| Author | Message | ||
     Buell82 |
I have owned my 1997 Buell S3 for only a couple of months now. The bike was ill maintained when I picked it up, so I have spent some time bringing it back to life. I just recently have gone on a hard ride, and I will say there were a couple times of riding around a hundred mph. The bike seemed to run great! My problem is that during this ride on an uphill climb my bike gradually started loosing power until I was forced to pull over. When I stopped my bike idled horribly. Not riskin anything else, I had the bike taken home via pick-up. Upon further inspection I notice that a thick smoke pours out of my crankcase breathing system!?! I have never noticed this before and I have no idea how to start to remedy it. Any help? Thanks | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I had that symptom happen to me on my '79 sportster. My rear piston's rings had crumbled up. Still got me home from Quebec though  | ||
| Bad_karma |
When I lost my rear cylinder those sound like the initial symptoms. Joe | ||
| Ratbuell |
Compression / leakdown tests will tell for sure, but it sounds like you have a hole in there somewhere (cracked piston, worn rings, scored cylinder). If you need 'em, I have a set of 10.5:1 forged Wisecos for thunderstorm heads... | ||
| Smoke |
if those pistons are oversize and someone else doesn't need them, i would, depending on price. tim | ||
| Buell82 |
Thanks for the info...I will try and do a compression test tonight. Unfortunatly I fear the worst....:-( Also I might be interested in those Wisecos pistons. I will put another post in when I figure out some more results. Thanks, Mike | ||
| Sloppy |
There was a problem with older bikes that would allow too much oil to pool in the crankcase. It would happen when driven at high rpm for a long duration and would cause the same problems as what you're having. Try riding it around town and see if the problem goes away. If so, you may just need to get an updated oil pump assembly. I believe the upgraded oil pumps were installed in '98? | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Sloppy, I think it was in 2000. That's when the gear changed. You might be right though, I seem to recall something else about the pumps in the 98 range... There might have been two changes. | ||
| Buell82 |
Well here is the latest news...I completed my compression test and here is what I found. The front piston is strong with 120psi. The rear piston hardly reads any psi.:-( Although when I did add oil to the cylinder the compression did not increase. So this leads me to believe there is valve trouble, and or a blown head gasket. Any advice on where to go from here? I have a bit of mechanical ability, but I would like to know if someone has so good help/advice on how to go about rebuilding my rear cylinder head. Also any good resources for parts? Thanks, Mike | ||
| Smoke |
check ebay as there is usually a set of new thunderstorm heads with pistons for about $625.00. new or used cylinders are also available and also check with sponsors for your needs. if you have time, place, and tooling you can remove top end easily and freshen up through sponsor or local H-D aftermarket shop. start by removing rear head and cylinder to check it out. good luck, tim | ||
| Buell82 |
Thanks for all the helpful input! Here is one more question I have that hopefully someone can help make reason of...The smoke that is coming from my engine is only from the crank case breather system (the little hole tapped into the top of the rocker box) But not a bit of smoke comes from my exhaust...Now all my mechanical knowledge tells me that if my ring is shot then I should have smoke coming from the exhaust as well? Any input on this? Thanks, Mike | ||
| Oldog |
If the rings were bad then Hot combustion gasses will go to the crank case and cause pressure there to be blown out the vent which is located on the right side of the cylinder head below the rocker boxes, Valves: If a leak down test is done they will leakif bad. If you think that the valves are bad and you have to pull the head / jug any way.( cant do a leak down ) first pull the intake and exhaust and squirt some oil in them see if there is any change for your comp test. If you can admit compressed air to the cylinder squirt oil in the ports them at bdc and see if you hear bubbling. I would also expect bad valves to spit air into the port(s) if the engine is turned over by hand and you other wise have compression. The engine may not pump oil if the compression rings fail and the oil rings are still working you may not get exhaust smoke ........... ..... Yet but as the cyl wall gets worse it will eventualy destroy the oil rings too. IHTH from the porch The Ol Dog .. (Message edited by oldog on May 23, 2007) | ||
| Buell82 |
Ok so here I am....Smoke was coming from my crank case breathing system, and found no compression in one cylinder. I completed my leak down test on my 97 S3 and to my disapointment, all the air was hissing out of my timing inspection port.:-( So now I know for sure that I need to replace the rings on my piston. What I am asking is if anyone can give me advice on rebuilding this cylinder? Are there any specialty tools that I just cannot live without? I have my service manual, but I still need as much help as I can get. Thanks, Mike | ||
| Blake |
You're not listening, you just keep asking questions. It ain't just rings. | ||
| Iamike |
Mike- It really isn't too hard to tear into the top end of these engines but you just have to be sure that the pistons and rings are the right size for the cylinders. When I did mine at 38,000mi. there was so little wear on anything I just honed my cyclinders and replaced the rings with stock. If work has been done before or you have scoring on the walls then you may have a little more work to do. I had a shop do my heads and honed the cyclinders so they can give you advice on what needs to be done. When you put it all back together just follow the procedure listed in the manual and all should be well. | ||
| Buell82 |
Well here it is guys....I tried the leak down test and heard air shooting from the crank case. So today I tore down my cyclinder to bein the overhaul and found a HUGE hole in my piston. A couple of you thought it may be this and you were right...Looks like I got a long haul ahead of me. I appreciate all the help everyone given me. I will try and keep everyone updated on my progress. Thanks, Mike | ||
| Bad_karma |
Mike Inspect the rear cylinder closely. Make sure the sleeve hasn't separated from the jug.Now to get rid of all the metal in the tank, lines and bottom end. My whole was the size of the exhaust valve relief. I was lucky no damage to the bottom end other than an oil pump. Joe |
