New Sound... Similar to car exhaust going bad

Hello,

Have a new, unnerving sound which reminds me of a car with exhaust going bad. Does not occur in neural standing still. Hear it in gear as RPM's rise and coming from the front.

180 hour or so on original cam belt and tensioner. Mostly city riding with an occasional run out to the suburbs. Prefer side streets to highways for obvious reasons.

It occurred after:

Ran out to the suburbs to have the last bit of decals put on my magnificent 2008 FE650. Had several stops. Minimal highway on way out (3 miles) and about 20 on the way back in.

When I came back in the Berg sounded funny and didn't feel like her normal self, tempting me to rip. I checked the oil and noticed it was at the very bottom of the glass. It reached 93 F yesterday while I was running around in the suburbs.

Not good! Just changed the oil two days ago with Rotella 5/40. Over a quart came out when changed.

Added two cups of coolant (70/30 mix). Moronically put radiator cap on but did not close all the way so lost some fluid.

Was actually wearing an MX helmet, which is not the norm, so the sound was obviously quite different on ride out and back. Droned on highway running around or just over speed limit with traffic with runs up to 80 when traffic built up. Basically babied on the highway because highways are for sport bikes... not Bergs


Sound is freaking me out for obvious reasons.

Things of possible interest:
- Did install metal radiator guards after coming home. (Tight fit.)
- Bike starts right up first or second push of the button.
- Oil started leaking out of site glass again after having new water pump seal.

Checked magnet and no debris. Checked mesh filter and nothing. Checked Scotts oil filter and nothing.

Do normally have a few shavings on magnet (especially after first oil change after mechanics had his hands on it). If I catch too many lights without getting it neutral will get copper specs. If I run at the upper RPM's a lot I get a few aluminum specs.

Power seems off but could be the sound is making me apprehensive.

Anybody experience this?

Sorry about the novella. Details.

Thank you for the guidance!

Sounds like blow by of some sort, putting exhaust sound, check all breather areas to make sure nothing is loose, check plug to make sure it is not loose as it will imitate exhaust sounds and deplete power. Just some thoughts?????

Thanks for some direction.

Just went down the street and back. At standstill sounds fine. While in motion engine feels tight.

Something about being in gear seems to aggravate things. In this case... ignorance is not bliss. We are all worried about the time bomb... a few hundred dollar fix... turning in a thousand or thousands.

Will see about pulling tank off to get a good look at everything tomorrow. Though she starts on the spot maybe the valves have tighten up.

Good thought, Tight valves. something to check. I would do a complete service and go over everything just to be safe.

Did the valves and tightened the drive chain.

Man! Getting the stop screws out is a chore and and half. Used a breaker bar after bending a wrench... and putting it on the opposite way and it bending back perfectly.

Have to saw... the beast wants to rip arms out of sockets which is awesome... but it still has that unhealthy worrisome sound.

Tuesday checked the play of the flywheel and it was tight as can be. Minimal movement.

Want to check the cam tensioner next since had too much fun test riding and trying to locate the exact sound.

After that it will be the clutch cover to check how the primary gear tension is and the other gears. Off Road Boss recommended that... but am apprehensive to deal with that water pump seal... as it kicked my butt in three attempts before.

Thanks for the help!

keep the posts coming please! & good luck

Ok! Set piston to TDC-Compression and pulled out tensioner.

It was maxed. 1 tooth left. When you approach 200 hundred hours that is to be expected.

Sadly when I tried to torque the pressure plug to 10 nm I must of stripped it. It would not torque. Never felt pressure... but there are only a few threads... so apparently it is hyper delicate. C'est la vie! Another $50 burned! Could helicoil but more interested in minimizing potential problems. The Berg is unique enough and I drive a unique SUV... so unique problems and high maintenance are the norm as it is.

Then I did the dreaded thing of pulling off the cover... because putting it back on has been problematic.

I did a little thinking about why the Swedes put the two tabs on the engine case and noticed the frame bars were right there. Hmm? Perfect!

Used big flat head screwdriver to softly leverage the case off once pulling and wiggling by hand stopped moving it. Did get hung up and remember to give a little pull from the bottom of the case while thumb was on gear shift rod. Of course put pressure on the kick start bar with my thumb the whole time to ensure it didn't pop out.

It was incredibly easy to remove the cover. Talk about a great surprise! No aggravation or profanity needed!

The first nut I touched... moved. Hmm? Too easy! Checked the others which didn't budge so obviously this was the culprit.

It was the nut on the primary pinion and would rotate about a quarter to half a turn but no further either way by hand.

Ordered parts from Off Road Boss.

Plan is to install new cam chain and tensioner myself and try installing cover with old seals. Figure it is good practice.

Then if I FUBAR that... or just if the seals were damaged on removal... I'll have to decide whether I want to try it again with new seals... or stand in line at the local KTM dealer and have them install it.

The current seals were installed by the KTM dealer the first week in June so it is a tad disappointing I had to remove the cover. Another reason why I checked everything else.

Hope the parts come soon... and go on easy. Summer is short in Chi-town... though the Berg is good for all seasons as long as she has the right shoes on.

Problem!

Parts came in yesterday... so went in garage to take off and clean nut and pinion before putting the green Loctite on and torquing down to 85 ft lbs or so.

Umm... one problem... as you experienced guys know. The gears have to be locked.

How do you do it yourselfers lock the pinion gear?

Thought about popping it in gear... but then thought again.

Last night I checked the basket on the back deck with some old Ducati gears. Surprisingly only had one and the teeth looked possibly tight/too close together. (Broke tranny gear in 996 though don't know how.)

Think cutting a gear could be a challenge... but may be the answer if I don't have one that fits in the space allowed.

Thanks in advance for anyone sharing their ingenious... or just plain logical technique!

Locking primary pinion gear -

Well this should help anyone lacking a gear lock/stopped tool.

A quick search using various combinations of terms brought up a technique which uses either an aluminum washer or a penny. Since the metals are weaker than the metal used to make the gear the aluminum and somewhat copper penny instead get deformed.

If you haven't already figured it out you place the washer/penny between the gears in a way to impede the gear from turning. Initially the washer/penny seems strong... until you go torque that primary pinion gear... and they go squish... but it works! Gears lock in place.

To remove just switch your 30 mm socket to your breaker bar and turn the nut the other way. Since nothing is locking the gears they turn freely and it comes right out. If you can plan better than we did so don't waste extra time trying to finagle the squished penny out from behind the clutch basket. It is an extremely tight fit for needle nose pliers

Yes! You need to pay attention when removing it. Luckily there is room between the clutch basket and the interior engine case that it can fall through.

Don't lean on that for obvious reasons... Murphy and his Law are always waiting for an opportune moment to throw a wrench in where it isn't needed.

Hope this helps anyone who may come across this loose nut issue and lacks the proper tool.

if you use a 6mm thick bit of ally it doesn't get pulled in between the gear teeth

less load on the gears/bearings that way

Well had a mechanic pop on the clutch side cover... and it looks to be leaking oil from the bottom. Have to check to see exactly where. Hope proper torquing is the cure.

Now... have a new cam chain to install and want to check with you guys to make sure I do it right.

This is with the clutch cover still on.

1) Put piston at TDCC.
2) Remove head.
3) Note and photograph position of all sprockets.
4) Break old chain but ensure it doesn't fall down into engine.
5) Temporarily link new chain to old.

This is where I am a bit confused.

6) Just let chain fall lose while holding ends and pull around trying to not disturb the came gears.
7) Connect new chain ensure all gears are in the same location. Finished besides replacing head and the rest.
0r...
6) Turn engine over by flywheel with bar and socket while holding old/new chain linked combination until gears bring new chain end around to attach after making sure all gears are properly aligned.

Thank you for the more detailed directions.

I just tied a string to each end of the old chain on both sides of where I was breaking it.

Take the tensioner blade off.

Put the new chain pin in the old chain, and tie it together. I might have used safety wire.

Jigglewiggle it around the lower sprocket. It's easy.

It can be done without taking the side cover off.
Edit: don't need to take the head off either, perhaps you meant the valve cover?

You will need to install some new cam follower bearings (rocker arm bearings) while you are at it.

Idle,

Thank you for the clarification on the cam chain change. It seemed easy if the new chain just needed to be slid around.

What is the process of changing the cam follower bearings?

Guessing since the chain is off there is not much holding it in place. Not sure the difficulty rating of removing and installing the new bearings.

The cam looks like it may lift out and the key thing is to not damage it and to replace in the exact place. Thin marker lines.

Is a lot of pressure needed to remove the bearings?

Is installation just sliding is back on to the exact place. Should the cam be put in the freezer to shrink it?

Pardon all the questions but this would be a first so more information is better. Assuming leads to disaster

Thank you!