Engine Noise, please listen

After riding to work today after getting clutch back together, nosie is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

Any update? Just read through the thread - what a letdown. ;)

i went away for the most part, noise was only present when bike got hot, like sitting in traffic hot. As soon as you took off and reved the motor up it went away. It only made the noise at idle...very weird. A guy bought it from me about a month ago, havent heard anything back from him. Told him about the issue and he test rode the bike before he bought it. So sorry i cant follow up the final diagnosis of it. Was a great bike though.

Well I just wanted to bring this thread back up to the fore front as my stock wr is making the same noise at 3800 miles and it is driving me nuts. I just use this bike for commuting and am very gentle on it. If I want something faster I just jump on the Buell.

keith_mahoney wrote:

Well I just wanted to bring this thread back up to the fore front as my stock wr is making the same noise at 3800 miles and it is driving me nuts. I just use this bike for commuting and am very gentle on it. If I want something faster I just jump on the Buell.

Another bump. I'm right at 3,000mi on my WRR and I have the exact same noise as in the video when hot. No clue what it is -- doesn't seem to have any ill effect so far, but if it's something that's going to cause problems going forward I sure would like to nip it in the bud...

trey

Well, add me to the list of owners with this weird noise. It started yesterday and is exactly as is described in this thread. Did anyone come up with an explanation or solution? My wr has 2600 miles and is completely stock, except the vapor recovery cannister has been removed from the gas tank vent line. The last thing I did to it was wash it before the ride that ended with the idle squeal. Any input is appreciated.

Well after about a thousand miles of this annoying noise my bike no longer does it. It has been quiet for around 300 miles now.

As already mentioned in this thread, check valve cover bolts and any other covers at cylinder head.
When those bolts start to get loose, air might be pressed through a very tight gap and cause this noise.
Also check exhaust pipe bolts and so on.

As soon as bolts get really loose, it no longer would create that high pitched noise, but may sound differently for sure.
I would check any bolts at cylinder head I could reach.

A week ago my 660Z Tenere made a similar high pitched noise, but only when giving it a little throttle. It was not as clear
and loud in my case, it just came to my mind after some riding, and I wondered wtf is this.
I checked the engine and found one of the head side cover bolts starting to get loose. Fixing this bolt stopped noise immediately.

Hope it helps and good luck!
Phil

BTW a local forum mate had his valve clearance checked lately after doing 40,000kms, and it was found way out of tolerance.
So it might be a good idea to reduce check intervals specified by Yamaha. I will check mine in 3,000km at 20,000km overall.

Just bumping this thread to see if there are others with the same problem that can shed some light on a solution? Here are the specifics:

1. Whistling or squeal at idle.
2. Only occurs when engine is warmed up.
3. Goes away with the application of the throttle.
4. Pulling in the clutch makes no difference in sound.


Any body else found a solution or just ride it until it goes away?

mhm2a wrote:

Just bumping this thread to see if there are others with the same problem that can shed some light on a solution? Here are the specifics:

1. Whistling or squeal at idle.
2. Only occurs when engine is warmed up.
3. Goes away with the application of the throttle.
4. Pulling in the clutch makes no difference in sound.


Any body else found a solution or just ride it until it goes away?

I still don't have a solution, but here's how mine has gone since I posted about it last November.....

It seemed to go away for a long time. I'd say around the turn of the year it stopped making the noise, or it at least got so quiet that I stopped noticing it completely. Then, two weeks ago, I went up to Colorado and spent a lot of time at elevation on tight (for me) single track where it was in the 90's and the fan was really getting a workout. It started squeeling again up there, and it hasn't quieted down in my last two weeks of commuting back down here in Austin (where it isn't particularly cool).

I'm almost inclined to think it has something to do with the fuel pump at this point. Is everyone having the problem on an '08? It doesn't seem to change pitch with the engine speed, once it revs up much at all it goes away. When the tank is almost empty, it seems extra loud -- and likewise, when I stop and fill up with cool gas, it seems to quiet down. Does anyone else seem to notice the same thing, or is this all in my head?

I'm at about 5,500 miles now, still runs great, still returning unbelievable MPG, just makes that damn noise.... I'm curious to see if it goes away in the dead of winter again, but who knows.

trey

Trey,

Mine just started to make this noise with about 6500 miles on the clock and it is an 08 model. I had the fuel pump replaced under warranty in 2010 and I genuinely do not think it is a fuel pump issue. I have narrowed the noise down to the area to the left of the water pump cover and to the right of the oil filter cover. There seems to be some small passage there in between the two covers and I am uncertain what is in that position behind the engine cases that would make that noise.

I have changed the oil and oil filter....no change.

I have flushed and replaced the coolant......no change.

I have ridden the snot out of the bike to see if I could make it worse....no change.

It is just one of those aggrivating noises that drives me crazy. I may borrow a lighted bore scope from work and take a look inside the cover through the oil filler hole to see what it may be. The gears that you can see from the oil filler hole look good and there is no discernable wear on any of the parts that I can asses and there was nothing foreign in my oil filter when changed.

Since this is engine is basically a 1/4 R1 motor I have spent some time on sportbike forums trying to narrow it down. Some R1 owners report a similar noise that only occurs at idle and goes away with minor amount of throttle as well. Some of the just chalk it up as a quirk type of noise that does no harm to anyone but the worrysome owner. Others say it is a fuel injection or throttle body noise but it seems different to me. My next step is to change the air filter and see if that makes any difference but I am guessing that it wont. Any other ideas?

mhm2a wrote:

I have narrowed the noise down to the area to the left of the water pump cover and to the right of the oil filter cover. There seems to be some small passage there in between the two covers and I am uncertain what is in that position behind the engine cases that would make that noise.

I'll have to take a close look this weekend and see if I can narrow it down to this area. It's hard to get a line on where it's coming from, the pitch of it makes it hard to pinpoint....

mhm2a wrote:

I have changed the oil and oil filter....no change.

Oh yeah, multiple oil changes, no effect. At one point I was thinking maybe it was due to the oil being very slightly overfilled.

mhm2a wrote:

I have flushed and replaced the coolant......no change.

Haven't done that yet...

mhm2a wrote:

I have ridden the snot out of the bike to see if I could make it worse....no change.

Yep, yesterday I ran up and down the toll at lunch running errands, 25+ miles at ~80mph, just running it ragged... sounds the same.

mhm2a wrote:

My next step is to change the air filter and see if that makes any difference but I am guessing that it wont.

Doubt it, I've changed mine to a TwinAir, still does it.

The scope idea would be interesting -- at least if you could actually get back in there to take a peek. Otherwise, I'll probably just deal with it until I need to take off the case cover for some reason.

trey

I will report back in if I find any possible cause for the noise.....Gonna go buy some good earplugs...

Any ideas on a fix for this problem? My 250x is making this noise at idle when hot also.....rather annoying!

Tried the following:
- sealed exhaust with high temp sealant
- removed radiator cover
- added rubber between where fan meets the radiator
- checked all bolts i could on engine are tight
- checked intake clamps are tight

I'm stumped as to where else to look!?

Haven't heard this on my 08 yet. Anyhow this would probably be a lot easier to troubleshoot with a kick starter. If you put the bike in gear ok a Stand and turn the tire to turn the motor over listen carefully for crankcase leaks that way. Just a hunch if you will. Hope it yields something!

add me to the list of 08 owners with this problem. With a hose it sounds like it's coming from the oil filler plug. I'm going to try an alloy filler plug or something.

^^ Hey there mate - did you try loosening / removing the filler plug to see if the noise changed or stopped ?

Cheers.

Scratch that, playing with the filler does nothing.

Oddly enough though - when i force the thermo fan to come on, and it cools the engine for about 60 sec the sound disappears...
I did this because i was wondering if the thermo fan was working, because i hadn't been able to get it to come on, even when idling for a long time. The way i forced it to come on was by disconnecting the temp sensor in the cylinder/head area.

- but i think this only affects it due to the lower running temperature. The thermo is working properly.

Sound is strongest on myne from the water pump impeller cover.

How long have you guys ridden your bike like this? I only just bought this one, and i'm thinking of passing it on incase this develops into something worse.

Water pump impeller is proberly pretty cheap to purchase, and it would be a simple job to replace, so i would just look at replacing it to cover that possibility..... From the description of your checks and being that the water pump impeller is right in that area it is quite a fesible component to suspect. Maybe just start off by at least checking the price of a new genuine impeller.

Cheers.

The sound to me sounds like a bearing on its way out - similar to when a car water pump starts getting water in the bearings.
I checked the impeller, it looks perfect. So i don't see any point to replacing it. The only thing i would like to do is replace the water pump bearing - but that looks like a decent sized task.

Ok no worries mate - it seems as though you have gone a fair way into it already - so you have well and truely covered all the basics.

So in regards to the impeller, is a rubber unit such as per outboard marine engines ?

Maybe some sort of hardened rubber, seemed to me to be plastic? was quite stiff.

Yeah well i've done plenty of outboard impellers, but never on a bike before.....but definately the marine impellers are a solid / hard rubber, but still very flexible. Anyway, maybe due to the age that impeller might be "harder" than it should be. I have seen on a few occasions where an old, hard or "dry" rubber impeller can make a squeaking / squealing type noise in that lower area of an outboard.

Also is it possible to spray a small amount of lube into the impeller housing, and bearing as well to see if the noise goes away briefly, or is reduced.

Sorry for the delayed response here "live", i'm also just reading this complete thread from start to finish - almost done mate.

Cheers.

Also just to add on above in regards to your original impeller being "hard / inflexable" due to old age = this is another reason to maybe check if your local Yamaha dealer has a new one in stock, just to compare the texture & flexibility of the old & new units. ( Also if not in stock, but say if it's only a sub $100 part, maybe worth ordering on a gamble ).

I suppose if you are able to first just spay some slight lube on your existing impeller to see what happens with the noise - if it makes a difference then go for a new impeller. ( Maybe it can be ordered as per the outboard engine where you can replace the impeller as a "kit" with housing, seals and o-rings etc ).

Also in regards to that bearing you mention, can you see with a good light the surface condition of the ball bearings or inner / outer bearing race ? ( Or is it a sealed unit type bearing ).


That noise from the OP's attached video is pretty full on - is your bike a similar noise & at the same level ?


Cheers.