Oil pan sludge and engine noise

[pat80flh]

So I finally have this 2000 Bassa buttoned up and running/ rideable. Since I'm new to Guzzis a couple of questions.

First, the engine had a bit of valve clatter when I heard it run, before I bought it. I have adjusted the valves, Intake .002", Ex .004". I rode it a bit yesterday to warm up the oil, then pulled the plug, which was heavily covered with sludge. Mostly crumbled under my fingers, but with a good bit of fine metal. I then pulled the pan, the inside of which looked horrible, lots more sludge, some condensation/water brown milkshake, and more metal. The engine runs fine and seems to pull strong, there was no discernible play in the connecting rods. I guess my questions are;
   1   what normally wears on these engines, where should I look for trouble

    2   I still have a bit of noise, I've never been up close and personal with a running Guzzi, the noise I hear sounds like valve train, left side, but I figure a solid lifter engine has to make some noise, do these engines normally have a bit of clatter.

   More questions to come I'm sure. It is a fun bike to ride, very visceral down low, plenty smooth on top. I was impressed that it felt very happy in 4th at 65 mph, which means it should be a good freeway cruiser at 80 in 5th.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yes, they make *lots* of noises. Earplugs are your friend.  Valves should be set at .004 and .006, IIRC.
Sounds like yours had been seriously abused. Maybe the oil has never been changed??  I'd probably run it 500 miles or so, drain the oil and cut the filter apart and have a good look before deciding it has a problem or not.
edit for typo

[fotoguzzi]

you don't give the mileage.. so this is the old oil and you didn't put in new? I'd say change the oil and run awhile so the motor gets up to full temp then look again.. perhaps new plugs too..
yes you should hear lifter noise, your settings are slightly lower than common wisdom (see Chucks post).
don't look for trouble yet, ride and remember these engines like to rev. normal riding usually above 3500 rpm.

[sib]

They're noisy right out of the crate.  My '16 V7-II Stone is even noisier than my '13 V7 Stone was.  In addition to valve train noise, there's gearbox noise, shifting clunks, and some other noise I haven't yet identified.  They're noisy even when turned off (fuel tank vent valve).  Earplugs are your best friend.  Once in a while, when I'm going only a very short distance, I leave out the earplugs.  The resulting sound is frightening, even coming through a helmet.  On the other hand, Guzzis don't need loud pipes to be heard.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Loud valves save lives. Centauros are especially life saving..

[oldbike54]

Loud valves save lives. Centauros are especially life saving..

 Yep . Started the Jackal in Lowryter's driveway , he smirked and told me I'd better adjust those noisy valves .

  Dusty

[rodekyll]

0.002/0.004 is where to start looking for trouble.  You'll find some right there.

It reads like this bike has had water in the engine.  I'd do a full engine flush and refill/replace filter.  That description has alarm bells all over it.  So much so that it makes me wonder if you're messing with us . . .  At 0.002 and 0.004 you're going to easily get to zero lash (or negative lash) once the engine is warm.  So if you're still getting clatter . . . . . (think rod little ends/rockers/tappets)

$0.002/$0.004

[pat80flh]

Thanks guys. 26,000 on the odometer. If I had to guess, this bike was left in the wet somewhere. Had a few seized bolts, the front master cylinder comes to mind. The oil had been changed at least once, it had a Wix filter.   So I cleaned the oil pan spotless,sprayed out the passages, new filter, cleaned the boulder screen. It isn't horrible noisy, just a bit. I just don't have anything to compare it to. The plan, run it, maybe fix the oil light, monitor the noise, pull the pan in a thousand or so, see what happens.

   Re. valve lash, I went by the sticker on the tank,  In .05mm, Ex .10, there was a plus or minus factor.  The  consensus is run them a little looser?

   I'm not scared of clunky, noisy bikes. I rode a Shovelhead 20 years, and my current daily driver is a 76 BMW R90.

[normzone]

 :1: on opening up the valves, better too loose than two tight. I experimented and settled on .006 and .008 inches.

I've got the same bike only one year older with 58,000 miles on it, so follow my trail and you can get advance warnings 

A couple of premature oil changes without changing the filter (SACRILEGE ! ) is a good idea, maybe even run some wrong oil in it (SACRILEGE ! ) to save a few bucks.

Yes to earplugs, on the rare occasion I ride without I'm always shocked and amused.

Anticipate front disc warp issues, change the air cleaner under the tank. I think you'll love it.

[lucky phil]

maybe fix the oil light,

Now I'm worried

Ciao

[father guzzi obrian]

When your done sorting about with it, if it idles very smoothly, likely you did not do significant damage to the valves. Idle is where burned valves and leakage are most obvious. if it sets at 1100 and purrs, you probably dodged the bullet. change the oil, then ride it and change the oil. perhaps even an oil check at one of the online folks to see if you have the wrong stuff (metal from engine bits) in your oil.  Once everything is sorted, you need a nice long ride on it with good oil to get things going....

[LowRyter]

Yep . Started the Jackal in Lowryter's driveway , he smirked and told me I'd better adjust those noisy valves .

  Dusty

then you'll live to be a hundred