Jubilee Intermittent Valve Tick

This message is a reply to an archived post by Gunner 10 on August 03, 2014 at 13:37:18.<br>The original subject was "Re: Jubilee valve adjustment".<br><br>

I did exactly as suggested in an earlier (2014) post by Gunner. Set my Jubilee valves at .013 cold. Seems to run okay. Has anyone had an update on this? I'm assuming the valves open .002 when the engine heats up to normal operating temperature leaving me at .015 w/hot. If anyone has any advice or input, I'm open.

On a different note...I also have a weird thing going on with an intermittent valve tick. Ticks at low speed when warming up especially upon any deceleration of the throttle lever - about 900 - 500 rpm. When the engine is totally warm...no ticking. Any thoughts on either would be appreciated. I'm a new Jubilee owner.

First thing to do, be sure the tick really is a valve train noise.

When the noise is at it's worst, try pulling one plug wire at a time, see if that changes the sound. If the sound changes, goes away, or changes it's tune, chances are it is not valve noise. It could be a loose wrist pin or loose piston skirt to bore clearance.

If it is, don't panic. Unless it gets worse or the oil pressure drops, chances are it will run many years with no problems.

Also, try removing the fan belt, possibly there is something in the generator or water pump, or a slapping belt.

Another possibility, a chipped timing gear, or a piece of metal caught in a timing gear.

To check for valve train noise, remove the valve cover. Look everything over, look for a bent pushrod, broken valve spring, dry rocker bushing, etc. Start the engine and slip a .013" feeler gauge between each rocker and valve with it running. See if any feel loose or the sound goes away.

If this is a recent rebuild, or the head has been off, many times the valve train will settle in and need the valves adjusted again.

There are procedures for turning the engine to certain positions and setting certain valves. I prefer to remove the plugs, turn the engine through while using a feeler gauge, find the loosest position and set the valve lash there. Repeat with each valve. That way I KNOW the cam was on the base circle and not approaching a quieting ramp and giving a false reading.

Let us know what you find.

i had something like that on a honda nighthawk motorcycle, turns out it was a loose valve seat that would drop out and then re-seat itself.

Thank you, I will try some of those ideas and keep you posted. Do you think I'm okay with the .013 cold adjustment?

Thank you. Something weird's going on. When she's up to temp 100% and run a bit, I can't get it to make any noise.

One other thought along with piston slap, etc. I did a compression test (engine warm - not hot, not cold) and found #1, #3, and #4 were at 100 lbs. #2 was at 80 lbs. I added oil to each cylinder and the compression came up to 125 lbs on all.

It's OK with that valve setting. A little noise is better than too tight.

The compression is concerning though. Is there excess blow-by out the breather tube? Oil consumption?

I'd say pretty good amount of blow by. I do think the rings are worn. She gained compression to factory specs when I added a few ounces of oil to each cylinder. All cylinders about 125 psi w/oil added.

Also, I went and pulled the valve cover again and set the valve clearance at .014 hot. I also checked for missing, broken, or bent push rods. All seemed fine. I noticed on each cylinder, one valve seemed to have a different style keeper than the other. The other looked like it had nothing. I have pics if that seems odd. I'm new at the details of this engine. After I started it, after the valve reset to .014, it sounded just like before. Once the engine is completely hot, I have absolutely no valve tick etc. I'm adding about 1/2 cups auto trans fluid to gasoline at fill up.

still having heavy valve tick sound unless engine is 100% working warm. I checked with stethoscope for fan hitting shroud, exhaust leak, timing gear noise, etc. Still sounds like valve tick. I pulled spark plug wires off individually, and engine still makes the same amount of valve tick noise even while running on 3 cylinders. So I'm thinking that eliminates piston slap, wrist pin, etc. I did notice that upon mild "throttle up" of engine RPM, ticking stops, upon pushing throttle closed and at idle up to about 1100 RPM still ticks, but seems to go away upon pushing "throttle up" for more RPM. Anything over 1200 RPM or so, no noise. I added lead additive to the fuel. Any ideas would be appreciated. I should have dropped a feeler gauge at tappet clearances, with the engine running, to see if I could nail down when valve it was, but I forgot to do that and put it all back together...pained etc.