Cam Cover Blow Out

Started by cvincer, August 01, 2019, 09:37:25 AM

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cvincer


Sitting at the traffic lights, engine idling, I heard a slight  'puff'  and the engine stopped.  Started it up again, but a few minutes later I could smell hot oil..& pulled over.  The problem was one of the 'plugs' of the cam cover gasket had blown outwards, causing oil to blow out the side.

Simply loosened the cam over bolts, pushed the 'plug' back in, & carried on home where I cleaned the oil off the bike.  I then got on it & went for a 10 minute ride, red-lining it in the lower gears several times........with no blow out.   Any ideas why the blow out happened at idle??

The photo shows the plug after put it back in place.

fret not

Excessive internal pressure.  I don't know why.  The cam covers each have a vent that goes to the air box, and one is larger diameter than the other.  I substituted the large vent cover from another motor for the small vent cover, so both covers now have less restrictive breathing.  I'm not sure if this is enough to prevent the blow out problem, but it should at least improve the situation a bit. 8)
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

Inheritance

On an unrelated note -- is that a stock Reg/Rec and was there enough slack in the wires to mount it over there? I really need to consider doing this but splicing/soldering sounds like an expensive mistake for this job.

George R. Young

The Kawasaki Concours has a similar shaped valve cover gasket and recommends a dab of silicon seal on each gasket lobe to prevent this blowout.

fret not

This issue is what the 3 Bond (Hondabond, Suzukibond, Yamabond, etc.) is good for.  It seems to resist oil pretty well, better than(most) silicone.
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

injuhneer

Quote from: fret not on August 01, 2019, 01:29:16 PM
Excessive internal pressure.  I don't know why.  The cam covers each have a vent that goes to the air box, and one is larger diameter than the other.  I substituted the large vent cover from another motor for the small vent cover, so both covers now have less restrictive breathing.  I'm not sure if this is enough to prevent the blow out problem, but it should at least improve the situation a bit. 8)

Might one of the vent tubes be obstructed?

These half-round seals do age. They can harden or shrink causing exactly what happened.

Some old Maserati engines have this problem. I make a half-round aluminum plug with an o-ring to replace those. Maybe I'll give it a shot on the XZ.
- Mike O
1982 Yamaha XZ550RJ

fret not

You wouldn't have by any chance a table top CNC would you?
Retired, on the downhill slide. . . . . . . . still feels like going uphill!

cvincer

Re all the replies:-

Inheritance ......yes it's an OEM reg/rectifier. The lead from it that connects to the one coming from the stator has been extended.
                         Think I cut the lead of a dead reg/rectifier I spliced it onto the lead from what is now the insitu reg/rect. Simple
                         job with the soldering iron & some heatshrink.   I've also put an heatsink on the engine to take away heat from
                         the stator...make sure the securing bolts you use don't foul the moving parts inside the engine.

Walt M............. No, the hose was fine.

Fretnut.............It is the rear cylinder with the larger diameter hose.  Sounds like you've put a rear cam cover on the front cylinder.
                         Where did you vent it to??  (any pics?)


Had thought the problem might have been related to a 'wasted' spark, but today decided to install a new cam cover gasket, and was amazed to find the exhaust camshaft had sheared......why I've  been able to happily ride around on it for the last few days can't understand.  Only having 1 exhaust valve opening must explain the blow out.   I've drained the oil but not bits of metal + nothing on the magnetic sump plug....but then again never found the 'pecker' missing from an accelerator jet. Wonder if the sheared cam had something to do with the carb balancing problems detailed in an earlier post?

Anyway, I've got a spare camshaft so will get on the road again sometime.  Thanks for the replies.

.

Walt_M.

Well, that's a new one. How many miles on this engine?
Whale oil beef hooked!

The Prophet of Doom

Quote from: cvincer on August 04, 2019, 04:43:04 AM
Only having 1 exhaust valve opening must explain the blow out.   
That would do it.  Half the exhaust would increase blow-by significantly I would think.
Never heard of that happening before.  You are very lucky it happened with the valve closed.

cvincer


pinholenz

That is astounding. Its hard to believe that the engine kept running let alone being able to redline!
Only one '82.5  eXtreme Zen 550

injuhneer

Quote from: fret not on August 04, 2019, 03:57:36 AM
You wouldn't have by any chance a table top CNC would you?

My machines would need a very big table. LOL
- Mike O
1982 Yamaha XZ550RJ

injuhneer

Quote from: cvincer on August 04, 2019, 10:29:02 AM

   86,000 kms

Interesting failure.

If the ends of the fracture are bright then the failure is recent and stress related. Like when the bearing caps are replaced or swapped without line boring. If the ends of the fracture are dark grey then the fracture has been in the making for some time.

The cam looks good otherwise. Definitely could be repaired.
- Mike O
1982 Yamaha XZ550RJ

pullshocks

It happened to me while I was on a trip .   Vent hose was in place and unobstructed, so I never understood why. Fortunately it happened a few blocks from my hotel and I was able to work on it in the parking lot.  I wrapped a bunch of tie wire to hold it in place.

Full write up here:  http://ridersofvision.net/rovforum/index.php?topic=13288.0

I can't believe 8 years have gone by.

Walt_M.

But, did you have a broken exhaust cam?
Whale oil beef hooked!

pullshocks

The gremlins threw a lot of stuff my way during 5 years of Vision ownership, but not a broken cam shaft.....

The Prophet of Doom

Quote from: pullshocks on August 08, 2019, 01:25:49 AM
The gremlins threw a lot of stuff my way during 5 years of Vision ownership, but not a broken cam shaft.....
Does anyone here have a gremlin bell on their visions?
If there ever was a bike that needs one this is it.

cvincer


Here's a couple of photos of the camshaft.

The new cam is in the REAR cylinder but the bike won't start. FRONT cylinder tries to fire, but nothing from the REAR.  Can't understand the problem, lining up the valve timing marks is simple....& whatever is wrong withe the REAR, the FRONT should be firing....the bike running on a single cylinder.

Seems to be a mistake in HAYNES. ...when it talks about valve clearances, it says that at TDC on the compression stroke, both the front & rear cylinders will have their cam lobes pointing up, whereas on mine the REAR has it's lobes lying almost flat opposing (Inlet/Exhaust cam lobes) each other and looking at the diagram of 'Cam Sprocket's in HAYNES ...how could the rear have the lobes upwards?

The XZ service manual makes the same mistake...plus when talking about valve timing for the REAR cylinder, says the lobes at TDC on the compression stroke should be facing each other, whilst the accompanying diagram shows something different.

Anyway, don't know why mine won't start;  at the weekend I'll try a rain dance & then maybe a lump hammer.

injuhneer

There was another thread that covered the cam positions for timing. I would have to find it but maybe one of the long-time members can point you to it.

The manual must be incorrect. At the absolute minimum the difference in angle of the cams relative to each cylinder TDC must be at least 70*.

If the rear cams are drastically out of time it seems there should be ignition firing through the intake or exhaust when cranking.
- Mike O
1982 Yamaha XZ550RJ