Oh no! Death Rattle!

[Arfur_Guiness]

Yep -ya wait for ages and when a sunny day finally arrives, I get just half a mile away from home and the engine starts rattling............

Not had the Stormyfire for long but one of the things that made the sale for me was the CCTs have already been swapped to manual.
Is it terminal Doc?
Anybody suggest the best place to start looking?

[benny hedges]

if the previous owner hasnt used threadlocking compound on the adjuster bolt there is a distinct possibility that the manual tensioners may have unwound... giving the exact same effect as a fkt oem cct.

it happened to mine twice, sortly after fitting apes and fortunately i caught it and managed to nip them up without any damage.
being the way i am i still had to strip it all down again just to be sure lol

same thing happened to forum member blacknek (was it?) very annoying especially when you have gone to the trouble of fitting manuals to prevent this.

before you start the engine again, check the locknuts on the tensioners havent worked loose.
if they have, and you can turn the adjuster easily by hand, then i suggest you follow the instructions for fitting new tensioners, just to check the timing hasnt slipped.

this could happen with any bike btw, not just a firestorm!

if they are good & tight, maybe the noise is coming from somewhere else, like the clutch might need bleeding...
or the tickover raising a little (clutch sounds rattly at very low rpm)

good luck anyway, hope youve not managed to wreck it already

[Arfur_Guiness]

Yeah, you could try the Welcome Inn and say hello to the forum

Are the CCTs setup/adjusted right ?

Apologies if incorrect protocol - been viewing the forum for a while and feel "at home"

Hello.

Will check CCTs in the morning - too bushed now & it's trifle cool to say the least now sun's gone down.
Many thanx for replies.

[tony.mon]

Where you at, Arfur?

[Arfur_Guiness]

Where you at, Arfur?

Hi Tonymon
Recognise your name - kudos to you.
I'm on the sunny south coast - not far from Bournemouth, out in the sticks where the roads call me to go and play!

[Stratman]

Yeah, you could try the Welcome Inn and say hello to the forum

Are the CCTs setup/adjusted right ?

Apologies if incorrect protocol - been viewing the forum for a while and feel "at home"

Hello.

Will check CCTs in the morning - too bushed now & it's trifle cool to say the least now sun's gone down.
Many thanx for replies.

There isn't any protocol , so welcome anyway.

[sirch345]

Welcome to the forum Arfur_Guiness

I hope you find that one of the manual tensioners has just come loose, but not enough to do any damage.

Chris.

[Arfur_Guiness]

Welcome to the forum Arfur_Guiness

I hope you find that one of the manual tensioners has just come loose, but not enough to do any damage.

Chris.

Ha! The guy listed the bike as having had the "tensioners changed 3000 miles ago" and I assumed he'd swapped to manual. Being the numpty I am - didn't check......
He's put autos back on.
Had the camcover off the rear pot - all ok but when turning the motor by hand the front pot is making horribble clacking noises......

Airbox off, fairing off, front mudgard off, rads drained, oil cooler drained. Then out to my mates for dinner (thanx Julie & Graham).
So this mornings task is to whip the front camcover off and see what's making the horrible noise.

[tony.mon]

Before you pull the front head off, try also taking off the rear cam cover.
it's only four bolts, and you can already get to it.
Then you can compare how far down the valve buckets are on both cylinders- usually you can see if the front exhaust buckets are down in the head more than the rear ones (obviously the engine has to be set so that they aren't being pushed down by the cams).
That will tell you straight away whether you've got away with it....

But the only way to be sure is whip the head off and have a look.

My money's on two bent exhaust valves front head- that's the usual outcome.

[sirch345]

AG, not trying to tell you how to suck eggs, but make sure you follow the instructions for setting up the valve timing from this link below, the haynes workshop manual can be a little vague on this procedure:-

http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8326

Good luck with it all,

Chris.

[Arfur_Guiness]

Before you pull the front head off, try also taking off the rear cam cover.
it's only four bolts, and you can already get to it.

But the only way to be sure is whip the head off and have a look.

My money's on two bent exhaust valves front head- that's the usual outcome.

Did the rear one first - all ok but with a spanner on the crank it makes all the wrong noises.
Anyhoo - front camcover now off & yes the chain is jumping the sprocket

Dunno if there's any value in fitting the new ROAS manual CCTs, timing it all up then doing a compression test rather than strip it all down?

Wasn't going all that fast and stopped the motor pretty quick when it started to rattle. Has anyone, ever got away with it?

[Jazzscot]

Yes me!!!!!! I was 10 miles away from home when she started rattling. I nursed her home trying to keep constant revs. Managed to get the bike in the garage and put in ROAS manual cct's. I followed the instructions exactly as posted in the workshop area. Did the timing etc and a compression test and have managed to ride her with no problems since.

I had a look at the front cct when I took it off and it does p*ss you off when you notice that it is a small piece of spring that has broken off causing the problem.


Good luck dude.

Jazz

[Arfur_Guiness]

Yes me!!!!!! Did the timing etc and a compression test and have managed to ride her with no problems since.

Jazz

hey thanx for the encouragement. Been out on three different bikes today in the sun - all good but not quite like the 'Storm!
Eagerly awaiting ROAS manual CCTs so I can hopefully get her going again.
BTW - stripped the front tensioner - it had completely retracted, hence the problem, but cannot see how it works, where's the spring supoosed to be?
Is it that scabby little 'S' shaped bit?
And why are all the gubbins so cruddy? There was definitely water in there - is that just condensation?
Tonymon- you've seen enough of them in your time - is this normal????

[tony.mon]

Sadly, yes, it's normal for a standard one that's failed.
The condensation that forms in the engine as it cools gradually rusts the steel spring, and it fails catastrophically, just as it has in your one.

The s shaped bit of spring is where it fits into the slot at the top of the screw-threaded part you can see in your photo.
This secures the top part of the spring, but is where it fails, so leaving that s shaped bit.

I have to say that as you already have it stripped that far, you might just as well pull the head off to make sure.
It'll cost you a head gasket, but then it'll save you a compression test....

Onwards and upwards, and once bitten, manuals fitted, etc.

[Arfur_Guiness]

[quote="tony.mon"]
I have to say that as you already have it stripped that far, you might just as well pull the head off to make sure.
It'll cost you a head gasket, but then it'll save you a compression test....

Well - Tonymon, you were right, AGAIN! Popped the head off and I think I've got away with it!
WooHOOOO
No sign of the valves touching the piston at all - no marks in the carbon at least.
No evidence of metal mashing anywhere in fact.
Need to look closer at the cam sprockets & chain but, manual CCt's, new head gasket and away we go!

Rop,rop,roppity rop!