| Author | Message | ||
     Rick_a |
I have been running it pretty hard on my daily commute. A few days ago, getting off the highway, it started losing power and sounded like a pushrod may have come loose (adjustables). Well, I check those and the rear exhaust is a little tight. No problem. Adjusted. Change the oil. There's grains of ferrous metal shavings in the oil filter. Not much, but a cause for concern. I had to limp it to and from work a couple days in order to keep my job. The plugs, surprisingly, look fine. The rear cylinder valve train sounds louder than usual and that cylinder has dropped almost completely. Power is way down and there is almost no compression braking off the gas. I get to tear into it tomorrow and see what damage has been done. | ||
| Two_seasons |
I would suspect valve(s) aren't closing. Do a leakdown test and see what's up. | ||
| Rick_a |
Got the rocker cover off. Couldn't look better. Took off the exhaust to look at the valve. Looks and functions perfect. I need to get a compression tester and go from there. Only thing I've found wrong so far is a broken carb mount. It was still holding on fine, but the mounting tab on the open side is gone. Need to try some SE exhaust gaskets, too. The stockers were squashed-in pretty good. | ||
| Harleyelf |
Leak down test. | ||
| Alfau |
These things like consistent fuel,stick with the same brand. | ||
| Rick_a |
I don't have a leakdown tester. Compression was a bit lower than last time I checked, but I used a cheapo gauge vs the one used previously. I got a 5% difference between cylinders, with both values down 10PSI from previous (which is likely irrelevant). I got my new carb bracket today. Will replace all the intake seals as well. The carb boot tore and the carb was slightly askew. It wasn't running like bad gas. That's always obvious. It started running poorly between fill ups. I've been hauling across a bridge lately. Seems the vibration at those RPMs break stuff. I had a muffler hanger break just before this episode. | ||
| Harleyelf |
You have a compression tester? You can do a leak down test. Press the release button every ten seconds on each cylinder and see if they take different amounts of time to drop. | ||
| Rick_a |
As an update...I've been avoiding messing with the bike much...it's definitely not just an exhaust leak or bad gas. The rear exhaust lifter is tight in its bore. I'll be breaking it down further tonight... | ||
| Alfau |
Have you changed the fuel filter,it can't hurt and should be done fairly regularly. Check for water in fuel while your at it. The O-Ring on the fuel cap is Junk and lets water into the tank when you wash the bike if not adjusted correctly or is cracked. | ||
| Rick_a |
Oh no bro... Here's the damage:    The lifter roller failed, causing the pins to back out, messing up the cam, and damaging the lifter bore. I think some Jims lifters are in my future. The back side of the lifter bore faired much better than the front...essentially just scratched a bit. The lesson here...immediately stop riding next time I feel something is up. I rode it like this for three days. | ||
| Alfau |
Top pic looks like the cam bushing was seriously worn. | ||
| Rick_a |
The cam bushing is fine. The top of it did get a little beat up after the roller failed. Once that got ate up there was enough play to allow the tappet body to travel further down the bore and make contact. | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
Id be careful to measure your cam bushing. If its too loose this might happen again SOON. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
This happened to my ironhead some years ago. The needles from two rollers fell out and sprinkled into the oil pump, ruining it. Cut open your oil filter and look for shrapnel. It may be a good idea to open your pump and check it for scoring. I recently got my ironhead back together after leaving it apart for seven years. Don't lose momentum on this! LOL. | ||
| Rick_a |
There's scratches in most every bearing surface in the engine that I can see. I'm sure the oil pump isn't too pretty, either...and it's an irreplaceable Zipper's Pro Flo. I'm pretty bummed, but I'm going flush the oil well, and run it until I either get another bike, or it blows up...whichever comes first, then rebuild it completely. It was a PIA but I managed to get the single camshaft coming from Andrews. I will be measuring the bushings, though they look fine save for some scratches. The oil filter did have some metal in it; all finely ground. It's an aluminum filter with a stainless element. It's easy to see what gets in there. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
That sucks Rick, hope you can get her rolling again soon!!! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Bummer. What normally keeps that lifter roller pin in place? Is there a circlip or something? | ||
| Rick_a |
The ends look to be pressed into place, best I can tell. | ||
| Rick_a |
FINALLY got the damn cam in. The lifter bore is still tight due to metal displacement. Anyone have a clever idea for a lifter bore repair without getting drastic? I have a few ideas...but an engine case is kind of an expensive thing to be experimenting with. | ||
| Arizona_buell |
If it is a nominal size you could maybe get a reamer in there. Not a lot of room though. | ||
| Firemanjim |
Brake cylinder hone. IIRC did it to one of my motors years ago, might have to remove one stone and just use two. | ||
| Oldog |
Hey Rick its the bottom end of the bore? try a burring tool / file and take small cuts where the tappet exits , other than that an adjustable reamer and mikes checking and making small adjustments lest you get it too big.... | ||
| Rick_a |
Yep...that last 1/2 inch. I'm considering using the body of the old tappet with some sandpaper bonded to it on the small end shimmed up to the proper diameter. Driven with a ratchet it'd be a self-centering and aligning tool...unless it gets stuck. A hone sounds like a good idea...but I'm afraid of more contaminants getting in the engine. | ||
| Rick_a |
The roughed up area has been deburred. It's just above that where it's tight. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
My first thought was the same as FMJ, brake cyl hone. Replace the oil pump & drive while you've got it in bits too. |
