Exhaust leak sounds like lifter

[Heck52]

Hello, I'm new to the forum but I thought I'd pass this on. I've have a 2008 XL1200 Custom and have had what I thought was lifter noise comming from the rear cylinder. It only lasted for a few seconds and was worse when it was cold out. I live in norther Wisc. I checked with the dealer and he said that they will do that and is alright as long as the lifter pumps up. Will this spring it got worse so I started hunting and finally checked the torque on the exhaust stud nuts on the cylinder head. That was it. This also smooth out the engine at startup. So if you have what sounds like a lifter at startup check the exhaust stud nuts on the heads.

 

[TQuentin1]

Hello, I'm new to the forum but I thought I'd pass this on. I've have a 2008 XL1200 Custom and have had what I thought was lifter noise comming from the rear cylinder. It only lasted for a few seconds and was worse when it was cold out. I live in norther Wisc. I checked with the dealer and he said that they will do that and is alright as long as the lifter pumps up. Will this spring it got worse so I started hunting and finally checked the torque on the exhaust stud nuts on the cylinder head. That was it. This also smooth out the engine at startup. So if you have what sounds like a lifter at startup check the exhaust stud nuts on the heads.

I think this is a very good tip. I chased what I thought was a lifter noise or valve tap for a while since I did my roller chain conversion. Changed the lifters back to the originals, adjusted and readjusted the pushrods, etc. Finally this last weekend, I replaced the lifters with a new "B" set AND stripped off the exhaust from both cylinders, replaced the gaskets with some COMETIC C9540 PREMIUM ones. Buttoned it all back up and set the pushrods to 3 turns and 1 flat (24 tpi). I am WAY happy with the results. Not sure exactly what was the solution, but I think that the exhaust CAN mimic a lifter or valve tap.

TQ

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

TQ - Glad to hear you got it sorted. I have more confidence in your replacing the lifters to a new "B" set than loose exhaust/stud nuts. Hard to imagine an exhaust can make tapping sounds as in the previous post, but stranger things have been known to happen.:small3d012:

 

[TQuentin1]

TQ - Glad to hear you got it sorted. I have more confidence in your replacing the lifters to a new "B" set than loose exhaust/stud nuts. Hard to imagine an exhaust can make tapping sounds as in the previous post, but stranger things have been known to happen.:small3d012:

I had installed a new set of "B" lifters when I did the conversion project. I immediately had the tapping that I assumed was a bad lifter/valve noise. Went back to my old set of lifters to see if that would identify the lifters as the cause, but not luck - still had the tapping. This second new set of "B"s were sent to me by Herko as a replacement for the first set. But I did NOT just install the lifters, I also removed the exhaust from both cylinders, replaced the gaskets and then remounted the pipes as well as replacing the lifters. So I think the front exhaust pipe might not have been secured correctly allowing blow-by of the exhaust gas that made a sound like a tapping. It was NOT that the pipe was moving in my case. Don't know. It was a stubborn and frustrating problem however.

TQ

 

[Heck52]

I had to use a stethoscope to nail down where the noise was comming from. I to found it hard to believe, but when I retorqed the nuts to specs the noise never came back. Remember it only made nosie in the first min. of startup. As soon as the pipe warmed up it went away. The leak was comming from the lower left next to the lower stud.