[Shotimes] random knocking noise from timing chain area

[fwhittle@mindspring.com]

I just finished the spark plug and wire replacement on my '95 ATX.  Got it all back together and it runs great.  I noticed for the first time a random knocking/popping/clicking noise that's coming from the driver side end of the front valve cover, right where the timing chain is.  It got quite noticeable at one point, then it quieted down some.  Is this something to worry about?  I seem to remember some discussion of noise coming from the timing chain that didn't go away after the appropriate parts were replaced, and someone said it's something you just need to live with.

I thought I'd pass along a couple of tips that helped me greatly in reinstalling the rear valve cover.  While trying to remove the cover, I was dreading the reinstallation, afraid it was going to be 10 times as difficult as the removal.  The front cover has 2 convenient "handles" to assist in lowering it into place: the oil fill cap and the hose and fitting on the other end.  The rear cover has no such handles.  I used a couple of small box end wrenches (1/4 - 5/16 or so), attached them to the ends of the cover (the left side had 2 hex screws, and the right side had a plug wire separator attached with a screw), and wrapped paper towels around them to make them easier to grab.  This helped greatly in wrestling the cover into place.  The other thing that helped was using zip ties to hold some things out of the way of the cover.  Anything I thought was in the way got tied as far out of the way as possible.  The cover ended up going into place far easier than I thought it would.

I know some folks will be horrified to hear that I didn't bother to flip the shims or replace any.  I checked the clearances of all the shims and they were all within specs.  I pulled one shim out to look at it and it looked great with no visible wear.  I am leery of flipping the shims over because the manual says to install them with the numbers down, and the side with the numbers looked very different from the other side.  I know many here have done just that and have had no problems, but I felt that since they were all within specs that I was going to leave well enough alone.  By the way, this engine has 158,000+ miles on it and the spark plug wires were the original ones.  I'll be very upset if I don't gain any improved fuel economy out of this.

Frank Whittle
'95 ATX