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[2018_FLTRXSE]

FRom the beginning.. I had a "rattle" between 2700RPM and 3500RPM... annoying, but never seemed to hurt how the bike ran or perfomed on a DD basis.

Bike is stock, except for the Fullsac Baffles, TTS mastertune tune and deleted cat (swapped headpipe) I did notice oil consumption up a bit, about a quart every 2500 miles or so.... but not excessive considering my riding habits.

Saturday as I rode home from hanging out with some friends, I heard and intermittent valvetrain clatter, and seemingly only the front cylinder.

I was due to change oil, so I took care of this last night. Oil from the primary was metallic brown (expected) and engine oil seemed darker than the last change.... and was down about 1/2 qt.... drained to oil, no metallic on the drain plug magnet. (more on the primary plug) as stated earlier, oil seemed darker and thicker than the last service.... I have always used AMSOIL 20/50 Motorcycle oil and never had issues.

Finish, clean the bike, put it on the ground, run it for a bit. Take around the block, good... Today should have been a good to go kind of day, but that wasnt the case.... got up this morning, gassed up and hit the road, met up with some friends, for breakfast.. bike sounded OK. After breakfast, teh clatter had retuned, and through the day got progressively worse, and at points it was more of an angry-flock-of-birds chirping kind of sound. (Whirring, chirping/sqealing and the continued valvetrain clatter.)

There is no missing, or other indicators of problems, just the noises.

I was able to finish the ride and get it to the dealer... one of the techs was in and though the noise had subsided, was still noticeable.

I'm thinking cam bearings, collaped or failed lifter or something of the sort....

I guess I gotta ride my Street Glide till they figure it out.

any thoughts?... (Other than a 117 or 124?) I was hoping to put a few more miles on it before making the motor bigger..





 

[kraut]

forget the cam bearings - when they go, you most likely hear a little hailstorm, some grinding and then the engine will never restart again.

Could be lifters, crank ...

You will know soon.

[HDDOCFL]

Lose compensator bolt.  Doc

[2018_FLTRXSE]

Lose compensator bolt.  Doc

This thought had crossed my mind, but the noise is VERY apparent in t he forward cylinder and lifter block area.

[sadunbar]

This thought had crossed my mind, but the noise is VERY apparent in t he forward cylinder and lifter block area.

Got to believe you have a lifter failure....      

[bigjohn]

check your lifters or could be a bad valve, (when they are bent slightly they chirp), bent bad and they knock.

[2018_FLTRXSE]

Got to believe you have a lifter failure....      

I'm of this mindset as well... dealership only has one tech in on Monday, so the bike sat yesterday... I hope they will take a look at it today ald let me know whats up... the question is if the lifter is bad, has it damaged the cam as well?

And if so... what should I upgrade to? (you knew this was coming)

[opee6969]

Just had a similar sound before my 09' SEUC stopped on me. It ended up being a lifter going bad. I also continued to ride as you have and it ate of the cams and oil pump. Thank goodness for ESP's.

Opee

[sadunbar]

I'm of this mindset as well... dealership only has one tech in on Monday, so the bike sat yesterday... I hope they will take a look at it today ald let me know whats up... the question is if the lifter is bad, has it damaged the cam as well?And if so... what should I upgrade to? (you knew this was coming)

Highly likely....

[2018_FLTRXSE]

So... next: Cam and Oil pump choices?...   

[rcmet36]

This happened to me at 16K I took it in and they adjusted my Oil Pump??? seems to be working great now!

[2018_FLTRXSE]

This is what the dealership found:

Lifter rollers were NOT rolling on the shaft they are supposed to roll on in the lifter. This caused 3 of the lifters to wear flat spots on the rollers.

Also noted was on those 3 lifters, the amount of play between the roller and the shaft were excessive.

I'm inclined to believe that this excess play was that noise I felt and heard between 2700 and 3500 RPM since new.

The lifters, of course took out the Camshafts, and left some fine metal particles on the oil system.

The tech saw some oil sweat from the stator, so he pulled the primary to check crank runout... he said the crank is true with no endplay.

While apart, he noted the clutch hub splines were all cracked. Inspection shows the metal the hub is made from is VERY porous.

Warranty will cover all of these bits and pieces, so no issues.

[aclass]

This is what the dealership found:

Lifter rollers were NOT rolling on the shaft they are supposed to roll on in the lifter. This caused 3 of the lifters to wear flat spots on the rollers.

Also noted was on those 3 lifters, the amount of play between the roller and the shaft were excessive.

I'm inclined to believe that this excess play was that noise I felt and heard between 2700 and 3500 RPM since new.

The lifters, of course took out the Camshafts, and left some fine metal particles on the oil system.

The tech saw some oil sweat from the stator, so he pulled the primary to check crank runout... he said the crank is true with no endplay.

While apart, he noted the clutch hub splines were all cracked. Inspection shows the metal the hub is made from is VERY porous.

Warranty will cover all of these bits and pieces, so no issues.

Thanks for the update.  So are they putting the same Harley parts back in it?

[2018_FLTRXSE]

Thanks for the update.  So are they putting the same Harley parts back in it?

AS far as covering the warranty, yes. But thats not saying if a customer wishes to upgrade for parts differences....a dealership wont work with them. YMMV here, dependant on your relationship with the dealer, how much of an incessant a-hole I am, etc. 

Keep in mind that HDs poicy is to replace whats broke with the equivalent product that isnt broke. (most warranties are the same)

255's run out of steam early on..... so I'm likely to change there... along with lifters and pushrods. Not sure if I am going gear driven cams or not... but I'd prefer not to be faced with a potential cam chain tensioner failure down the road. The same goes for oil pump/lifters/cam plate.

I'm considering the Fueling race unit because of my riding habits, and gear driven cams, but havent quite decided on which ones.....

[2018_FLTRXSE]

AS far as covering the warranty, yes. But thats not saying if a customer wishes to upgrade for parts differences....a dealership wont work with them. YMMV here, dependant on your relationship with the dealer, how much of an incessant a-hole I am, etc. 

Keep in mind that HDs poicy is to replace whats broke with the equivalent product that isnt broke. (most warranties are the same)

255's run out of steam early on..... so I'm likely to change there... along with lifters and pushrods. Not sure if I am going gear driven cams or not... but I'd prefer not to be faced with a potential cam chain tensioner failure down the road. The same goes for oil pump/lifters/cam plate.

I'm considering the Fueling race unit because of my riding habits, and gear driven cams, but havent quite decided on which ones.....

Time for an update:

THe bike has been sitting at the shop since it failed....

Diagnosis: Lifters (rollers failed, taking out cams)

OP will be replaced as a precaution, and while its apart I'll be doing .030 Cometics, Andrews 54's, woods night prowler directional lifters, new map, 30T sprocket and 139T belt, SE compensator and a few other parts....

The bike was on the lift Saturday (Finally) with the heads off. The Tech told me there was LOTS of scaly carbon build-up on the piston and in the head. Fuel is always 91 or 92 (most places here are 92) but are are E10 fuels. I did run the first 8K with the fullsac map and stock cat-headpipe... not sure if the buildup was there previously... 

I hope to be on my scoot this weekend.... Though the 103 RK isnt that bad! (Too quiet though)