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Unsettling rattle from RH valvetrain on hot start yesterday

Bonaventure

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Jul 30, 2017
Messages
181
Location
USA
From day one with 2 miles on the odometer my Stelvio has randomly emitted a sound upon start-up, usually cold startup or first startup of the day (regardless of ambient air temp), that sort of sounds like electrical short firing to ground, i.e. loud and rapid. But since it's not on every start-up I've concluded it could be the timing chain tensioner for RH cylinder valvetrain bleeding down during off time or whatever, and might be momentary timing chain rattle. The duration of this rapid bap-bap-bap is only a second or two, never longer, then everything sounds fine.

But yesterday I'd stopped at a place during a ride in hot weather, about 93 F (34 C) and started back up maybe six or seven minutes later. Got the two second bap-bap-bap but this time as soon as it went away the RH valvetrain was making an excessive valve clearance tap-tap-tap that sounded like the .006 and .008 I'd set a while back (and firmly tightened the nuts) opened up a whole bunch, since it was sounding fine valve-clearance-wise-speaking all along, beforehand.

I shut down and re-started. Same sound on RH valvetrain, that sounded like very excessive valve clearance. I slowly brought rpm's up to about 2000 and it went away and the valvetrain sounded normal again, no different than the LH side. Rode away and the valves sounded as normal and the bike ran like a Striped Ape as usual (Striped Apes are fast, that's why no one's ever seen one...)

I'm thinking the engine has hydraulic timing chain tensioners and this is something going on along those lines with the RH one?

Motorcycle has approx 3700 miles on the odometer, delivered new August 29th, 2017. Motor oil is the Eni i-ride PG 10W60 factory recommended stuff, oil level shows full on dipstick. Oil filter is the OEM Moto Guzzi bought from Harper Moto Guzzi in Missouri ... the one with eight flute casing (the one that seeps at the gasket...), not the 14 fluted one that's sold under the UFI brand name (that doesn't seep).
 
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The 8V makes more noises than any other engine they've made since 67. Your engine has the latest improvements. Every engine has it's own noises, they are rattletraps. Some worse than others. Doesn't mean it will fail.
 
If the chain adjuster is hydraulic, possibly the adjuster on that side is draining down so the chain will make noise until oil pressure fills it up again. This was common on the left side of BMW 1100 and 1150 oil heads and was solved with the 1200 series that has a check valve in the adjuster to prevent this. It is possible this is a warranty item so have your dealer check it out.
 
Hello Bonaventure ! I have my Stelvio for a year now, has 15000 k and I believe that I have the same problem that you have / had ! the dealer change the right chain tensioner but did nothing...the noise is only when the bike is HOT and under 2000 rpm ,,,,did you find the problem ? did you fix it ? thanks for your help
 
Hello Bonaventure ! I have my Stelvio for a year now, has 15000 k and I believe that I have the same problem that you have / had ! the dealer change the right chain tensioner but did nothing...the noise is only when the bike is HOT and under 2000 rpm ,,,,did you find the problem ? did you fix it ? thanks for your help

Only happened that one time, hasn't re-occurred since. I do get a slight timing chain rattle on some cold starts but not always, and that one is always on the starboard (right hand) cylinder, duration of maybe 1 - 2 seconds.
 
Hi guys, I have just completed my repair, and my noise is gone. First I replaced the tensioner, because that made sense, right? CHange the noisy part. No. A little better? Yes. Completely better at hot & low RPM? No. Come to find that the oil sump intermediate flange gasket was bad/torn. Oddly enough the oil pressure warning light wasn't coming on. There are oil passeges that the gasket helps to seal, and these gaskets can tear, relieving some of the oil pressure that was intended for many moving engine parts including...wait for it...the right (and left) side timing chain tensioner.
 
Bit late to the party, but it's worth posting this, as it's quite a common issue on the 8V 1200s.

Original Gasket (the one between the Crankcase and the sump 'Spacer') is a thin and brittle material, almost like a plastic.
It fails around the Pressure Galleries at the rear.

GasketFailure

Sometimes only that one goes, other times the Centre one goes too.
Replacement Gasket you want is a thicker more fibrous type, usually Green in colour.

Gasket

Alternatively, get some good quality thick Gasket Paper, and make your own.
Only the Hole placements are important really, you could leave a little extra material around those holes for instance, and the rest of the Gasket for that matter.
 
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