While your at it run a compression test . If you have lost compresion check the Valve train

 

I checked the cam and I do indeed have this pin and spring in the cam. It was in the cam when I installed it the first time. The noise that I have IS a ticking sound. Another question I have is the timing chain. How easy is it to stretch one of these? I held the cam gear w/ the timing chain on it while I removed the stocker and installed the hotcam. I realized about half way through that I had to remove the entire tensioner assembly and not just the spring to loosen the timing chain. I thought I had noticed a tick in the engine last week when i had the cam in, but it was running great and I was the only one who thought they heard it, so I may be mistaken. Could I have stretched the timing chain beyond use?

 

I dont think it would have stretched unless.. you had the spring in the tensioner while holding the cam gear off the cam, this couldnt really be - you would have had a hell of a time getting the gear on.

Sometimes they do get stretched by people putting the tensioner in fully extended and tighening the bolts.

the cam chain is pretty cheap to replace, its just a pain to get to.

 

ok, thanks. but now i'm back to square 1. I'll check the cylinder dimensions and double check the installation of the cam spring. Is there an easy way to check the valves for a bent one, or do I have to take them all apart?

 

Bring the engine to TDC. Use the hose on the compression tester and blow into it with your mouth. If it blows air through easily, you have a bent valve or other related compression problem. If not, do a compression test with the guage etc. These you can do before taking anything apart.

 

You might also turn the engine over with the sparkplug out and see if it acts like it's draging . If it drags with plug out youve got other problems

 

If the tensioner was installed fully extended the chain is trash.

 

its a wiseco piston, 100mm std bore. All that we did was hone the cylinder to remove the glaze and provide the breakin pattern for the rings. I didnt think you needed to bore a cylinder for a std sized piston, especially a wiseco. What kind of a ring gap should i have, the top seemed a little big.

The cam tensioner was not put in when extended, but may have been stretched when we failed to pull it out until after we had removed the stock cam.

 

OK, so I did a compression test today, 25psi. Yeah, way low. It turns out the timing was off, way off. The right carb was also extremely lean. I have fixed the timing and reassembled the engine. There was no scarring/scorching on the cylinder walls and the piston head looked great too. Rings were fine.

I think I am ready to go again with one exception, jetting. I currently have a 170/175 setup. 27.5 needles i think on the 4th clip from the top. Air screw out 3 turns. Its obvious I am too lean for my setup. I have a full ct pipe, K&N proflow w/ outerwear, no airbox, stage 1 hotcam and an 11:1 wiseco 100mm std bore piston. I was thinking a 180/185 with a 30 needle on the 3rd clip, and about 3.5 turns out. Any help would be great. I live in michigan so its cold and we are pretty close to sea level.