Some of you might remember my lowside two months ago, as a result of letting the clutch out too fast + having an immovable obstacle in front of me. Well, riding back to my house, I noticed a new noise that sounded like a rattle in the engine. Since it was small, I ignored it.

Today, after dropping my friend off to class, I forgot to get the keys, so I had to ride without my helmet, and jacket which were still in the apartment. I noticed that the rattling noise is a little louder now. The noise sometimes disappears at high speeds, but comes back intermittantly.

I was wondering what the rattling noise could be. Are there loose bits inside my engine? Had any of you guys experienced the same problem after dropping your bike? What steps should I take to fix it?

can you get it to rattle while in neutral and revving the engine?

Yes. I feel like I should take it to a mechanic to get it checked out. :(

then rev it with the bike in place and isolate exactly where the noise if coming from. that will tell you if you need to take it to a mechanic or not. it might be something as simple as a loose bolt somewhere or something internally to the engine.

find out where the noise is coming from first before seeking help. you should really lean how to work on your own bike unless you have lots of money to throw at a mechanic. :p

Its a clicking noise coming from what seems like the bottom of the engine, audible from both left and right sides. The clicking escalates to a rattle when the revs kick up.

Thanks for the advice! I do know that I want to work on my own bike. The amount that I'd have to fork out to pay a mechanic to do the work is equivalent to buying a quality tool of my own. Luckily, working on motorcycles is simpler than working on a car. With the random assortment of tools (most low quality) that I've found in my dad's toolbox, I was able to switch out my brake pads yesterday without a problem. Reading the tool recommendations on the ninja250.org FAQ, I've compiled a list of tools that I'll be buying in the near future.

- 10” 3/8” Drive Socket
o Sears Craftsman is good
- Shorter Rachet w/ ¼” Drive
- Set of Sockets (8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 mm sets)
o Make sure they are 6 point sockets
- Oil drain pan
- Funnel
- Microflex Diamond Grip gloves
- Gojo hand cleaner
- Torque Wrench (50-250 in-lbs, 10-100 ft-lbs)
- Wrenches for the same sizes (8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 mm)
- Nice Screwdrivers #1, #2, #3 Phillips, small and large flat blade screwdrivers
o Long shaft, stubby
- Allen Wrench sockets
- Feeler gauges, factory valave adjustment tool
- Later on
o Pliers set w/ normal, needle nose, and diagonal cutters
o Vice Grips
o Impact driver that uses sockets
o Rubber or brass mallet
o Tire pressure gauge
o Greases, lubes, cleaners
o Drill / drill bits
o Cable luber ($10)

I'm just afraid of opening up the engine, because it seems so complicated. I'm sure it'll be less daunting after a few weeks of studying the service manual!

have you changed your oil since the mishap? if not, you might want to do so and see if anything comes out through the drain hole. if you find nothing, when you drop the filter assembly, try feeling around inside the engine if possible to see if you can find any "bit" in there.

if your transmission were in gear when you had your accident (most likely) and you hit an object and came to a sudden stop, you might have sheared something off inside. have you noticed any difference in shifting into certain gears or has the clutch been acting differently?

In any case, if something is loose on the bottom end of the engine, you want to get it out of there ASAP.

Damn Kelly, the amount of analysis that you were able to conduct with the information I provided is impressive! I'll be sure to do an oil change this weekend when I have more time. Would you happen to know if I could keep my current filter in? Or would I have to replace it with every oil change I do? The last one that I did was 2k miles ago when I first got my bike.

change the filter too, just in case there are metal bits in the oil.

To inspect the oil, after you collect it in the oil collection bucket/pan, pour it through a strainer of some sort so you can see what all is in the oil instead of having to feel around in the dirty oil and possibly missing something.

if you do find any metal bits, save them and show them to the shop when you take it in. I'm not talking about small shavings, but things that look like they might be teeth from the edges of gears or flywheels. :(

sorry to say, but if you do find them, I'd leave the fix to the shop at that point so someone can go in and determine the extent of damage to possibly other areas that might have been stressed.

like I said, though... take a good look under your bike first to determine if it's just not a loose bolt or something simple. :)

have someone rev the bike while you bend your head under there and really pinpoint the source.

An old mechanics trick is to take a 3/8" socket extension, touch one end to the motor and the other to your ear and take a listen. Move the extension around to various parts of the motor to see if there is a pronounced noise in one particular section.

Never know...it may help.

JM- that's an excellent tip. :)

Jeff- don't stress... I'm giving you worse case scenarios... hopefully it will be something easy to fix. I urge an oil change only because if there are metal bits floating around in the crankcase, they can cause catastrophic engine damage if they get lodged in the wrong places. :(

better to be safe than sorry. :thumbup:

Yea, thanks for all the tips guys. I changed the oil and didn't find any metal shavings in the oil. The previous owner misplaced the oil filter retainer (top part that holds it down), the spring, and the washer that goes around the bolt with the spring. I found a washer in the oil pan after putting everything back, but it didn't fit over the bolt, so I'm trying to figure out where it goes.

say again, Jeff... which part is missing from your bike?

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_geC920GCq38/SUbYTzP5nFI/AAAAAAAAB9w/lccRB7MVkcw/s640/DSC04856-1.JPG

washer is maybe from your drain bolt?

The only items I have installed on my bike right now is the filter, and the item on the farrr right. Should I not fire up the bike? I've been caging it since I've been at home with access to 3 cars haha.

so you're missing the cap on the far left, plus the washer and the spring to the right of the filter element?

That's correct! Is that a bad thing? o.o

um... I'm not really sure, but I think it's a bad thing. Why are those pieces missing? :confused:

I'm guessing without the spring and cap, what you are hearing is that filter element rattling around on the center pipe. What really concerns me is that w/o that cap and washer and spring, the filter element is not doing it's job of filtering the oil.

From what I can tell from the service manual, those pieces form an enclosed portion around that center tube and the filtering of the oil is done when the oil gets sucked through the filter and up that tube to lubricate the under side of the pistons and con rods.

I'm praying the rattle you are hearing is not related to the rods "knocking". :(

In any event, I highly recommend you replace those missing parts ASAP as the first source to isolate the source of the rattling.

Okay Kelly! I will try to find those parts ASAP. You think Ron Ayers will have them?

I'm sure anyone selling OEM parts would have them. I would imagine they would be pricey, though. Maybe look around and see if anyone is parting out a 250 engine? I haven't seen anyone doing that, but that would be the cheapest way to get those parts.

here's a few...

http://forums.ninja250.org/viewtopic...=745206#745206

http://forums.ninja250.org/viewtopic...=743158#743158

Thanks Kelly! I emailed those people. Ninja 250's forums are hard to use o.o

Ok, I had some noise as well on my 07. It could be heard from both sides...

Cam chain tensioner! Have a tech check that bad boy out. thats what was wrong with mine, fixed it right up.

Cam chain tensioner! Have a tech check that bad boy out. thats what was wrong with mine, fixed it right up. yep, that could be a source of his noise, too, but he should get his oil filter problem resolved to see if that's the source of the noise to start.

Jeff... any update on your problem?

Still waiting on the 250.org guys to get back to me on the oil filter parts. I doubt they will though. I guess I might just have to go through ronayers.com :(

I'll have my friend listen to the noise. He's been riding for about 40 years, and diagnosed a bike that I was about to buy with the cam chain tensioner problem you described. It literally sounded like the bike was going to explode! But mine sounds different. But that just might be because I'm a dumb n00b :)

I would think if it were the CCT, the sound would be more from the front side of the engine, but maybe it could be deceiving where it's coming from exactly. No harm in having your friend take a listen at it and see what he thinks. :thumbup:

Don't let him know your suspicions before he listens to it. That way he won't have any preconceptions before he gets there.

why were those oil filter parts missing in the first place?

Ok, I had some noise as well on my 07. It could be heard from both sides...

Cam chain tensioner! Have a tech check that bad boy out. thats what was wrong with mine, fixed it right up.

I second that analysis, vary likely your camchain got shake off sync/spec when you fall last time other then that the engine can't make that much noise without falling apart unless you broke a tooth off your transmission gear.

Also agreed what Kelly suggest, can't hurt to change oil :-)

Jeff,

any update?