I think I may be burning a little oil...VIDEO

[Jace009gs]

Ok, so I've bought a gasket kit for the engine. Hopefully it comes with valve seals if not I'll order them separate. Also going to go ahead and replace the rings anyway. Tell me more about these bearings though.

no valve seals in the kit....the valve seat on to the cylinder head...after alot of "abuse" they cup and don't seal that well, allowing oil and stuff to drip down into the combustion chamber and that could lead to the oil smoke you are burning....But if the rings are worn as well the oil comes into the combustion chamber the other way (splashes up in there) and you get the same effect. A member Kerry had a great way to test the valve seals with the engine apart. Take off the cams, pour kerosene in the head and come back in a few hours and see if the level dropped any or if your work space has kerosene all over it. Its hard to measure valve seal with the engine together, because of to many variables, What a compression test shows is just a yes/no they seal, the drip (kerosene) method shows the extent of the leakage.



all that aside tho I really think its the valves....do a compression test ASAP before tearing it apart, and check the valve clearances too before you begin pulling the motor apart. You said it gets better as the engine warms up? right? which leads me to think that the valves leak and when the engine sits the oil drips in, which is why on start up it smokes. That doesn't count tho if its cold outside, the engine will smoke regardless because of water vapor and using the choke. Usually valves cup from excessive high revs, in which case if the oil hasn't been changed the rings take quite a bit of a beating as well. The poor man tho would fix the top end and run a compression restore addative to the oil and be happy at that, 

[Prafeston]

I changed the oil upon buying the bike. So the rings shouldn't be getting an excessive beating from that. I don't have 600 dollars sitting around for boring and restoring of the cyls. How much do new seals and rings cost?

Also how do I do a compression test?

[facepants]

You really want to find out where the problem is before you start buying parts.

To do a compression test you need a compression tester.  I got mine at walmart.

Warm up your engine first, then do the test... there should be instructions that come with the tester.  Also make sure that you do the test with the throttle all the way open.

[Prafeston]

How much was the compression tester...I'm a cheap skate!

[facepants]

20 bucks maybe.  Not much.

[Prafeston]

Cool might do that. If valves seals and rings aren't too bad I may just replace them both while I'm at it.

[Prafeston]

Tested the compression the other day. Both cylinders were topping out at 110 psi. I looked in the manual and it looked as if that was a little low.

I might add that I couldn't start my bike. I hadn't ridden it in a little over 2 weeks and it would turn over but not start. We put a battery starter on it while testing. I wasn't able to have the engine warmed up before doing the compression test. Will that have an effect? What should my steps be now?

[facepants]

Did you do the oil test like the other guys recommended?

Put some oil in the cylinders and retest to see if it increases.

[Prafeston]

No I didn't do the oil test I'll do that when I get back i guess.

[facepants]

The goal of the oil test is to let you know if it's the rings or something else.

This, you want to know, otherwise you'll end up doing 2,3,4 times the work.

If the oil increases compression significantly, its the rings/pistons/cylinders (somewhere in there).  If it doesnt change very much, it's the valves. 

Once you know where the problem is, you can get down to business.

[yamahonkawazuki]

aye if it comes down to doin a rebuild, id be inclined to say, find a used engine here at teh site, and swap em out

[Prafeston]

Should I retest with the engine warm and the throttle open? Will it be that much of a difference?

[GeeP]

A compression test should always be done with the engine hot , the throttle wide open, and a good battery to crank it over.   

110 is about what I'd expect from a cold engine that had been sitting several weeks and a dead battery.

[Prafeston]

Cool, thanks GeeP. I'll retest soon then.

[Prafeston]

bump

[facepants]

Why the bump?  Did you have another question or any new info?

[Prafeston]

I think I'm just an idiot...haha. Sorry!

[Jughead]

I would Hone and Re Ring.Maybe Valve Seals.Stay Completely Away from Synthetic oil because it won't let the Rings Seat Completely.

[The Buddha]

Car engine shops usually are staffed by serious machine heads who do bikes, street or dirt or ATV's or other crap as a hobby. Now Car mechanics are usually the worst motorcycle mechanics IMHO, but you take a bike's head and chambers to them, they are usually very happy to cut you new seats, new valve 3 angle jobs etc etc. I did so on the GR and the savage. The result was wonderful. Not run the GR yet, but the savage was great.
I'd not run and buy the seats etc, they cannot usually remove seats that well. They will make your old seats into new like specs.
BTW 110 psi cold may be OK. Hot and with valves adjusted right etc etc are what is right. My 89 with 48K made ~100 cold and 150 hot and used a quart in 300 miles, but never did it smoke or misbehave otherwise.
If you think about it, leaking past the valve seals will not hurt compression, and if its getting past the rings ... and making for poor compression, its likely to not wear too fast, more oil getting on the walls and into the chamber cos the oil isn't getting scraped by the ring = slower wear on rings and chamber. It will use more and more oil, but it will be OK. I'd find out where it is, then maybe use the sticky stuff like lucas oil stabiliser in the oil. That crap is lousy for foaming etc etc, but heat and stickiness are its thriving ground.
It will foam a bit and do a litte bit of cavitation type BS usually when cold, but as it gets hotter, oil will have additives that are anti foam that start getting active, so it will not foam as much. That will stick to the walls and hence take up some room in your problem area. As oil gets hot, it works better and better and so does the lucas crap.
Cool.
Srinath.