrboy96

I dont know if this will help you guys or not, but i have chased a noise problem in my flht ALL YEAR! ......and it comes from the rocker boxes, it started out with a ev27, it was noisy, but wasnt enough cam for 10 to 1 compression, i was running, sooooo, i bought a woods w6, extremely noisy rocker box now, so i change, lifters, lifter blocks, pushrods twice, roller rockers, valve springs, check for clearance problems on the box itself and nothing has changed this...at all, so i bought a vthunder 3030 camshaft, tried it, much quieter,but still noisey for my taste,so for shits and grins this weekend, stuck stock cam back in...whisper quiet, So most people arent gonna agree with me, but if you change your camshaft, be prepared for some type of noise, with more lift and a aggressive opening ramp on these cams, thats what ur gonna get, plain and simple, and 9 times out of 10, people complain about the front exhaust, well it has the worst angle of all valves. just my two cents.

I agree with you and the more you want to hear it the more you will hear it.Turn the radio up or get a louder pipe

[yomomma]

OK, after reading all this I have decided not to try the roller rockers (I'll save myself $300 bucks). I am going to purchase another type of push rods, probably the SE push rods and I will seat the push rod deeper (50 thou more) on the front exhaust.

I can definitely see where the push rod is scraping the inside of the push tube and I would have to cut off almost an inch of tube to keep it from scraping, but that would cause the tube assembly to be unstable or leak. So I'll just set it lower and see what happens.

In the mean time I am converting the FI to carb (stupid MM) so I will write back when I get it back together and test the noise.

Thanks all for you help.