engine oil question..

[Badkitty]

Ok i bought my bike in may. Runs great. I change the oil at 600miles and at 1200miles. Around the time of 2nd change i started noticing noises coming from engine. One is really loud and at only certain RPMS. When engine rpm is coming down and hits 4000rpm the noise starts and at 3700 is at its loudest...then stops at 2900rpm...weird thing is it will only do this after 15mins of riding. Before that engine sounds normal and no noises. I was thinking maybe it had something to do with having all synthetic in it. I took to the dealer and without charging me $60 just to look at it , the mechaic said that he didnt know what it was that it wasnt COMMON but not uncommon. whatever that means. He also said whatever it was it wasnt HURTING the engine. So tomorrow im going to change oil back to regular and see what happens. I just wanted to get some opinions on it

[GTman]

I don't have clue what's causing the noise but I don't think you've got enough miles on it yet to be switching to synthetic. At least not according to any recommendations I've ever seen.

[Range]

switch back to reg and switch mechanics....that answer is not very good.

My guess is valvetrain....and there is certain RPM's that it becomes noisier....maybe the Synth is the issue since it has not been broken in fully.

[the wind]

switch back to reg and switch mechanics....that answer is not very good.

My guess is valvetrain....and there is certain RPM's that it becomes noisier....maybe the Synth is the issue since it has not been broken in fully.

:smt101 and i thought range was all show.that a good answer with the little info that was given.just a wild guess does your chain have the proper tension.

[Badkitty]

oh forgot to say i have 5700 miles on the bike right now. and yes i keep up on tightening everything . Im going to get the oil in alittle bit..so i'll post what happens

[WildKat]

When your just breaking in an engine, it's always safest to go with the manufac recommends for fluids..that way it doesnt jeapordize your warranty, and if anything goes wrong, you can say you followed instructions to the T

[Badkitty]

one other question i have...when my 600mile service came up, my neighbor ,who is a mechanic for another local dealer, did my service for less than half what the dealer wanted. Does that at all jeopardize my warranty? Or is there something somewhere on the engine that is marked during service or something like that. I dont want them saying i never got it serviced and void my warranty

[Range]

did he give you a receipt?

Unfortunatly....most Manufacturers specify that authorized places do the work. I don't know about Suzuki....never had a new one.

[alriclam]

What kind of noise is it? Around the same mileage (and after an oil change), i started to notice the tap tap tap sound that so many katana owners also experience. I thought it might be in need of a valve adjustment, so I did that, and that didn't help. I also checked a few other things, but nothing helped. I swear it was because of that oil change, but maybe it was a coincidence. Well, whatever the case, I rode it and am still riding it, and it is doing just fine. It still makes the noise, but I'm living with it, its not that noticeable to me anymore.

[The CyberPoet]

one other question i have...when my 600mile service came up, my neighbor ,who is a mechanic for another local dealer, did my service for less than half what the dealer wanted. Does that at all jeopardize my warranty? Or is there something somewhere on the engine that is marked during service or something like that. I dont want them saying i never got it serviced and void my warranty

OK, here's the deal:
(A) You have one or more valves out of adjustment, possibly damaged as a result.
(B) The dealers are supposed to do a valve adjustment at 600 miles; the procedure is for dual reasons -- one has to do with valves being off, the other is for a visual inspection of the upper engine, to make sure that nothing dangerous is happening.
(C) The low-cost tells me that they probably skipped the valve adjustment and simply did the bolt torque and oil change. The valve adjustment takes time because it involve stripping the whole forward fairing off, removing the gas tank, valve covers to get at; I haven't seen anyone offer it for less than $180 or so -- around here going rate is $309 with the oil change and other parts of the 600 mile service (basically the same as the 15k service). Ask the guy who did it if he did a valve adjustment at that time.
(D) You need to get the valves adjusted. Whether you want to call it a catch-up job for the 600 mile adjustment or an early 7500 mile adjustment, it needs to be done. While at it, the mechanic needs to also check the cam chain tension and cam bearing slop because of the noise.
(E) If you are still under warrantee and the place that skimped on the valve adjustment is a Suzuki dealership, you need to notify Suzuki America that they are skimping on it. Suzuki has reported that an average of one out of twenty valves comes out of the factories out of spec; that means a typical 16-valve engine will have at least one valve out of spec that needs to be caught at the 600 mile mark.

PS - the reason the noise happens after the engine gets hot is because metal parts expand when heated, changing the length (and thus the amount that the valve may be out of spec).

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet