hot cam and ticking

[deadman]

ive had loud ticking coming from the top end of my 99. i bought it as a nonrunning new rebuild from a guy and he said it needed a timing chain or tensioner so i checked both of those and they seem fine. however the guy i bought it from didnt know it had a hot cam and adjusted the valves to stock spec. will this cause the loud ticking? after getting this 99 i realize i bought a quad that needed alot of work so ive been replacing everything i see wrong. i guess this is what you get for buying a quad that has switched hands a few times and i didnt hear running first.

[TheAwesomehonda]

The 400ex will tick some... and the hot cam will cause it to tick even more... The stock cam should have .10 intake and .12mm exhaust clearance.. The hot cam should be .13 intake and .15 exhaust clearance.

[CJM]

You can run the stock valve lash settings with the hotcam.

They all tick, hotcam makes it worse. If it sounds like marbles in a coffee can then Id look for a tensioner and cam chain.

[deadman]

i have no experince with honda motors other than my sons xr50...this whole ticking thing really blows my mind because ive always known 4 strokes to be quiet....i have a new tensioner on its way as well as a timing chain. ive seen a few videos on you tube and mine seems to be somewhat louder than those. what causes the hot cam to make the ticking worse?

[Muzzgit]

Yeah mine used to tick a lot too, I was paranoid about it for a while until I rode another 400ex with a hot cam and it was the same as mine, and it had well over 150 hours on it and still going really strong.

[ansimation]

I just had a new timing chain and tensioner put into my son's 426 but we also added in the stage 2 hotcam and it still ticks pretty good. The valves definitely need readjusted but I don't think that'll get rid of it completely.

I think the biggest problem his has is the cam chain guides. They were pretty worn and when I ordered everything I figured I would wait and see what shape they were in and maybe save $80 or so. Well, they were bad and it was memorial day weekend and I didn't want to wait another week for parts ( in-laws were in town and we'd been waiting on it to be done ) so we put it back together with the old guides.

[deadman]

being new to this i found it was out of time by 2 teeth, the valves were out of adjustment. i replaced the timing chain, chain tensioner, put it back in time and fixed a few bare wires and it fired up easily and fast. it idles great however if i gas it too fast it bogs down and will shut off unless i let off. i wanted to ride but i found out the heatsheild for the gas tank is missing and so are the straps.i did get a 10 minute ride and that make a total of 10 minute ride and 3 hours of working on it. lol

[b0rn c0nfused]

You can use zip ties to replace the straps for the tank.

[deadman]

thats a good idea till i get new straps. i ordered a bunch of parts from motosport.com. i also found another 400ex for 750.00 that has a bottom end issue that i might buy as a parts bike or tear it apart and fix....

[Nwgy]

I just baought new 2012 400x accidentally put regular 87 gas in it ran one tank through it and now it has a tick switching back to premium how do I stop tick First quad I've ever had I know nothing bout their engines

[400exwhipper]

They all tick a little, no worrys 87 is also fine for a stock motor