| Author | Message | ||
     Cataract2 |
Well, looks like I may have been bitten by this. Got a slight knocking that I thought was the hydraulic lifters. After tearing into the engine and replacing them the noise was still there. Thought maybe the cam bushings. Tore it down again only to find those are ok. Finally I just had to face what it could be. Crank failure. I took a magnet to the oil and this is what I found.  I'm going to go with there should be no silver fish in my oil... | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Something is coming apart for sure. Could be a lot of different things. I would open up the oil filter and see what non-ferrous shrapnel might be inside it. (Message edited by panhead_dan on March 27, 2015) | ||
| Hughlysses |
That looks very similar to the debris I found in my oil when the crankpin/bearings failed on my Uly. You might get by with a ~$750 crank/rod assembly plus a ~$150 gasket set. Of course you may find a decent used engine on ebay for about the same price. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Hugh, sent you a pm on advrider as I saw you went through this as well. Want to talk to you more about what you did. | ||
| Andersonhdj |
My 05 also failed at fairly low mileage. Have seen at least another 2 here in the sticks. Also 05 XB9's. | ||
| Cataract2 |
Yeah, sadly it happens. That's why I plan when I get the time and money to upgrade it to the 08+ setup. Maybe also make it into an XB12SX. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
May I ask what engine oil you were using? Also please, do you tend to keep the rpm's up or do you keep it low and take it easy on her? | ||
| Submax |
That sucks. Sorry, man.  | ||
| Cataract2 |
Pan, it's lived on Mobil 1 15/50 and I tend to cruise a lot keeping the rpms lower. I doubt the oil or riding style really had much to do with this at all. Going with poor design, hence why the 08+ engines had the changes and why I will be looking to get my hands on an 08+ engine to replace this one. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Cataract2- I responded to your PM at ADVrider. I researched the swap but wound up changing to a complete 09 engine instead as my cylinders were damaged. The parts to rebuild my engine would have cost as much as the complete 09 engine I bought. There's a long thread in the Big, Bad, & Dirty forum by a guy who made the swap. I'll post the link if I can find it. One good thing is the 08-up crank is actually a few dollars cheaper than the pre-08 crank the last time I checked. The newer crank has a bigger crank pin and bearings and stronger rods, so it's a good upgrade. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Oh yea, find a magnet and see if that stuff is magnetic. If it is, you've almost certainly got a bad crank. If you do change to a complete 08-up engine, you'll have to change the wiring harness, ECM, and oil cooler, but it's worth the effort. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Here's the complete thread on the 08 crank swap into an 07 Uly. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/646487.html?1334714989 IIRC, he didn't realize the 08 crank was missing the static timing mark present on the pre-08 cranks which was a bit of an issue when he got the engine buttoned up. It's hard to set the ignition timing without a reference. I think as long as you put a clear mark in the right location prior to installing the crank (you could measure the location of the mark on your original crank and transfer it) it wouldn't be an issue. Badwebber "Munarin" from Australia has also done the swap. (Message edited by Hughlysses on March 28, 2015) | ||
| Ducbsa |
I read that thread (thanks for the link), but I had assumed that the cases had to be bored for larger OD main bearings and saw no mention of it. My '07 XB12S is a May '07 build, so I am concerned a little bit. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I'm pretty sure no crankcase modifications are required. The bigger bearing on the 08-up crank is the crankpin/rod bearings, not the crank end bearings. It has a 1.5 inch diameter crankpin versus a 1.25 inch diameter crankpin on the earlier cranks. The left end (primary) crankcase bearing is different, but that just means the old bearing has to be pressed out and a new one pressed in. | ||
| Snacktoast |
No crankcase mods are required to put the 08-later crank in 07-ealier cases. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Aren't the stator/rotor/front primary sprocket different on a 2008? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Primary sprocket is different because of different splines on the crankshaft end. You can retain the 07 stator and I believe you can retain the rotor as well by pressing out the old sprocket and pressing in the 08 one. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Cool info, thanks! | ||
| Slaughter |
You might check with somebody doing the big end bearing mods - like Darkhorse Crankworks. I had them do 2 engine mods on 03 motors with 08 flywheels and they DID have to bore cases for bigger bottom bearings (also did bigger spigot bores for 3 13/16 bore for 1169cc motor) They have done this mod for a number of race motors. Mod'd Paul James' endurance motor this way. You still time off the cam position sensor - same wiring harness and because you DON'T time from the flywheels, you CAN have them remove more than 2 pounds from the flywheels. NICE throttle response. John Dahmer http://darkhorsecrankworks.com/ | ||
| Greg_e |
How does it idle after shaving the crank? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Steve- I called Darkhorse when my 07 Uly crank failed and talked to them about the procedure. Supposedly they were involved with Buell's racing program and actually helped develop the 08 crank. I'm almost certain they told me the cases did not HAVE to be bored. It does require a new primary side bearing to be pressed into crankcase. Darkhorse recommended that I ship them my cases and have them align-bored, then they could press in the new bearing, install the crank and button it up. At any rate, I definitely agree: talk to Darkhorse; they know what needs to be done. |
