advice on goat's syndrome/stator disintegration

[darraghor]

Hey folks,

So I was changing the left crankcase cover gasket to fix an oil leak. When i had the cover off i noticed the issue below. Did my searching and discovered I had goat's.

http://imgur.com/K84wm

I don't ever remember hearing or feeling this happen. The windings show no damage and the battery charges just fine. I dropped the oil pan to search for debris and found some epoxy, the oil cleaner had some bits of metal in it that disintegrated when i touched it. I suspect it was the chunks of magnet. There was nothing in the regular paper oil filter. I figure this happened some time ago but who knows.

So i contacted the dealer (09 GS so no warranty). He reckons it's fine. he's seen it plenty times before. I can get a new part if I want but he said not to worry. The new part is 250 bucks on bikebandit and i'm a cheap-ass so i'm wondering if i could smear some jb weld on top just to stop that one magnet from deteriorating any more? Are there any known issues with doing this? The rest of the stator is perfect so it would be a shame to exchange the entire unit I would prefer not to have to take it off too. I read (on here) that it's a pain in the butt.

I have replaced the gasket and closed it up since. I had other things to do to the bike so i needed the engine sealed. It also lives outside so i needed to keep moisture out. Do I just leave it and pray or dump oil again,  reopen and jb weld that sucker? What's the verdict?

Thanks,
Dar

[darraghor]

*ahem* i guess it's the rotor i'm talking about:) but it's in the pic anyway.

[Kijona]

Hey folks,

So I was changing the left crankcase cover gasket to fix an oil leak. When i had the cover off i noticed the issue below. Did my searching and discovered I had goat's.

http://imgur.com/K84wm

I don't ever remember hearing or feeling this happen. The windings show no damage and the battery charges just fine. I dropped the oil pan to search for debris and found some epoxy, the oil cleaner had some bits of metal in it that disintegrated when i touched it. I suspect it was the chunks of magnet. There was nothing in the regular paper oil filter. I figure this happened some time ago but who knows.

So i contacted the dealer (09 GS so no warranty). He reckons it's fine. he's seen it plenty times before. I can get a new part if I want but he said not to worry. The new part is 250 bucks on bikebandit and i'm a cheap-ass so i'm wondering if i could smear some jb weld on top just to stop that one magnet from deteriorating any more? Are there any known issues with doing this? The rest of the stator is perfect so it would be a shame to exchange the entire unit I would prefer not to have to take it off too. I read (on here) that it's a pain in the butt.

I have replaced the gasket and closed it up since. I had other things to do to the bike so i needed the engine sealed. It also lives outside so i needed to keep moisture out. Do I just leave it and pray or dump oil again,  reopen and jb weld that sucker? What's the verdict?

Thanks,
Dar

I guess I'm just not seeing the issue? Is it actually being rubbed off by hitting something or is it just coming apart on its own? Either way I'm sure it's fine. If it's rubbing, it'll eventually just even itself out. If it's corroding I'm sure it's just paint. Might want to change your oil filter a few times.

[BaltimoreGS]

Kijona:  Do a search on Goat's, it is a serious problem that can afflict the GS500.  The name for the problem comes from an old forum user.

To the OP:  The safe bet is to replace it.  If one of those magnets lets loose it can wipe out your engine.  You could try finding a good used rotor if you want to save some $$$

-Jessie

[Kijona]

Kijona:  Do a search on Goat's, it is a serious problem that can afflict the GS500.  The name for the problem comes from an old forum user.

To the OP:  The safe bet is to replace it.  If one of those magnets lets loose it can wipe out your engine.  You could try finding a good used rotor if you want to save some $$$

-Jessie

Ohhhh, okay I was a little unsure about what was going on. Gotcha.

[bigfatcat]

Just curious:

Were any of the magnets loose at all ?

Has bike been down on the left side, since you have an oil leak ?

[darraghor]

Thanks BaltimoreGS, I'm kinda leaning that way too. If i can find a perfect used part i'll do the swap but otherwise leave it. It might be worse if bits of jbweld start breaking off:)

Hey bigfatcat, the bike was never down that I know of. It was a demo bike but it looked pretty much perfect when i bought it (@ 600km or so). I have since put on 15000km and this leak started around 300km ago. I'm not absolutely 100% certain that this is where the leak came from either. Frustratingly the leak only occurred after riding for a bit. I tried cleaning the casing and idling but couldn't see a leak. Going out for a ride resulted in the underside and top left of the crankcase getting coated with a film of oil that accumulated on my centre stand. Took it to a shop and they said they couldn't figure it out either and told me "to keep an eye on it" So it was a tricky one.

When i got the casing off though the gasket seemed 'stretched' at the front bolt, like the gasket had been pulled toward the back of the bike. I'm not sure if the magnet issue could be related to this but I'm open to any suggestion. If i can prevent any more damage to the magnets it would be great. The gasket problem looked like a possible install, or just wear issue, aggravated over time.

None of the magnets were loose. It's not visibly split down the middle either but there could be worse damage to it below the front surface i suppose. I rubbed the top and no other chunks came off. it seemed 'stable' at that level of damage. I'm guessing that a piece of epoxy broke off, got jammed between the magnet and stator, chipped the magnet and all the bits got sucked in to the crankcase becuase the coils and charging system are fine.

I wish i knew when it happened though, if it has been like this since km # 1000 then i would be happy just leaving it be!:)

[JAY W]

I`d suggest starting a new thread asking what epoxy resin to use on the stator magnets,surely this is the way to go?