Mobil 1 20/50 timing chain tap

[RTNewbie]

So i changed from BMW 15/50 syn to the Mobil 1 20/50 and now the cam chain is noisy. It is not noisy until the bike gets up to temp (5 bars) then a very pronounced tap until i sit at idle in traffic and the bike gets a little hotter (still 5 bars) then the tap slowly fades to nothing again. None of this happened with the BMW 15-50.

What in tarnation?

[PGlaves]

My R1150R seems to be very sensitive to oil viscosity. When the oil is fresh I don't get the noise, but after about 4,000 miles it starts and gets louder thereafter until I change the oil. It does the same thing with BMW dino oil, Castrol 4T oil, and BMW synthetic oil.

I think the chain tensioners are the culprit - whether due to design or due to wear, I'm not sure yet,

[121247]

I have a 05 RT and use 20/50 amsoil and there is no problem. The bike runs great.
CW

[Jeff]

Have you replaced your left side cam chain tensioner yet? There is a modified left side cam chain tensioner available from BMW. Aparently the original tensioner did not keep enough pressure on the the chain at idle. The modified tensioner solves that problem. Very easy replacement.

[Dave_Faria]

I've been fighting the clicky clack of the cam chain issue at idle for a long time. I have the updated left side tensioner. I also run Mobil 1 15w50 because it is a good oil. The reason I have not accepted the noise as normal is I've listened to police bikes which get the *^&%&%&* run out of em and they are as quiet as church mice. My goal is to get my bike that nice and quiet. Paul is right, Viscosity is an issue but, this is what I've found works for my bike. When my bike was serviced at 600 miles the rocker arm end clearances were left at .006in on the left side and .025in on the right side. U cannot get a good valve adjustment when the rocker arms are that loose. I have now closed my rocker arm end clearances to the min.. I now do a very precision valve clearance adjustment - it takes a couple of hours. I still have some of the noise at idle BUT, it is getting quieter and suggests to me the valve train system needs to wear-in. I probably would have no cam chain noise at all if I used a higher viscosity oil. A way I think to check the rocker arm end play is with the feeler gages inserted at both the intake and exhaust push up on the rocker arm. If there is too much end play the gages either drop out of position or spin loose. I've also seen the valve adjustment change when I spin the shoe on the end of the valve adjustment rod. I suspect the looseness in the shoe is due to not doing a good adjustment earlier and the parts did not wear in properly. Anyway these are just my thoughts and I think my engine will be the quiet performer I want eventually.

Also my engine performance has gotten better and smoother.

[RTNewbie]

Have you replaced your left side cam chain tensioner yet? There is a modified left side cam chain tensioner available from BMW. Aparently the original tensioner did not keep enough pressure on the the chain at idle. The modified tensioner solves that problem. Very easy replacement.

Nope no tensioner update to date. I'm thinking about it though. I really want a quiet engine so that and switching back to the BMW 15-50 would be a good place to start i guess.

Where would one acquire said tensioner update/upgrade?

[saab93driver]

Nope no tensioner update to date. I'm thinking about it though. I really want a quiet engine so that and switching back to the BMW 15-50 would be a good place to start i guess.

Where would one acquire said tensioner update/upgrade?


It is a BMW part, get it from your dealer.

[RTNewbie]

Have you replaced your left side cam chain tensioner yet? There is a modified left side cam chain tensioner available from BMW. Aparently the original tensioner did not keep enough pressure on the the chain at idle. The modified tensioner solves that problem. Very easy replacement.

You know,, I bought the bike used,, how can i tell if the modified tensioner has already been installed?

Thanks in advance

[Dave_Faria]

Do a search on "cam chain tensioner" in this forum. I THINK the new style tensioner has a 15mm bolt head and the old style has a 17mm. If u have the old style and want to change it out the procedure is documented with jpegs.