Nightmare!!

[jester]

Bought some new manual cam chain tensioners and took my bike to a local dealer for him to fit them..Dropped off bike tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon had a phone call saying they'd had a problem with my bike and that one of the sparkplugs had gone down and as it was a special plug they would have to order it but it would be in next day. I thought it was a bit odd as the plugs were ok before but fair enough. Next day i ring in the afternoon because i hadn't heard from them and they say its not come in yet, so now i'm panicking because i'm thinking they've done something to my bike and not told me and can't fix it yet. So i go to a local honda dealer who i would have gone to but are really expensive and i pick up a sparkplug and take it to the shop. He seems very surprised and tries to tell me its not the right one but when i tell him where i got it he can't say much. He says we'll try and get it done for you but won't let me see the bike. Two hours later i still haven't heard so i ring and he says they are working on it and will let me know. I hear no more that day. Next day they ring and tell me my bike is done so i go pick it up. I ride it half mile and as its idling in traffic it just stops dead. I try to start it and it makes an awful noise when it turns over but it turns over really slowly like theres no battery life. My heart sinks. I do get it started and take it back to the shop. He has it all next day and tells me they've checked their work and put battery on charge. I take it away but still it makes that horrible noise when it starts and again it stops dead when idling. Im gutted and have taken it to the more expensive honda dealer. They are going to check it out but first thoughts are the starter motor. I think this other guy has done something but not telling me. Any thoughts.

[Miztaziggy]

Sounds like the garage changed cct without knowing what they're doing. Your cam chain has jumped and has probably bent valves in the engine.

Ask the garage how they changed cct, voice record his answer if you can, if he just unbolted the old and plugged in the new, he has knackered your engine.

[vtryorks]

Bloody hell thats not good.

My local dealer (Honda actually) made a mess of my bike. I'm still trying to sort it out and get my money back. It wasnt as serious as this though. I feel for you mate.

Dont let this go, sounds like they owe you a new engine!

[jester]

If the valves were bent would the engine run at all? it makes that sound on start up but does sound ok once it starts apart from a slight humming noise when idling. its just this thing where it can just stop. I've just spoken to the dealer and he said he set the engine to top dead center and stuff..I'm gutted. Is there anything legally i can do.

[MacV2]

Whats the tick over set at?

It may be something as simple as the carb's completely out of balance as they have been disturbed.

Set the tick over to about 1200- 1300 rpm, some say set higher, should stop it stalling when you pull up.

[jester]

the tick over is ok. when i took it back he set it higher..so would the engine still run with bent valves

[Miztaziggy]

Hmm maybe CCTs set too tight...

Can you video the sound and post here or on YouTube?

If it's a noise at startup and a squeal when running, that gets worse as it gets hot, they may be too tight. There are plenty of threads on here about how tight they should be done, but they should only be hand/finger tight and no more.

[AMCQ46]

CCT too tight makes the noise on start up, heard it on forum members bike last week.....it sounds weird but will go away when you slacken the offending CCT.

But given the fact it sounds like they didn't know what they were doing, it could well be both back and front. Have a read on the other CCT threads of last two weeks, there is lots oh info on how to set them. A little rattle is better than too tight.

[sirch345]

CCT too tight makes the noise on start up, heard it on forum members bike last week.....it sounds weird but will go away when you slacken the offending CCT.

But given the fact it sounds like they didn't know what they were doing, it could well be both back and front. Have a read on the other CCT threads of last two weeks, there is lots oh info on how to set them. A little rattle is better than too tight.

Yes I agree, it does sound as if they could be too tight.

I don't like the sound of your first garage, it certainly seems like they were playing for time fobbing you off like that.
The problem we hear about on her from time to time is that some garages that are used to working on inline four engines think that once the valve timing has been set on one cylinder they don't need to do the same for the second cylinder before removing the CCT. But they DO

Not only does each cylinder need to be at TDC before removing a CCT, it also needs to be on the compression stroke

If you want to read more on how this is achieved, have a read of "How to remove and refit CCT's on the Firestorm" you can find it in "The Workshop Knowledgebase" Renewing the CCT's is exactly the same procedure as fitting manuals, apart from having to adjust the manuals by hand of course

At the garage you're going to next, you could ask them to do a compression test to make sure you have no bent valves.

Chris.