New voyager owner with issues...

[Chips900s]

Hi all! Looks like a great site with a wealth of information! I have a few questions I didn’t easily find searching and was wondering if anyone could maybe answer them. I just recently purchase a 1998 voyager with 101k miles, and it seems to have an intermittent rattle from the cylinder head area of the engine, I’m thinking it’s from the cam chain possibly, I read a few posts and I checked the alternator hub bolt as a few had mentioned, and that was tight. I also have a really bad miss under load up to 3k rpms, after that it clears up and if I’m sitting at idle it’ll rev to redline no problems from idle. I took the carbs off and cleaned all the jets/passageways thinking that was the issue as it had sat before I got it, and it didn’t make any difference in the missing under load, I found some clogged pilot jets and cleaned those out thinking that was the issue but all the other jets were clear. Bike runs a little hot too, so it kind of made me wonder if it had jumped time, basically wondering if anyone has ever seen one of these do that? I would assume it would run poorly all through the rev range if that was the issue though...
Thanks for any insight!

[Chips900s]

Upon further research on this great forum I’m thinking its a ignition system fault, all the wires and coils and plugs look original at 100k and 24 years, I’ll dig into it tomorrow and report back!

[SgtSlag]

Drain the oil, including the filter oil. Most likely, there is too much oil in the engine. Remember that there are two oil drain plugs! Be sure to remove both, or you will not drain all of the oil! This is a commonly known issue, here, and if you . Too much oil will cause lifter noise. The solution is simple: drain the oil, and add 3 quarts 22 oz. Ignore the sight glass, it is inaccurate.

This is the simplest, easiest thing to try. Stop back and let us know if this clears it up. I would also recommend periodically adding either SeaFoam, or Marvel Mystery Oil, to the gas tank, around once a month, as a simple, inexpensive, preventative measure. They will clean the fuel system, keeping it squeaky clean.

There are plenty of technical recommendations here. If you have interest, I recommend browsing the threads for information. There is plenty of it here. If you prefer, just post and ask. We're happy to share. Cheers!

[Chips900s]

Thanks! Should’ve mentioned I already drained both oil plugs and changed filter and put in the exact amount right down to the oz. no difference...old oil didn’t look terrible either.

[SgtSlag]

I had shifting issues after using 5W40 oil: took a while to show up, but it became a common intermittent issue for me. It was too thin when cold (5W). No one else had issues here. When I changed back to 15W40, my issues disappeared. That's one more potential question to check off the list of simple things to try: is your oil within the proper viscosity range?

If you search on NGK Iridium spark plugs, you'll see that they offer real advantages. Namely that they fire more easily, and they last up to 100k miles. Any weakness in the ignition system may disappear. For me, they were worth the cost. Cheers!

[Sidehopper]

I was just talking to my brother about how loud and clattery the top end of the Voyager is. He's used to his SOHC V-Twin Vulcan 900 with a really loud exhaust, so he's never been able to hear the top end of his bike. On the other hand, the Voyager is a DOHC with two extra cylinders AND it's not tucked away in an engine bay like a car, so it's really easy to hear all the ticking and tapping.

On mine, if I adjust the idle thumbscrew I can make the tapping easier to hear depending on the RPM I set it to. These bikes have automatic valve adjustment and automatic cam chain adjustment, so it's possible the adjuster works better at RPMs over 1k. A couple more things to consider - since the bike leans to the left on the kickstand, it's common to get the tapping noise on the left side of the engine should oil work its way up due to gravity.

I just got done troubleshooting an issue where my vacuum line to my igniter was (for some reason) making the bike run like crap on two cylinders. It ran better with the line pulled, and I found some people on the forum with a similar issue -- their fix was to make a small, controlled vacuum leak with some extra tubing. I shaved a small flat spot in the in-line air filter going to that unit and it seems to have helped the bike run better. So you might try idling the bike with the tube connected and then pull it to see if that smooths out the idle and RPM changes. From what I have seen people have replaced the igniters to try and troubleshoot this issue and they have the same issue on a new igniter...which aren't cheap these days.

Best of luck with your troubleshooting!

[Chips900s]

Thanks for all the responses! I did use proper viscosity oil with the change like suggested 15w40, I dug into ignition and found a disconnected/broken #2 spark plug wire and all the ignition stuff is original so I’ll be ordering new plugs and wires. Runs much better with just my temporary fix so I believe I found my issue! Thanks to all!

[Nails]

I recently replaced my sparkplug wires. viewtopic.php?t=12925 Didn't really give a noticeable performance bump (despite funky connections in the caps), but the new flexible wires sure made it easier to stuff everything back together.

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

Welcome Chip!
hey not sure if you noticed but next year the AVA's annual rally is in New Hampshire. Look into it, and know that you are welcome!!!

[Chips900s]

I saw that it was close to me in NH next year! I’ll keep it in mind!

Also just wanted to update you guys I pulled my timing chain tensioner out and reset it the bike runs flawlessly now and there’s no engine noise! Thanks so much for all your help!