Good Day All (other than myself),

Question:
I just got my bike back after being gone for 3 years.
I had all the common carb problems as everyone does.
I had the carbs completely disassembled re-assembled installed and running like a champ.
To clean out all the little passageways that i could't by hand i put about a 1/8 of a bottle of seafoam in the tank and ran the tank through on a new change of oil.

Needless to say this is my delema now.. bike ran great for about 2-3 hours...then it started missing on 1 cylinder.

I did the spray test and discovered it was cyl 4.

Plug is in good repair carb is spotless tank was sediment free.
Now I am getting white smoke and what appears to be a liquidous substance coming from #4 exhaust header.

I feel like the #4 cyl oil ring is ... shot
does the oil smell like fuel .... my nose is completely effed so to tell the truth i couldn't tell.
But the fluid coming from cyl #4 header seemed like a less viscous oil.

How can I prove that it is the Oil Ring ??

Or do you have any suggestions on what else it may be ?

Thanks,

Hazmatt
Winnipeg,Canada

 

Compression test would be a good idea. It's probly either a stuck oil ring or a faulty valve stem seal. Do you have the header still off? Try turning the engine so that the cyl 4 exhaust valve is open and see in if the valve stem seems oily.

White smoke is a definite sign of oil burning. Although minor white "smoking" can be caused just by water condensation in cold weather but if the cloud doesn't dissolve right after leaving the pipe it's oil.

 

I've always thought oil smoke was more of a grey-blue. An antifreeze was white. A lot of times it's real hard to tell the difference. But you can smell the difference. Maybe go find someone with a working nose?

I'd double check the carbs again. Too lean could cause white smoke too.

If it's a stuck ring from sitting, you could pour some seafoam into the cylinder and let it sit over night.

 

I'll check the compression per FSM tonight and let you know.
Valves on cyl # 4 do seem a little more angry then usual.
I believe this is due to the oil typhoon.

I pulled the oil out last night and there was most definitely a fuel smell coming from the crank case.

Most likely I do believe it to be a oil seal ... I just don't want to here the truth, because its going to suck to do a full pull.

IF! that is the case though.
Is there anything I should be changing out/delete other than seals when I'm down there. /what kind of lubricants/cleaners I should get.

I have the Clymer's repair manual I'll be doing the ring replacement with the help of there manual.

I know I will need a seal/gasket kit and 4 new sets of rings.

any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

Well IF you`ll have to explode the entire lump it sure wouldn`t hurt to swap the cam chain just to be on the safe side, clutch friction plates at least check for warping and wear...

If the engine passes the compression test it`s probly the stem seals, it could be more labour intensive trying to swap them in the frame than to drop the whole engine and have proper working space so that`s something to consider as well.

 

Update:

Well i figured i would have to be doing at least a partial dis assembly, so i removed fairings, seat, tank and intake.
when i was disconnecting my intake piping connecting to the silinoid i tipped it down and what seems to be fuel leaked out of it....
how can this happen ?

I drained all of my oil and it MOST DEFINITELY smells of fuel.
So by the sounds of things, when it started shooting smoke and running rough it seamed to have been pissing fuel into the intake tubing.

Performed compression test on CYL # 4 (obviously cold) and i was getting 140 psi
As far as i know that should be good for a cold number.

Think I'm going to pull the carb again tomorrow for good measure to see what the jets look like.

What are your guys thoughts ?

Thanks,

Hazmatt
Winnipeg,MB

 

That fuel thing is something to look at. Did you test the other cyls too just to get comparison? Assuming the gauge is good it sounds like a stem seal but of course it still can be other things. If the cylinder is holding pressure it can't be the piston rings. Have you checked your coolant for cross contamination?

How is the #4 spark plug compared to the others? Blacker, more sooty I assume.

 

Be careful basing a diagnosis on a compression number when you have leaking fuel. Here's why, if you have excess fuel leaking into a cylinder, it will wash the fine coating of oil off the cylinder walls. Without that oil film on the walls, the rings won't seal as well. This will result in a low compression reading and make you think your rings are shot.

You said at the beginning that it ran great for 2-3 hours. Rings don't just wear out in 2-3. Sounds like something else to me.

I'd sort out the fuel problem first. That's easy and cheap. Rebuilds are much harder and expensive. Just food for thought.

 

Conclusion:
usually the last part that you touched on the bike will be the the culprit of any new problems that you are having after re-assembly.
I removed the carbs once more.

My symptoms: Seal issue due to fuel in the oil pan.
Idle was rough and would not idle below 2000 rpm it would die.

Theory: I was getting too much fuel and the fuel was pissing into the intake.
This inturn caused my valves to be wiped clean of lubricant and wear the oil seals rapidly.

Culprit: Idle jet on carburetor 4 rattled loose over time due to improper torquing of the jet, causing excessive amounts of fuel to spill into intake 4 causing the fuel pump to go into overdrive to maintain the float in 4.

Solution: Removed carburetors once more, torqued everything correctly per fsm,
replaced fouled plugs, changed oil, changed oil seals on valve stems.

Results: Runs like a top and purr's like a kitten again.

Regards,

Hazmatt
Winnipeg,MB

 

Good to read you got it sorted, top tob getting it fixed!