04honda

I have a preowned 05 Rincon I bought that now has 350 miles on it. After it gets hot I hear a odd noise that sounds like a air grinder/cutter barely touching some metal or kinda like something rattling loose inside the front of the engine (which could be something slapping). I took it to the dealer and they adjusted the valves which they said were loose and said it was one of the quietest engine they have heard in a while. I thought it helped the problem some but turns out it did not.I don't think they actually heard the noise. I have noticed recently it will be hardley noticeable until I go and gun the throttle while riding with the bike then I can hear the grinding noise once I stop on the machine and give it just a little throttle. It really isn't noticable at idle you have to give it a little thottle in neutral or you can hear it while riding as the rpms get up right before it shifts when hot. I can hear some of this which I believe is the same noise in my 2008 rincon with only 250 miles on it but it is very hard to hear on it. Now most of everything I have read on a bad cam chain tensioner is it makes noise when cold and goes away when warm. Can a bad/weak tensioner just make a sound when hot and just after I gun the throttle up to about 45-50 mph? It gets pretty loud and scares me to death that I am hurting the engine. I know they are noisey engines but this sounds unhealthy to me. I ordered a new tensioner and gasket and two new bolts. Is replacing the tensioner just unbolt the 2 bolts take the old one out and put the new one in and bolt it back? THANKS!!!

04honda

I don't want to snap any of the two bolts off that hold it on. Does anyone know what ftlbs I need to torque them at when installing?

toodeep

7 ft-lbs.

cmartin248

you have to "rewind" the tensioner and hold it while you bolt it up and then release the tensioner. There is a special tool for this, but you don't HAVE to have it.. never turn the engine with the tensioner out or you could cause the engine to jump time. This is a very easy fix if you understand how it works.

toodeep

Yes if reinstalling the old one. I was going off of the new tensioner as the replacement.

04honda

Ok I installed the new tensioner and gasket and took it for a couple miles up and down the pavement running it hard up to 60mph. Once I come to a stop and put it in neutral and gave a little steady throttle I can hear the same noise. Seems like I might be able to hear it going full throttle but there is so much noise it is hard to tell if it is the same noise just louder. Although I hear the grinding noise worse at times at lower throttle the bike seems to run very good and will run about 60mph down hill in about 1/8th mile I guess I will just consider it normal and ride it. It does seems like I hear this noise just very little in my 2008 rincon also. If anyone gets a chance after running there Rincon and can put it in neutral and rev the engine a little and hold it steady and listen and see if there bike makes kind of a rattling/grinding noise in front of the engine to give me an idea if other besides mine does it and let me know if it carbed or EFI. Now should I take out the new tensioner and gasket and put my old one back in that only has 350miles on it or leave the new one in? THANKS!!!

cmartin248

An 05 with only 350 miles is very low mileage. Is it possible that the mileage is wrong and your cam chain is stretched beyond the limit of the tensioner. I have a post about replacing the cam chain and your problem sounds like what mine was beginning to do. I have an 05 and it made the same noise your are describing. After replacing the cam chain and oil pump chain, its smooth as a sewing machine. It looks like the cam chain is a weak link on this machine. The 08 and above have a different tensioner and cam chain.

04honda

I bought the bike with 167miles/27hrs on it about 3 months ago I am the 3rd owner. The bike was as clean as new you had to look very hard to see any signs of it being off road. It only had 2 scuffs of the plastic from what appeared to be someones foot dragging getting on the bike. The aftermarket rims/tires didn't have a scratch on them. I believe it would be unlikely this bike has more miles on it than it says but I will never know for sure.

04honda

I still would think that if it was a stretched cam chain that it would slap at idle and it is very quiet at idle! Seems like it makes the noise after the engine is under a load. I put the old tensioner back in and took my wife,son and I a little ride on the pavement last night running the bike hard with all the xtra weight and it sounded as bad as the noise gets after I started going slower speed with steady idle.

04honda

Ok I decided to give the new tensioner another try after the way the noise got last night riding after I put the old one back in. My wife son and I just got back from riding the rincon hard up the road and back for about 2 miles. I can hear the small amount of noise at partial throttle but as of now I don't hear the bad rattling like I heard last night with the old tensioner in. Maybe the small amount of rattling at partial throttle is normal and the worst noise might have been the old tensioner even though it seems to look fine. I did notice removing the old tensioner this morning that after all the bolts were out I had to touch the tensioner before it poped out. So maybe there is somehting not quiet right with it. I will run the bike again when I get a chance and see if I can get it to make the bad/loud noise again with the new tensioner in. I wish there was a easy way for me to post some pics of the bike just you guys can see just how clean this thing was when I bought it.