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Horrible clicking-knocking-clatter 15 miles after changing stator.

Redman

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THis is a story of mechanical problem .... and my poor troubleshooting/ProblemSolving due to, ah, um, my preconceived suspicions/fears.

First day of Brown County Rally (330 miles from home), out for all day ride, and have charging problems. Trouble shoot it to stator failure (I'll blame that on getting stuck in suburban Indy traffic on ride down prior day. . . . but more blame is on me for still having 6 year old stator on shunt R/R yet.)
Had spare stator with me. And steve had more tools, so we changed out the stator there in motel parking lot.
yl9Ebfxm.jpg

More to that part of story
https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...95#post1697095


Then Next day, riding to breakfast before an all day ride, I hear a bit of ticking. And suspect something going on with cams and cam caps (since havening rebuilt engine with salvage head, just got it back together last November).
After breakfast it is a louder tick, and more of knock, kinda half way between a knock and a clatter.
I tell the other guys to proceed with the day trip without me . I am going back to motel (again - 2nd day), and ponder my options.
By the time I get back to motel, it is a terrible knock, not quite a clatter, with a little bit of scraping sound.
I am sure its something like cam cap bolt broke or something (a couple had helicoils and a couple had threaded inserts). I suspect that because I have been concerned about that, and, oh crap, it has happened.
Am pondering that I can take off tank and fairing and fairing mount bracket so can then take off the cam cover to investigate. Naw, that is too much to do in motel parking lot. Naw, I can do all that in about an hour or less. Naw, that is too much to do, would not be able to fix it anyway. Naw, dont be so pesimestic/defeatist, start dissasembling it. Naw, realistic probably cant fix it anyway.
A couple of people wander back to motel, I start it so they can hear it. They look horrified. I should have made a vidio.
I make tentive plans for wife to drive down with trailer (6 hours) Sunday, stay the night, and trailer bike home Monday.

Steve comes back late after noon.
Listens to it for two seconds and say "that not cams, is too fast for cams, cams are half engine speed, that noise is multiple times engine speed". Gets out big screw driver to use as stethoscope, and in about 30 seconds points to stator cover and says "something in there".
Oh, man, embarrassed again. I had been concered about my engine rebuild work, that I thought was a cam problem, didnt even try to determine if sound was from to or bottom of engine.
I said, "throw me some tools, I can take cover off, you are occupied with setting up for dinner."

Got cover off, and Steve came right back.
Not seeing anything. He was suspecting the stator mounting screws or maybe stator not fully seated in the cover.
With cover off, started engine very breifly, and yah, sound not apparent, so that was sucsesfull trouble shooting, to prove the interference was between something in stator cover and the engine. (lets not talk about the big oil gush)

Took some more time to investigate, after a while Steve finds some scrap marks on edge of that bracket that hold the stator wiring to the stator cover.
BgANCTKl.jpg


And then some more looking and find respective scrape marks on a couple places on rotor. So scraping most way around and catching on two holes, one across the rotor from the other, so twice engine rpm’s.
vDUXkTCl.jpg


Which is puzzling since it seems that that bracket snaps into one place and only fits in one place, but, nope, loosen the bolt and it can rock out or in. Doah !

(I think in pictures the bracket has been move back to the in/level position.)

So when replacing stator, be carefull how position that bracket.
 
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Close call! Glad you got it sorted out right on location. There are certainly coincidences, but 9 times out of 10, any time a new issue crops up immediately after something else was changed/disturbed recently, chances are it has something to do with the recent repair/change.
 
Wow ---
When trouble shooting problems always remember Occam's razor

"Occam's razor (also known as the 'law of parsimony') is a philosophical tool for shaving off unlikely explanations.
Essentially, when faced with competing explanations for the same phenomenon, the simplest is likely the correct one."


That would've pointed you the work you just finished directly; rather than ponder all the possibilities -
I always assume I have done it wrong when a new problem presents itself immediately after fixing a problem ;)
 
This would not have happened had you noted the position prior to disassembly and accounted for rotation from the fastener.
Hindsight and and smug pontification are alluring.

no permanent damage will likely ensue
 
You got lucky ... nice story btw, good pics.
Will surely help some of the readers.

Buddy of mine was less lucky, that same bracket worked itself loose on his bike :
ripped the wiring and damaged his new stator beyond repair.

He now uses Locktite on this bolt.
 
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