How many bikes with 83,000 miles

I'de like some feed back, number 4 cylinder is leaking over 40 percent 3,2,1 are leaking above the 10 percent alowed by Yamaha and the mechanic is'nt going to know how bad untill he gets into the engine. He says I'm looking at between 2,200.00 &4,500.00 but its not worth trying to trade up to new bike. Besides I love my FJR, if anyone is having like problems please you can email me if you want to its in my profile or here on the board.

rogerfjrfaster

rogerfjrfaster said:

I'de like some feed back, number 4 cylinder is leaking over 40 percent 3,2,1 are leaking above the 10 percent alowed by Yamaha and the mechanic is'nt going to know how bad untill he gets into the engine. He says I'm looking at between 2,200.00 &4,500.00 but its not worth trying to trade up to new bike. Besides I love my FJR, if anyone is having like problems please you can email me if you want to its in my profile or here on the board.rogerfjrfaster

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You might be better off buying a used engine/tranny from a wreck. That has worked well for more than one forum member here.

I think bike effects is right Rog...it's probably cheaper....or you could check how much more for multi angle valve job, port & polish, balance & blueprint, up one size pistons, maybe slightly modified cam profiles....nah....check for a used low mileage engine 1st :derisive: .....

Sorry to hear about this. As you may know I had a similar problem with wih mine. Do you have a Power Commander? Is the bike running to lean?

I recommend a used engine. You should be able to get one for about $1000.00.

Soooo....what's leaking??? Valve seats, piston rings, or both? What tests were performed, and what repair did the mechanic propose? Was he proposing to rebuild the cylinder head or the whole engine?

With 83,000 miles there's a good chance the cylinders/pistons/rings are still fine. At any rate, I think it might be worth a second opinion, maybe even a third, before unlimbering thy wallet. Also +1 that a used motor might be a good way to go, but buyer beware of course.

rogerfjrfaster said:

I'de like some feed back, number 4 cylinder is leaking over 40 percent 3,2,1 are leaking above the 10 percent alowed by Yamaha and the mechanic is'nt going to know how bad untill he gets into the engine. He says I'm looking at between 2,200.00 &4,500.00 but its not worth trying to trade up to new bike. Besides I love my FJR, if anyone is having like problems please you can email me if you want to its in my profile or here on the board.rogerfjrfaster

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Hi Roger, Where you bin hiding? Not good news on the engine, what symptoms do you have and who's your mechanic?

Looks like the Wing is coming out of retirement and back into service?

Guys

Thanks for the replys, its the local shop where I worked for 2 1/2 months before moving to a new job working for a dealer transport, we move anywhere on an average 150 vehicles a day. Just the top end valves and seats 2,200.00 and full build pistons , rings, bearings, it would come to 4,500 as so far he's not dug into it yet. He checked the the fule injector's there were ok then he checked the pressure on the cylenders and thats where thing kind of fell apart. So I'm going to call tomorrow and cancell fixing bring bike home and start looking for another engine.

rogerfjrfaster

Sorry to hear this. I guess no Y.E.S?

Roger....was it all factory parts?.....ummmmmm....just wondering.... .....

rogerfjrfaster said:

GuysThanks for the replys, its the local shop where I worked for 2 1/2 months before moving to a new job working for a dealer transport, we move anywhere on an average 150 vehicles a day. Just the top end valves and seats 2,200.00 and full build pistons , rings, bearings, it would come to 4,500 as so far he's not dug into it yet. He checked the the fule injector's there were ok then he checked the pressure on the cylenders and thats where thing kind of fell apart. So I'm going to call tomorrow and cancell fixing bring bike home and start looking for another engine.

rogerfjrfaster

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Roger, sorry to hear about the engine. Can you briefly describe the symptoms of the engine's performance that led you to have it inspected?? If you need a bike during this period, let me know. Got a bike that you can use.

So, what kind of oil were you using? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Guess I need to get outside for some fresh air.

You might be better off buying a used engine/tranny from a wreck. That has worked well for more than one forum member here.

+1

New engine/tranny will probably last longer. If you really want to keep the bike that would be the way to go.

I really have a hard time with this one. How long since your last valve adjustment? That could do it and is suspect in my book. I would do that first. What were the symptoms? Rough idle but ran OK on the road? Was the bike using alot of oil? Is there oil in the exhaust port? Is it a ticker? These answers would point you in the right direction. If it's just going to need head work, do the job yourself.

I think changing and engine is crazy unless it's piston and rings which I doubt. Where you live?

rogerfjrfaster said:

I'de like some feed back, number 4 cylinder is leaking over 40 percent 3,2,1 are leaking above the 10 percent alowed by Yamaha and the mechanic is'nt going to know how bad untill he gets into the engine. He says I'm looking at between 2,200.00 &4,500.00 but its not worth trying to trade up to new bike. Besides I love my FJR, if anyone is having like problems please you can email me if you want to its in my profile or here on the board.rogerfjrfaster

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Something you might want to think about is your engine and transmission are all using the same oil. If you rebuild the top end you should do the whole engine. I have seen several engines on e-bay with low miles(less than ten thousand). Most have sold for under 1000 dollars. The R&R cost is the same. What is the condition of your front end, shocks, steering head bearings,and rear end? In other words whats next? If you are not a mechanic like I am you are in for some large labor payments not just parts. If you love her, keep her. I did.

Roger, What lead you to investigate leading to the lead down rate discovery? Was it running poorly, using oil, ticking, etc...or did you just have it in the shop and the leak down check was done as normal maintenance?

I would lay high odds that the problem is the valve seating. That high of a leakdown number is actually not that uncommon on a production engine with that many miles on it in any kind of vehicle. Just a tiny bit of carbon or other debris on a valve seat could easily cause a high leakdown number yet it would have little or no effect on the performance of the engine. I know the racers would gag at a leakdown level of 40% or even 10% but realistically a leakdown number on a production engine with high miles can be very misleading.

If you put air pressure into the cylinders one at a time and listen at the exhaust pipe and the air cleaner inlet you can usually easily hear where the air is leaking (intake or exhaust valves). I would doubt seriously that the short block/pistons/rings are worn out or needing service. They are probably fine and you don't need a full engine rebuild.

Given the history of tickers and the exhaust valve guide wear your observations of leakdown are not unexpected IMO. If a valve guide is worn the valve can seat very slightly off center when the engine is rotated slowly causing a valve leak and very poor leakdown numbers while the effect on performance is nil....and the engine will run for thousands and thousands of miles like that with no problems.

If you are really concerned it would be worth duplicating the leak down tests to listen for the source of the leakage to positively identify and to repeat the leak down test several times consequetively after rolling the engine over several times between each test to see if the high numbers repeat in that cylinder and/or other cylinders show up also. If it is worn exhaust guides I would expect to see somewhat unrepeatable leakdown results cylinder to cylinder andon the same cylinder test-to-test.

Unless you have some overriding problem like poor idle or high oil consumption or ticking I would just run it and forget about it. Poor leakdown numbers alone do not mean anything is necessarily wrong.

I have seen production engines with a lot of miles or dyno hours on them show 40% leakdown numbers that performed perfectly and showed no difference in performance or power when the leakdown was reduced to 5% by dissassembling and just touching up the valve seats.

Leakdown testers flow only a tiny flow rate of air so any leakage is magnified. Definitely a good test for race engines and diagnostic purposes when you are looking for a known problem and/or "perfect" sealing but leakdown numbers alone can be worse than useless......they can be very misleading when used as a sole indicator of health of a high mileage production engine.

Damnit! There you go - teaching me something new again.

What is it with you, anyways?

Like S76 said, could be a tight valve. But surely that has been checked.

I want to thank Jestal for his reply. I learned a lot.

Really good info. Had news like this been sprung on me, I would be in major panic mode wondering where I was going to get $4500. Now, I can't help but think that maybe, just maybe this is a case of a predator ready to pounce on the unsuspecting...all the time thinking; "Cha-Ching."

Just how many times has this forum proved its worth? I love this place.