GS500 '97 motor in GS500F 08 frame?

[Carltheproducer]

Hello,

New member here, Carl from Los Angeles, CA! Hello. A member of Socalmoto.org recommended this forum because I have a '08 GSS500F in need of serious help.

Here's the situation;

Riding down the i-10 in Los Angeles to work on my 2008 SUZ GS-500F one morning it started to make an awful rattling noise on freeway. I pulled over and looking down on the left side a little bit of smoke came out then a smell of burning. I towed the bike to Polo at Mototechnica and Polo quoted to repair the gs's motor a rod bearing went (but changing both) and Polo's rebuilding the top end for $1.2K.


So I found a GS500 '97 engine with 20k on it for $450, will this fit my bike?

Crankcase set 1997:1130144890
Crankcase set 2008:1130144891

The seller of engine said this;

"This engine will bolt directly into your bike, no problem. I do not know if the electrical plugs coming from the engine is the same as your 08 model"

Can someone please verify? I am to buy the engine tonight.

Thanks! GS500 community.

-Carl

[Big Rich]

Shouldn't be a problem at all. I don't know when they switched the tach, but I think it was around 05.

[mike__R]

Also the 97 won't have an oil cooler like you current one does have.

[deandancemachine]

Also the 97 won't have an oil cooler like you current one does have.

I can't remember the exact part name but can he not swap the portion that connects to the oil cooler from his F engine over to the E engine?

[mike__R]

Also the 97 won't have an oil cooler like you current one does have.

I can't remember the exact part name but can he not swap the portion that connects to the oil cooler from his F engine over to the E engine?

I don't see why not!

[GAS]

Also the 97 won't have an oil cooler like you current one does have.

I can't remember the exact part name but can he not swap the portion that connects to the oil cooler from his F engine over to the E engine?

I don't see why not!

He can't. The lower case of the engines are different, if you want to keep the oil cooler you're gonna need to swap the lower cases in order to have the internal paths to oil to be pumped out the pan to the radiator.

The tach will be a problem too, but much easier to get solved. Just need to plug the 97 hole in the camshaft cover or swap the covers for the newer one.

Another problem is the correct working of the newer carbs and the older engine. The intake manifolds are a little bit different. Although they will fit with a little work, I don't know if the newer carb and older engine will work well together, the exhaust is different between the generations and maybe internal aspects differs too.

[Carltheproducer]

Hey,

I just dropped of 97 motor with mechanic and he's gonna work on it in a couple of days (really backed up).

Thanks for the responses so far, a few questions about them;

It shouldn't be a problem for mechanic to plug the 97 hole in the camshaft cover or swap the covers for the newer one? Swapping out sounds laborious ($$$).

Correcting the newer carbs and the older engine, fitting the intake manifolds on a scale of difficulty 1-10 (10 being hard) how bad is it?

The mechanic said he's going to readjust all the values and timing to make sure it runs in tip-top condition.

[GynZi]

Sorry for stealing the thread, but would this work vise versa. Not with the engine though, but the tail. Would the tail from a new GS(E/F) fit an older '98 GS500E without frame modifications?

[GAS]

Hey,

I just dropped of 97 motor with mechanic and he's gonna work on it in a couple of days (really backed up).

Thanks for the responses so far, a few questions about them;

It shouldn't be a problem for mechanic to plug the 97 hole in the camshaft cover or swap the covers for the newer one? Swapping out sounds laborious ($$$).

Correcting the newer carbs and the older engine, fitting the intake manifolds on a scale of difficulty 1-10 (10 being hard) how bad is it?

The mechanic said he's going to readjust all the values and timing to make sure it runs in tip-top condition.

The most laborious part will be swapping the lower cases to maintain the oil cooler working properly, swaping the camshaft cover will take about 5 minutes, it's really that easy, just unbolt and rebolt again. There's absolutely no problem in pluging or swapping them, but if  you swap, the older tach output won't work if the cover is on the newer engine, what is not going to affect you anyway.

Fitting the intake manifolds is easy as well, many people don't even realize they are different sizes... Matter of fact I'm not sure about the engine intake being different, may be only the air filter boots (that's for sure), sorry for the perhaps wrong info on that!

[GAS]

Sorry for stealing the thread, but would this work vise versa. Not with the engine though, but the tail. Would the tail from a new GS(E/F) fit an older '98 GS500E without frame modifications?

The frame is exactly the same, the newer tail won't fit the older tank though.

[Carltheproducer]

The mechanic called and he's mocked up the 97 engine to the frame and said no real issues. He's quoting me $500 to install the engine, adjust values and recalibrate (i think that's what he said) the carburetors to the remaining components of the '08 GS. Is this to much? He said $300 to install engine and now it's $500? Does adjusting values and tweaking carburetors cost a couple of hundreds?

[Big Rich]

In parts? Not at all. But labor can push the amount higher.

[Carltheproducer]

In parts? Not at all. But labor can push the amount higher.

You saying parts and labor should be more than $500?

[Big Rich]

Not "should be". But it is possible depending how long it takes.

Swapping motors, carbs/mounts, checking valves, carb tuning, etc can actually take a good bit of time.

[Carltheproducer]

I picked up my bike from Polo on Saturday. I can now personally vouch a 1997 Suzuki GS500 engine fits into a 2008 Suzuki GS500F (although you'll have to use some parts from your '08 engine to complete swap.) Once I again, I asked Polo how my '08 engine gave out like that and he said, "The only thing I can think of is that you were reeving way to high all the time. You had enough oil and it wasn't that dirty." So I guess it was a factory lemon, only if it could've happened 8 months ago (warranty). After shelling out $450 for '97 Motor and $500 to Polo, I am back riding. First thing I noticed was I don't have as much pep as before, especially on highway although now I am self-conscience about my RPMs. So far, after riding about 150 miles on the bike, it runs smooth. Polo said to bring it back after I hit 500 miles so he can do an oil change and go through the engine again.

Here's some photos attached of the engine in my bike currently;







My questions to everyone here is how high to you reeve until you shift gears? I usually switch between 6,000-8,000RPMs.

Also I have the '08 Engine in the back of a car and I want to sell it quickly and try to recoup as much $$$ as possible. Polo said to sell it to a steel salvage yard but I'd rather sell it to someone who's looking for a project to rebuild an '08 GS motor. How much do you think I could get for the injured engine?