Ticking noise from top part of engine

K

Kingkong_imp

First service completed
Thread starter
Hi everyone, i’m new to the forum and need help/advice.
I bought this CB1100 with 9600 miles. It has this ticking to it that i was told is normal but i am now worried about.
I’ve heard might be the issue
Cam chain belt tension
Valve adjustment
Link to the video below:
Please help
 
Hi, not sure if this is the same issue, but my CB1100 sometimes makes a rattling at idle from the bottom right side of the frame. There have been a few posts on the forum about ticking/rattling and I think folks were saying it was normal noise from the fuel injectors, or maybe a symptom of using the wrong type of oil. I don't recall a solid consensus when I was browsing the forums a few years ago.

Fast forward to today and I've quit worrying about it. I think the rattling still comes and goes. However, I saw something on the forum tonight about adjusting the balancer backlash. It's on page 11-38 of the 2013/2014 CB1100 service manual. It was buried as a possible fix in one of the threads on engine ticking. It could be worth checking out. The noise my bike makes is similar to

When I get a minute, I'm going to adjust the backlash, but I suspect that may have been the issue all along.
 
Hi Kingkong. Many owners on here have run up thousands and thousands of trouble free miles on their CB's. I have listened to the YouTube clip. The bikes do tick a lot with the fuel injection, but you soon adjust your ears to it and don't hear it anymore, if you know what I mean. Like the clock in your kitchen ticking away, you don't hear it until you do. There is a useful thread on here about checking valve clearances, broadly speaking the bikes seem to hardly ever need anything re-shimming after mega miles so I wouldn't be too concerned if it runs sweet otherwise. Personally I would advise against meddling with harmonic balancers etc unless you know exactly what you are doing. You could **** something up that way. The bikes do need to be fully warmed up before trying to diagnose anything. See what others on here have to say.
 
KK have a look at your exhaust flanges, some nuts could be loose and exhaust gas escapes, easy to check,
failing that it could be a spark inside a sparkplug cap, it sounds quite sharp to me, let us know.

not convinced it is the harmonic balancer, your sound happens at half that tempo.
 
I am with Max on this one. At the very end of the video, very briefly a mist can be seen that looked like it was being blown toward the front of the bike from the area of the exhaust flanges. I had to watch the video multiple times to confirm what I thought I saw. It would suggest either an exhaust leak at one or more flanges, or something burning off the pipes in that area.
 
Thread starter
Thank you all. The small mist was actually from the a melted cover on the pipes.
I flushed the oil today, and exchanged the sparkplugs it's still that same last one.
It's comming off the last cylinder head or spark.
I tried removing the last coil and troubleshooting the ping as seen in this next video too. Notice this weird sound at 10seconds. maybe a faulty injector?

I also tightened the nuts for the exhaust. it doesn't sound mechanical but something electrical, fuel injector or coils maybe?
yeah i saw that video. Though it seems this noise is a bit different and coming from the bottom part of the engine.

Check this second video out. it's my last sparkplug/coil combo maybe

Can you please elaborate on the sparkplug cap issue? How can i troubleshoot that?

mix the sparkplugs and the solenoid caps?
 
Hi KK, first your video's are unavailable for me; it says it's a private video.
The clip is also very short and does not show more than two positions, if you want to show a fault it needs to be held for at least 20 seconds steady in one position and moved around the entire engine and make it possible for us and other viewers to see where the noise comes from from.

So we have eliminated the exhaust seals and you mention the disconnected sparkplug cap ( it's not a solinoid, they are under the tank ) makes the sound go away.

That tells me that it is not a ticking valve or injector but has to do with the ignition or the combustion inside the cylinder.

It sounded like a sharp spark sound to me but was difficult to determine from the short video.

if you connect another external spark plug to the no4 cylinder ignition cap and ground and it produces the sound again it is likely the sound is produced inside the cap, it could be the ignition wire has been pulled out of it's original position.

To measure if this is the case you need to unplug both ignition caps from the spark plugs and measure between the no1 and no4 ignition cap electrical terminals with a universal meter on the k ohm scale and measure the resistance, see what the value is and repeat this for the no2 and no3 ignition caps, if the values are not the same the connection has been lost somewhere.

The Honda system uses one coil for cylinders 1 and 4 and another coil for cylinders 2 and 3, the spark plugs are connected on either side of the coil.

 
Kingkong, it’s still showing as private. Perhaps get the new link from YouTube and repost it?
 
Thread starter
Here we go.

This should work. Thank you very much everyone i appreciate your help.
I put coil 1 on the 4th , the ticking is still there in the video.

Also there is that weird sound (like a zap) while the pump is turning on (injectors maybe?) , i haven't heard that sound in any videos of CBs. it's at 11 seconds, 1:50 ...

Thanks again.
 
Max, what is your thoughts on this? I watched/listened to the video a bunch of times last night and just can't tell. On my iPad it sounds like spark arcing. On my MacBook it sounds mechanical. I did look of discharge between wires, etc but didn't see anything.

The pump turning on noise is sure interesting.

Kong, do you have a spark tester lead, something like this: CDI Electronics | Outboard Motor Parts | Ignitions | Marine Engine Diagnostic System | Stators | Ignition Packs | Regulators | Coils | Wiring Harnesses You plug one end into the spark plug cap and the other end clips to ground, OR, remove the clip and plug onto the spark plug. If not you should do what MAX suggests and plug in a spark plug to the plug lead and hold the plug to ground and check for spark and that noise. Personally I would not run the bike with no load on the coil(s). High voltage will look for a ground and can arc in the coil pack or out of it. Seen that on outboards a few times at my friend's shop. He uses the CDI leads I showed. I have some too.

Have you by any chance run the bike in the dark and looked for arcing?
 
Thread starter
Lord popgun, from the diagram that Max sent and what i saw on the CB, it looks like sparkplug cap 1 and 4 come from the same solenoid and 2 and 3 come from a second. are these solenoids different? Stupid question but is sparkplug cap 3 different than 4 besides in shape? If i took out number 3 and put it in 4 would i be messing up something?
 
Kong, they are not solenoids, they are coils, or ignition coils. A solenoid is a device similar to, but not the same as, a relay. Google for more info if interested.

If you put plug wire 3 on spark plug 4 you will have the cylinder firing out of time. You know, not on the compression stroke. I would not do that. You could swap the coils and wires accordingly and see if the noise moves.

On our bikes, the system uses what is known as waste spark. In other words, when the number 1 cylinder fires on the compression stroke, the 4 fires on the exhaust stroke at the same time. That one is the waste. And vice versa. Same with cylinders 2 and 3. That's why we only have 2 coils instead of 4. One coil for 1 and 4 and one coil for 2 and 3.

There are others here that know a lot more about this than me. Hopefully PD or Sportsterdoc will chip in.
 
Thread starter
thanks lord popgun. I really appreciate the correction, got it coils not solenoids. I am still learning all the technical words. Happy to know that there is a support group here.
I will wait to see if anyone has other ideas.
I've called two mechanics to see if they can take care of the issue but not a chance of finding a time slot before 2 weeks at least.

That being said, how many injectors are there on this bike? can the ticking be from an injector?
 
There is one injector per cylinder. So we have 4. The injectors do click but I don't think that is your noise. Why? Well because when you had the spark plug lead off I didn't hear the noise and yet the injectors were still working.
 
The flapping sound, sound like its from cylinder cover, from these component (circled in red).
Maybe you can use a stethoscope to confirm the location.



Kingkong_imp said:
Here we go.

This should work. Thank you very much everyone i appreciate your help.
I put coil 1 on the 4th , the ticking is still there in the video.

Also there is that weird sound (like a zap) while the pump is turning on (injectors maybe?) , i haven't heard that sound in any videos of CBs. it's at 11 seconds, 1:50 ...

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Not sure about how to troubleshoot these "Reed valve comp." But I believe you can plug the hole (there's a rubber hose connected to these) to see if the sound change. If I remember correctly, its a waste gas management system. So shouldn't affect engine function.
 
Electrical troubleshooting has never been one of my strongpoints. That said, just out of curiosity I would be inclined to swap plugs (not the leads) between cylinders 1 and 4 just to see whether or not this makes a difference. Have you inspected the #4 plug by chance?
 
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