Hi folks

First off, sorry this is long but I think it is worth sharing.

I have an 08 KQ 450 with 798km or just shy of 500 miles for you standard folks.

Anyway a little bit of back story to fill you all in and to see if you have a similar situation.

I have never abused the KQ, had it flooded, ran it dry, revved the engine when cold etc. I followed the break in period, changed the oil and even added a twin air filter. To say the least I was pretty decent at maintaining it. The one thing I did miss was the initial service by a bit.

After owning the KQ for about 7.5 months I was pretty used to the sound so when a new sound cropped up I noticed.

Now describing a sound is tough but myself, a local mechanic and the local Suzuki dealership all thought it was the valves. I had my local guy adjust the valves but the sound remained. He adjusted them again to make sure (free of charge which was nice) and the sound was still there.

The sound can be described as a metallic clicking/chattering sound that increased in volume with throttle. It was not a clunk or anything. It was very much like a valve sound.

After my mechanic could not find the source we decided I should go back to the dealership to see if Suzuki would provide some good will since I was out of warranty; only by a couple months (sad how short it is).

The dealership decided the first order of business was to adjust the valves to set a baseline for their own diagnosis; they were spot on (since they were just done twice ;-)

With the valves being ok, they needed to dig further into the top end to see what the issue is.

They reported back to me that it needed a new rocker arm, a new cam shaft, a new this and a new that etc. The total bill was nearly $1200. I was not a happy camper that is for sure. I asked what could cause this and they said it looks like lack of oil.

Knowing I have never run it low I was peeved. I told them I was quite unhappy and they said they would call Suzuki directly looking for some good will to a customer with a low mileage quad facing engine work.

As soon as the dealership described the problem, Suzuki said they would pay for it all. The dealership also found out from Suzuki that there is more involved and they would have to go into the bottom end of the engine to solve it.

It turns out the top end was not getting enough oil due to some silicone from the manufacturing process which was blocking 50% of the oil flow to the top end. Without enough oil it was simply a matter of time before things got bad. Needless to say I was very happy to hear that they were covering me out of warranty. Kudos to Suzuki for that.

Suzuki Canada at least, is aware of this in some of the 450 engines as it was known to them and they offered to pay right away. No fighting was required.

Being in warranty is best of course but if you have a 450 with a similar sound that just won't go away and the valves are in check I suggest talking to the dealership about it.

The good part of all this is the only cost to me is an oil change which I wanted to do anyway. The sad part is my new Zillas only have about 50' of mileage on them since it went from one shop to the other...

Sorry this was so long but I hope it helps someone.

Greg


Now my new 450 is making some funky sound to

I didn't have any problems with my 450...I miss it!

How many miles did you put on it ?
Hey is it my imagination , ive been riding my wifes 450 for three days .
I feel that i can drift way better with it.
I can go faster on big rocks its just not as tippy, i love it .
But i miss the power of my 750 its in the shop with a freaky unknown stalling problem.
Had a great tech on it yesterday and he hasent found anything.
Anyhow im having a blast on the 450

Just looked at another post guy says his top end it ticking like crazy.
It was some rubber sealent that supposedly blocked the top ends oil .
Ours it at 668 miles and it makes some kinda new noise but not what they are describing.
It sounds whispy .It sounds kinda like the sound of one trying to softly imitate a jet plane .
could just be sucking air.
With my 750 in the shop im known to happy to have another problem, did not pay that kind of money for a pita.
Last night at about 12 miles it suddenly just started running really really bad and cut out.
I pulled the vdi and put in the stock ecu and it ran great.
I put the vdi back in several times and it would not run .
Later at about 25 miles i put the vdi in and it ran great but 10 miles later it started loosing alittle power nothing dramitic though.
I dont like it either way.Not so sure about the VDI anymore either, might be prone to over heating .

I have had mine about 6 months i guess, it has only quit on me once. Hope you get it tuned, its wicked when it works!!
Did you want to try my old shocks/ springs and see if it helps the handleing? there sitting in a box ready for ya! I aint gonna use them ever again.

Yes i want them , was waiting till we hooked up and rode together.
either those or something along the lines of them there shocks.
Lots of peeps doing that mod , seems almost backwards as the 450 is real squishy .
And supposedly its the same gear.
Seems like id fare batter with stiffer springs and better shocks but lowering my center of gravity a bit.

Sounds like the 700's did ............1600 bucks later , NO Help from suzuki , they said I buried it in mud ......... ME IN MUD ! no way

Glad your getting some help , rare indeed

S.C.