Sudden lifter noise?

[Inherited 79Cbx]

I took my 79 cbx for a short ride this morning (about 5 miles) . Put some fresh gas in it and it ran fine. Parked it for about 6 hours, tried to start it and now it all of a sudden sounds like a lifter is rattling on the left side of the motor. It had been stored for possibly 20 years and I have put almost 100 miles on it since getting it back to life the past couple months. Really confused on what is going on suddenly. Any help would be appreciated.

[FalldownPhil]

Before going any further on it, you need to diagnose and repair the issue. Whatever it may be. I am always a little suspicious of a "lifter noise" on
the left side of a '79 CBX. My suggestion is to do a compression test on all cylinders just to see what you are working with. What do you think are
the chances that what you are hearing is a piston skirt tapping the crankshaft?? Do you ALWAYS turn off the fuel at the petcock? Do you always
park it on the center stand? This is not a test, I am just considering the possibility of a hydrolocked cylinder.
Very Best,
Phil

[Inherited 79Cbx]

I do shut the petcock off every time, but I only put it on the center stand for working on it or checking oil. Typically parked on the side stand. It just started all of a sudden. I can only describe the sound like a lifter ticking sort of sound. New to the cbx world but enjoying the ride when I can. Also the starter or solenoid started acting up and wouldn't turn over when I went to take it for a ride this afternoon. I got a new solenoid ordered and thought I would try to start it again and it started, that's when the ticking started. Wouldn't think the problems would be related.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Are you sure the ticking noise is coming from the top, left end of the engine?
With the non-start i wonder if it is an alternator chirp and the battery is not being charged?

[Rick Pope]

Or, the non-start was the hydro lock................. Unfortunately, all the clues fit.

[Inherited 79Cbx]

Steve, the charging system seems to be working ok. Could be taken apart and cleaned up I'm sure but it is charging. I can hear the clicking noise definately on the top left of the engine.

[Inherited 79Cbx]

Rick, I haven't heard of hydro lock on a bike before. Did some reading and it quite possibly could be. I read the gas can get into the cylinders if the carb floats aren't working properly. I have had the carbs out to clean them because of float issues ( I think the bike sat for about 20+- years before I got it) and the bike started running much better. Then yesterday before the starter issue and now the ticking sound I noticed that gas did come out of the float overflow tube onto the ground, not much though , maybe a 6 inch cicrle on the ground. I will pull the plugs and turn it over and see if any gas pushes out then get new plugs ( which I need to do anyway). Thanks for the help, hopefully it works.

[Larry Zimmer]

Quick-and-Dirty: When you remove the plugs, improvise something to check piston max travel height (tdc) in the cylinder(s) thru the spark plug hole. Compare #1 and #6 (because they are easily accessible.) Perhaps Dave, or others, could give a good comparison value. My 'guess' would be a couple mm. If those two are inconclusive, remove the tank and check/compare others.

[NobleHops]

:-(

[FalldownPhil]

I am with you Nils :-(
Sadly, the puddle of gas from the overflow pretty much confirms my initial suspicion.
A compression test will confirm my diagnosis :-(
Thanks,
Phil

[daves79x]

It is for sure a bent rod. Sadly you found out the hard way how these are prone to this if you are not diligent. Don't know what your skills are, but this is going to be expensive. On the plus side, at least it didn't vent your crankcase.

Really, what a bummer. We all here wish new CBX owners would really research and thoroughly understand the pitfalls of owning a CBX BEFORE buying one and having something like this happen, but for many, it does not work out that way.

Verify what we already know and we'll steer you to fixing/getting it fixed.

Dave