My DRZ 400e (2003) has recently started to make new noises (never a good thing). At first it was just a hollow non descript sound from the engine area but two days ago its started doing something really odd. There is a top end hollow rattle as before, but when I get the engine up to high revs (97kmh to be exact in top 14/47) the whole bike resonates like a tuning fork and rings so clearly that I can hear it loudly above all other bike noises....

My first though was resonant frequency of some random loose bit, but I´ve had the bike stripped down today and can hear the start of the sound when the bike is at tickover stationary. It doesnt change when the clutch is in or out. All ancilliary bits have been tightened properly.

I used the old screwdriver as a stethoscope trick but its hard to figure out exactly where the sound is coming from (/unusual...). I think its top end area though. It also tends to be quiet on startup when cold and get worse as the bike heats up (oil viscosity related...).

I know diagnosing stuff over the internet is prettyy hard but any advice would be gratefully recieved. I am currently in Spain and need the bike in October for a desert trip and so have a little while to sort the issues.

All power is fine, the bike shows few other symptoms. The plug is perfectly healthy and the engione is otherwise behaving itself....

Ideas......Cheers as ever,

Dave

I would suggest that any rattle that makes itself felt through the bike is serious enough to stop riding and start spannering. I think the detective work you have done means the top end is the place to start. Keep in mind that it is not unknown for the bottom cam drive sprocket to go, if you find nothing "upstairs", as happened to Austin Vince's DR350 during Mondo Enduro Mondo Enduro* (which I heartily recommend reading/viewing). Let us know what you find as these bikes are very reliable and I have not heard about many problems.

Kind regards

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

Best I can do. Get onto Thumper Talk DRZ forum, someone will sort it.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Check your valve clearance.

check your cam chain tentioner. ie take it out and look at it, then put it back in per the book. BTW if your bike is older than 2003 I recommend putting a new cam chain tentioner in it.

Have you cleaned the oil screen on the oil line? If not they tend to get clogged occasionaly and can cause oil starvation. It is on the front of the bike and take out one bolt where the oil line goes in. There is a little screen that needs occasional cleaning espically when new.

Can't think of anything else, except check with the folks at thumpertalk.

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John

Have you changed brand or type of oil recently?

Had an oil change done in Andorra a few days ago. The oil that went in was 20/50 instead of 10/40.....BUT, I watched the exact 1.7 l get put in. The filter is a stainless mesh type and wasnt changed

Are you certain oil level is topped up?

See above. The bike has only done about 1000km since the new oil and the level hasnt changed appreciably.

Did you put the filter in correctly? If in wrong it can cut off oil to top end.

Didnt change it from last time when I did more than 1000 desert miles and dropped clean oil afterwards.

When was the last time you checked the valve clearances?
(mine never went out of spec in 3 years of dirt riding)

I have never checked the vavles myself but they were checked 2000 miles ago by a top mechanic that I always use and trust

Has anything changed in the air box so that sound is resonating in a different way?

Not that I know of.............

Odd one huh! But you´re right about the spannering. Sadly I´m in Spain with few tools. Thats why if you look at other posts around here you´ll se I´m looking for a recommendation for a good mechanic in Northern Spain! I leave for the UK in a few days and only fly back to the bike in September for another Desert trip.....

I will check my valve clearances, my cam chain tensioner (the bike is an ´03, but you never know!), and my oil screener today...

Cheers guys, and I´ll post the info on thumpertalk.

Dave

The ACCT was fine.......I whipped the rocker cover off, all looks normal. As I was replacing it and warming the engine up afterwards the bike spat its coolant all over the driveway.....A quick look confirmed that the water seal on the water pump shaft drive had just failed...ticking over on the driveway?!

Something is definately not right. If I was at home i´d have had it stripped by now, but in spain with no tools its all a bit tricky.....

Anyone have any experience with ´water wetter´? I´ve been running it for the last 2000 miles and have seen a definate reduction in engine running temp, but I´m now wondering if it was lubricating the cooling system as it ran. I cant see any other reason for the seal to fail on so few miles...maybe a return to antifreze is called for when I get this issue sorted...

Dave

Any good advice from Thumper Talk?
Let us know what's up! Good luck!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Ok, well the saga slowly moves onwards.

I left my bike in Spain and finally got a really good lead for a decent mechanics workshop just north of Barcelona from a guy working for Moto Aventures. Typically I got the bike dropped off down there just in time for the annual months summer shutdown (thats it, I'm leaving to work in Spain!!!)...

I'm leaving for the desert next Fri for a month and I'm told that the bike will be ready by next Tue....So far everything sounds good, and the guy that dropped off the bike gave the workshop and the guys working there a glowing report....I really hope so!

The mystery seems to be sort of solved. Apparently the problem is with Los Pinones.....Ahhhhhh I hear you all say.....

The issue I have is that the info comes second hand from a friend who rang the place for me whose Spanish isnt much better than mine. So the spelling could be totally wrong. I've checked the internet to try and find out what the mystery part might be but we're currently non the wiser.

If you know what 'Los Pinones' might be, feel free to contribute! Otherwise I'll wind the post up next Tue when I have the part to hand. Whatever it was it was a serious problem. The engine and gear box were split to find the issue so its probably worth knowing about. Seems like I bought a lemon! Ah well, I've been lucky with my bikes to date, but eventually it had to happen...

Dave

Well, you said feel free:-

They seem to be nuts, perhaps pine nuts from a couple of translations in a search engine - maybe a nickname within the workshop?

Looking forward to knowing the answer to this mystery!!

Translation of http://www.pinonesie.com/=

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Dave

If I needed help diagnosing a DRZ, I'd make use of the brainpower at ThumperTalk.

Ok, well, thanks for the pine nuts.....!!!;-)

It seems my top end rattle was more a bottom end implosion. I still dont know exactly what the score is, but a friend of mine who picked up the bike this morning said that when he asked for the offending replaced part he was given a bag of parts looking suspiciously like the entire innards of the crankcase!

To my current knowledge I now have three new bearings and at least three new gears.....and lots of other bits....

Gentlemen, I think I bought a lemon!!!!!!

1400 euros.......OUCH!!!!! (although that did include some other stuff and some tyres..)

Dave

WOW, what happend to your bike before you got it. Anyway since you are probably going to do a rebuild, are you going with a big bore kit.

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John

1400 euros.......OUCH!!!!! (although that did include some other stuff and some tyres..)
Just my opinion.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

of course you are right, and your opinion is identical to my own. Sadly circumstances conspired against me and I was committed to a trip and had no time.....1400 euros later......

Always time vs money eh......

See my latest post for more news.

As ever, cheers guys.

Dave

Anyway, sometimes a bearing is salvagable...hope yours are.

Good luck.

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!