Noisy cam chain

[paul doran]

ok any input on this would be great
that Z1000MK2 I bought at Stafford had a noisy cam chain
i removed the head and I thought that one of the little damper rubbers of which there are four
two on the rear cam gear and two on the front
I ordered a new set from zedpower
but I have now located the missing rubber
anyway if the rubber was there all along what else could it be
all the cam equipment rubbers,gears,tensioner,chain have all recently been replaced by the previous owner
any ideas

[debben1]

Paul, the damper foot at the front of the block normally held in with a cross head screw is prone to breaking, have you checked it? Cam chain tensoiner could also be stuck.

[Jeff Saunders]

Is the new cam chain a 'peanut' style chain, or one with straight sided links? Some places sell the Suzuki BF05 cam chain in place of the regular 219H style chain.

Are the idler sprockets OEM or aftermarket? The Liska / APE sprockets are noisy compared to stock.

[paul doran]

Jeff the chain is genuine Kawasaki
I have'nt checked the tensioner yet
but when I removed the cam cover the chain seemed overtight if anything that is why I suspected the missing rubber block on the front cam guide

[Rich]

Do you have any proof that they have all been replaced? Have you checked the chain stretch? When you say noisy what do you mean - rattly or whining?

[paul doran]

a full receipt from Cradley Heath listing everything
as I said Rich the chain seemed to be overtight if anything
it did not feel right
it seemed to go a bit slack at a certain point when the engine was rotated
hence the suspicion of the missing rubber block

[Rich]

You may find that the slack bit was the valve springs altering the tension. Have a look at the front blade as Steve said, make sure that it has a cross head (phillips) screw and not an allen bolt holding it as allen bolts sometimes catch the chain. If you have taken the head off you should be able to see this easily.
Check that the chain tensioner is working correctly and that it has been installed properly. Do you have the manual with the tensioner part for MK2s? The nip bolt should only be used for installing the tensioner.

[paul doran]

I had a look at the front blade and it has a crosshead screw
the tensioner appears okay and moves freely
it is new so I would expect it to function properly
in fact all the cam gear looks new as i said so I am no nearer solving the problem

[Rich]

the tensioner appears okay and moves freely

Mk2 has balls to stop the tensioner from retracting into the body and should not push back in normal operation.

What is the problem? Is the chain too slack or tight? Does it have the right length camchain fitted?

[paul doran]

it has the correct tensioner Rich
the problem is when the engine is running it has a noisy chain
yet as I said it seems the chain is tensioned okay
I am at a loss on this one and have never had a problem like this before

[Rich]

Does the chain whine or rattle?

[paul doran]

it is a very slight rattle

[Rich]

Make sure the bolt in the side of the tensioner is not tight against the shaft, it is designed to "float" out to the correct tension and the balls stop it retracting, if someone has replaced the bolt it may be nipping the shaft. Has the bottom end been to bits? measure 20 links of the chain to eliminate chain stretch (just because you have a receipt does not mean it's been done).Do you have kawa idler gears or Liska ones, if Kawa ones are the rubbers all in good condition? Check valve timing.

[paul doran]

all Kawasaki gear
I know all the gear is new and in good nick
I am going to reasemble the motor and see what it run's like

[Pigford]

would anyone be happy using a splitlink cam chain instead of an endless one?
I know in an ideal world its best to split engine and fit the latter, but are splitlinks acceptable for a road going engine?