Or has anyone ever successfully reused one on an f3 or similar bike? I am going planning on digging into my motor to find out what is making a ticking. Not cct, it ran without oil. I am pretty confident I can do the job, however, I am not willing to gamble all that money on a new gasket which runs way more than it should just to check the motor out and find the problem.

 

man that's kind of scary to reuse old gaskets, I would never attempt it in a car or motorcycle, if you go that deep into the motor its worth buying a new gasket set. now since the head gasket was not blown the heads don't need milled. but change the gasket - when you tear it down it might not be reusable.

 

the head gasket is not reusable, or at least it's not designed to be. they crush to seal only once. the choice is yours, but i wouldn't.

there is nothing in there, in between the block and head, that will tick and make noise. you will only find things that make noise in the top end, under the valve cover, or in the lower end through the oil pan. the head only needs to separated if you are going to remove the piston and rods. if the noise is in the bottom end, you got bigger problems than replacing the gasket.

let us know what you find..

 

Ran without oil? My bet is you spun a bearing, either in the cam or crank.

 

I agree with you there.

 

I can remove the cranshaft and the connecting rods without taking off the head? I was told it is probably rod knock.

 

Cobra and demon are giving you good advice, there's too much work involved to risk re-use and later failure.
I believe you have to pull the head to split the case and get access to the crank and rods.
I won't swear to it though, because I'm a top-end guy.

Once you pull the head and/or split the cases, you'd best have a really good idea of
what you're doing and where you're going. You will also need some specialty tools,
which can add to the cost, whether rented or purchased (if you don't already own them,
which I assume not, by the nature of your questions).

I may get some flak, but generally speaking (in my opinion)...if you're not racing,
there's a darn, good chance that a used engine will cost less than a re-build.
As you've noted the gaskets alone, are a major expense. If you throw in very much
in the way of replacement parts, you're over-budget for a street ride.

I'm not saying don't, if you're a good wrencher. But, I would consider it a slow-time
project. Budget for a tear-down and inspection/estimate of what you'll need and
THEN buy what you need. At the same time, start tracking replacement engines on
e-bay/local sales. Keep a running comparison between the two, so you'll know
(with confidence) that the re-build is the right way to go.

Beyond the fun of doing it, don't forget to throw some value on your TIME vs the two approaches.

Only you will be able to judge your suitability to try this one, just try to avoid getting
big bucks and time into it before you acknowledge it's a bad decision.
If (of course) it turns out to be one, otherwise, rock on!

Good luck, Ern

 

i re-used one once.... with success. but it only had a few *minutes* on it, and i high-tack'd the sh*t out of it before doing so.


i wouldn't in your case.


and i sure as hell wouldn't dig into the motor without planning on new bearings all around - which, while not costing as much as a new head gasket, it'll be close to as much.

 

No flak here. thats probably the best advice in this situation.

If you think its the main bearings. Is your oil light coming on? Many times, if the bearing spins, it will block the flow of oil and cause the engine light to come one. Also, the main bearings will knock, not really tick. I would suggest going to you local autoparts store and pickup a stethoscope. You can pinpoint where the noise is coming from. If its top end, I'd say tear into it. If its bottom end, I'd look for a used engine.

You can look at it this way. If you tear the engine down and don't find anything wrong, its a pretty low cost for piece of mind. If you do find something wrong, your looking at a lot more money to dump into the engine. I would never suggest a novice do the repair you are considering. You have to remember that these engines are spinning upwards of 12,000 rpms and even the slightest out of tolerance item will have drastic results. You can't simply pull the bearings and put new ones in without the proper tools. And, if a bearing did spin, chances are you will be looking at having the case line bored and the crank turned. Then figuring out which bearings you need since the dimensions are no longer the same. It can be calculated, but it hardly ever works out just right. More machining will probably need to be done. Again, very tight tolerance on these high revving engines.

The other issue with trying to rebuild is finding the problem at all. 99 percent of the time a visual inspection will tell you nothing. You will need precision equipment that can measure a minimum of .001" of an inch, and sometimes depending on what you are measuring, more accurate than that. Then, if you gain access to those tools, just the way you hold them can net incorrect readings. Just variences in your finger pressure can give you a reading a few thousands of an inch different.

I don't want to say you can't do it, because you can and it may be a good experience for you. Just be ready for a long drawn out experience that hopefully won't cost you a lot of money in the end.

I'm with Ern though, begin searching for a used engine.

 

yup find a used motor, replace it for now. and if you want rebuild your old motor or tear it down for learning experience and rebuild it in time, then you can still get out and ride.