Rocker box noise front cyc.at low speed when cold. noise gone after short time. 2002 flhtci 33000 mi9., 95 in., 203 cam, 15000 miles ago.

The lifters are hydraulic on this model and as a result they are noisy for about the first 15 minutes after cold start. As a precaution I would just make sure to check your oil level as being really low on oil will cause the rockers not to pump up with oil as well. Oil pressure causes the rockers to expand under pressure via the oil pump. If the car has extremely high miles I would maybe have the oil pump replaced during next timing belt job.

To do the camshaft seal, he had to take the cam out or at least loosen the rockers. He probably didn't adjust the rockers properly after reinstalling the cam.

What you're hearing is the rocker arm opening the valves. This is normal operating noise.

Your Harley is an older design pushrod operated engine. Unlike most other motorcycles engines, Harley does not use overhead cams in any of their bikes other than the V-Rod. Additionally, there is no sound deadening material inside the rocker box covers. Although the engine is equipped with hydraulic tappets, there is a bit of running clearance in the rocker arms and their shafts they run on.

In short, this is not unusual and your Harley will run for many miles. If you can hear that clicking, it sounds like you need to take the baffles out of that V&H pipe.

To see a diagram of your engine, go to BikeBandit.com. , click on OEM and choose your bike or any Big Twin of that year.

Good Luck
steve

You didn't tell me how many miles you have on your Dyna but I can assure you that it's not a timing chain bridge. You bike does not have overhead cams and therefore no bridge at the top of the heads. It does have two cams in the cam chest and they are driven by chains. As such, they have chain tensioners. They should be checked every 10,000 miles or so.

If the noise is indeed in the top of the head, it's more than likely a rocker arm bushing. They usually last the life of an engine but things fail from time to time. To check them, you'll have to put the rocker box covers off and remove the bolts on the right side of each rocker. Then the rocker will come out. You can have the bushing replaced and resized to fit new shafts.

Good Luck
steve

You ever had the top end serviced? How many miles on it? Maybe time for a valve job, check pushrods, and lifters. How many miles on the oil?

Depends. You will get some valve noise as the bike gets older, however, this noise is only noticable at Idle. If you are getting a loud enough noise at crouse speed to the point of being annoying then the chances are you have a lifter that is starting to collapse. This is upper end noise only. If you are getting a lower end noise and have at least 30,000 miles on the bike. Chances are the valve drive chain tensioners are going. This is a known problem with twin cam engines. I have two twin cams and had to replace the tensioners on both. My advice to you if this is the problem is to go to Gear Drive cams. I did it without any regrets. I have a quicker power response and was able to increase my rev. limit speed by almost 200 rpms. The down side according to some is a wining noise. I don't get any noise I can hear over my Python 3 pipes. In my opinion the benefits out weigh the noise. Without having the bike in front of me this is the best I can suggest.

My first guess would be a bad tappet. The bearing in the roller on the end of the tappet has gone bad. It makes an interrmittant knocking noise. If you'll pop the push rod tubes down on the front head and start the bike, you can feel it in the push rods. Just let the bike idle.

If you dd not torque the front sprocket down correctly you could have an issue. If this is a new noise then be concerned, if this has progressed over time, then it is more than likely just the bike loosening up. Which is normal...but loud, could this be pre-detonation, did you make the correct adjustments to your MAP? Check you push rod adjustment with the bike cold, I mean Artic overnight not running cold.

Make sure the oil is not low first, this sounds like valve trane noise, check the valve rocker clearances they may be loose.

Its probably the automatic cam chain tensioner. Honda told me to ignore the noise because nothing bad is happening. My bike shop said I should replace it with a manual tensioner. I have 15300 miles and will leave it be.