Ok its been a long process and im still no closer to finishing this thing.
What brought the problem to head...
low oil pressure light came on while riding.
changed the oil filter (was clogged with silicon left over from the previous owner)
new oil.
went for a ride, bike stopped after 15 minutes and wouldn't restart for 2 hours(ish)
rebuilt the carbs (everything seemed to be related to carbs so why not get it out of the way)
started the bike, loud clacking sound sounded like it was coming from the front right.
checked the front cam chain, no freeplay, put it all back together.
started bike, listened with screwdriver handle, loud clacking actually seemed like it was coming from the left side of the engine.
pulled left cover, tightened starter clutch cover bolts, checked the other gears, all seemed fine.
replaced cover and everything.
started bike, clack is now different and bike very hard to start. Can't tell you exactly where it is comeing from because the bike won't run long enough to find it exactly.
have pulled the rear rocker cover off to check rear timing chain, doesn't seem to be much play, got to double check it tommorow night.
I'm starting to get a bit miffed with this and im running out of time. I work full time and uni starts soon.
I need some suggestions of what to check to get this girl purring again.
the only thing i'd suggest, just from your description of the symptoms, is to recheck the balancer gear nuts (both) that noise travels because the balancer's bearings are in both sides of the engine case.
after the side cover is off you have to move the crank back & fourth to feel the slack in the gears/nuts.
moving the crank manually (with the plugs out) will help diagnose if it's locked up too.
hope it's not what it sounds like...
--Lucky
darn it, and I just recently put the side cover back on with a new gasket too.
I'll have to be careful with the gasket.
Thanks for the response lucky. I hadn't taken the plugs out yet, but that will give me a better feel for what is going on in there.
You might be a Visionary if....:
Quote from: silicon_toad2000 on February 28, 2006, 08:26:43 AM
darn it, and I just recently put the side cover back on with a new gasket too.
Oil Pressure light came on.... That sucks! I had that happen to me a few months back, and now have a valve resting on a piston... >:(
If you have the strength.... pull the clutch cover off and check you oil pump. mine was quite clogged, and I think that was the problem I had.
ok I have both rocker covers off and the spark plugs are out, they must be some strong valve springs in there coz it's still difficult to turn over by hand.
while turning it over by hand there are a few clunky type sounds from the head of the rear cylinder, but I haven't nailed down which stroke it happens on yet. I was kinda hoping it just spat a shim or something like that but I can't see a loose shim anywhere so I'm starting to think it's a bit more complicated.
Planing to take the side covers off tonight or tommorow night.
I have taken the left side off allready before, any tips and tricks to be aware of with the right cover?
Unfortunately, the bike should not be that difficult to turn over by hand, espically with the plugs out. Sounds like a bigger problem is lurking in there. After you pull the side covers off, and the problem persists, you might want to start looking at the heads, making sure you can move the valve buckets around by hand, with a small flat head screwdriver, and then making sure the cam's rotate freely also. basically work you way down the heads, to the cylinders, and if you happen to take a cylinder off, make sure the piston is nice and floppy in there. When my bike was difficult to turn over by hand, I had spun a connection rod berring, but hopefully you can find the problem elsewhere.
The right cover contains what is probably the most critical seal in the entire engine, namely the crankshaft oil seal. Oil pressure is fed through a gallery in the right cover to a small reseviour that holds an oil seal. This seal is penetrated by the end of the crankshaft. The crankshaft has oil gallerys in it that feed oil to all points of the lower end. Think main bearings, rod bearings. If this crankshaft oil seal is damaged or fails for any reason, these critical bearings loose oil pressure and you inherate a boat anchor or an excellent opportunity to get to know the deep dark secrets of your V engine like few, hopefully, ever will. A safe rule of thumb is to replace the crankshaft oil seal everytime the right cover is removed. And.....be very careful during reassembly to not damage the seal. Good luck. Cheers.
QBS is correct...BAsically if anyone removed the right (clutch) cover and did not replace or check the seal. That is the likely cause. These engines are easy to turn by hand unless something is seized. Tightening the nut on the crank for the balancer requires a 46mm wrench. Plus the key on the crank can be damaged if not done correctly. And throw the timing off for the balancer.
F.Y.I. I just had the exact problem,that you are discribeing with this seal,I took the clutch cover off because I had a bit of noise after putting Euro-gears in last fall.
What I found was the spring portion of the seal was off the seal & laying on the shaft. The seal lip was pushed inward on one side-thus the oil would bypass and the rest of the engine would not receive proper lubrication. I only hope the rest of the engine has not been damaged to badly.
Ride safe Ken S