New ticking/pinging noise

[Me_Rock]

Howdy folks,

My Steamer has developed a new ticking noise that has me worried. It starts at around 3000 RPM and goes away at around 5000 RPM. The ticking is audible even while wearing earplugs. It did not do this before a few days ago. I spoke with a seasoned technician at a Triumph dealership in Spokane, and he suggested that it was from bad gas. I did get four gallons of regular go-juice from a gas station that I had never been to before.

After hearing the technician's advice, I topped up the tank with two gallons of premium, but the ticking is still there (Maybe less significant, but I can't tell). I haven't gotten the chance to run the tank nearly empty yet.

Does anyone have some wisdom to share?

Thanks!
-Phillip

[Mustang]

start checking for DAR then move on to
cam chain and  valve adjustments .

doubtful its bad gas

You will be on your own for this one as it's impossible to diagnose from a keyboard

[iansoady]

Exhaust gaskets?

[Me_Rock]

Bad news:

I should not have gone on a road trip. I'm currently in the wrong country and 415 miles from home. The bike started getting very hot, so I pulled over and shut it off. Here's a video of the noise it's making now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXyj7EJssI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I'm camping for tonight. Do you think I'll make it home if I baby it?

[Mustang]

Not even if you push it........your done !

It overheated right ?

First guess with that sound is head gasket cuz you ain't running on all 3

[Me_Rock]

I'm pretty sure it didn't overheat. It got a little bit above 50% on the temp gauge, but I didn't let it get past that.

[Me_Rock]

What should I be looking for when I rebuild it? I have another 885 engine with a blown head gasket for parts (was run with oilant for a little while).

Inexperience strikes again!

[Frosties]

Hiya fella,

Didn't sound good on that clip. Sounds, as Mustang said, that you're firing on only 2 cylinders...so - coil, leads, plugs etc. let us know how you get on.

The earlier "pinking" could've been a weak coil not giving enough spark!!

[Me_Rock]

Hiya fella,

Didn't sound good on that clip. Sounds, as Mustang said, that you're firing on only 2 cylinders...so - coil, leads, plugs etc. let us know how you get on.

The earlier "pinking" could've been a weak coil not giving enough spark!!

Checking the coils is a good place to start. Just pull the plugs and connect them to the coils outside the engine to see if they have spark?

When camping in Canada, a mechanic that lived at the trailer park came over to have a look. I pulled the cam cover so we could check it out, and he said that everything looked perfect up there. "Sounds like something's wrong in your bottom end, eh?"

Edit: There's also a lot more oil-smelling smoke coming out of the tailpipes.

[Sinnergy]

OK... I'm dyin' here...  Didja get her home?  Under power?

First; remember the story I told you about why I started the motor swap in the first place? That's almost exactly what it sounded like with the center carb not drawing any fuel.  Listen to my youtube vid under 'tiger unblanced'.  I never completely understood it, but it smoked out both sides then too.  I think it was drawing a partial vacuum in the cylinder that was pulling oil around the rings.

Drop me a line,

Sinnergy

[Me_Rock]

Update time!

The bike and myself got home by way of an international U-Haul trip... that was expensive.

With the bike currently in the shed/shop, I still haven't touched the original engine in the bike. The Triumph dealership seems to think that it's a rod end bearing that bit the dust... There were also some brass colored sparkles in my last oil change. The original engine has damn near 100,000 miles on it, and needs new rings as well as a new whatever was making those sparkles and the awful noise.

What I have been working on is a spare 885 engine (with about 20,000 miles) out of a mystery bike that had a blown head gasket. This spare engine was run with coolant in the oil for an embarrassing amount of time. The plan is to change out the crankshaft and connecting rod bearings, install a new head gasket, and redo the cylinder sleeves with fresh hylomar.

The cases are currently split on the spare engine, and only one of the bearings that I have seen is down to the copper. I've checked all three of the rod end bearings, and all four of the crankshaft bearings. Should I replace all of the bearings or just the ones that look worn? Also, what tool will I need to measure the crankshaft and get the correct bearings? Will this do it? http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-micrometer-68305.html

Pictures are coming very soon!
Thanks,
Phillip

[Mustang]

do all the bearings and do a good job of measuring the journals as you don't want to see any that are out of round even the teeny tiniest amount , or it  is new crankshaft time.

was it #3 rod bearing thats shot ?
It seems to always be #3 .............



to do the engine right you should have the crank checked by a professional mechanic and then you will need all the bits to fix it
Head gasket alone is 60 bucks , and you need all the bearings and new rings and you may as well start with new pistons and liners .
You will probably be better off getting one of these off ebay





that 25mm Harbor Freight micrometer is going to be useless to measure the journals
you need a 25 to 50 mm or 1-2 inch micrometer and Harbor Freight would not be my choice of precision measuring instruments
Brown and Sharp or Starrett  but they cost 5 times or more the price of those cheap ass ones .

now do you know what size the journals should be ?

crankshaft big end journal should be  = 40.960 to 40.946  ...... 40.932 and crank is junk
crankshaft main journals =37.976 to 37.960 .........37.936 and below you got a big paper weight

Your looking at spending some serious $$$$  before you ever get that tigger back on the road .

[Bixxer Bob]

Whichever way you look at it (and I'm not saying this has anything to do with yours, more of a general observation) trying to save a few dollars by using cheap oil, isn't clever when you look at the cost of a rebuild.....   

[Me_Rock]

Thanks, Mustang!

I'll post some pictures ASAP of where my "replacement" engine is at in terms of brokenness. I agree that it would cost less to replace my Tigger's current engine than rebuild it, but this spare engine looks more promising.

The spare engine only has 20,000 miles on it, and the rings, pistons, and liners all look good to me. Nothing is broken or burnt. That said, it was run with some coolant/oil mixture for a while. The head gasket blew from running without coolant. I realized my mistake, added coolant, but by then it was too late. That's why I split the cases to check out the bearings. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get away with only buying a head gasket, hylomar, crankcase glue (don't know what it is yet), and a new set of bearings... say, about $300 in replacement parts?

In your experience, how much do you figure a Triumph dealership will charge to measure the crank? Maybe they'd cut me a deal if I promised to order the new bearings through them.

For the cost of a new engine, I may as well sell Elizabeth as she sits and buy a less abused Steamer with fewer miles.

Thanks!
-Phillip

[Mustang]

to get away with only buying a head gasket, hylomar, crankcase glue (don't know what it is yet), and a new set of bearings... say, about $300 in replacement parts?

you are dreaming

For the cost of a new engine, I may as well sell Elizabeth as she sits and buy a less abused Steamer with fewer miles.

^^^^^ this is the best answer