Help id this engine noise!*video link*

[tbcfreerider]

AFTER THE HIT AND RUN I WAS IN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnhQOfdsUCY

[latexeses]

I'm not a diagnostic expert but the tic I heard sounded like exhaust. Next Time you start the bike up hold a lit cigarette or a stick of incense or a punk (A smoldering piece of cotton rope, no flame) around that gasket on the 1st tube there.
Do it in calm air. In a garage where it is still. You will know if it is puffing air in a hurry. It may be that the impact with the case guard disturbed the gasket seal on that header enough to leak when cold but nearly disappears when hot.

It is a quick easy test for leaks. I don't smoke cigs but they smolder well for the test.

[tbcfreerider]

thanks, thats what i was thinking as well. think i should try tightening the exhaust down? also will this cause any damage with a leak there in the long run?

[latexeses]

I wouldn't wrench too hard until you know for sure it is leaking there. You may stop the tic but there still might be a small leak that will get bigger over time. It may be something as simple a fix as easing off the nuts on that particular header when it is cold and pulling the header toward you when you tighten the nuts back down. The imact may have just put a bind on the pipe. You know what I mean if you ever took a fender off a car with a small dent.
Give the header a smoke test to find the leak though. It will let you sleep better if you know for sure. Someone will come along and add to this when the sun comes up.

[DGXSER]

Yep I agree it sound slike an exhaust leak from what I can hear on the video. I would definitely pull that case guard off, either bend it back into shape or get another.

You can try retorquing the exhaust nuts at the head. See if that helps or not, but I would not go over the specified fotrque (by much) to try to eliminate it. New exhaust gaskets are about $3 each at my local bike shop, and it will take maybe 2 hours on the long side to pull the exhaust off and put it back with new gaskets at the head.

I do not own one, but I do not believe the turn signals serve as marker lights on the XJ, so not hey should not be on IIRC. May have a short in the wiring in the headlight area.

[trbig]

Did you ever pull the alt cover off and see if the rotor is rubbing the stator? First part of the video sounds like exhaust... 2nd part sounds like the stator being rubbed.

If the alternator cover is getting really hot to the touch, then it's possible also... but you can put your hand over the cover when you first start it and feel if it's getting rubbed. Eventually, the sound will deminish because they will grind on each other enough to where the material gets ground away... but you will also lose your charging system... if that's what it is.


Tod

[dbeardslee]

An automotive stethoscope can be very helpful in pinpointing noises. They cost about $10 at an autoparts store. JAT