2006 Rescue - Project Log

[RaYzerman19]

Those are the 1/4 turn bolts that hold the movable panels in place. There should be 4 of them. They are the ones you can see just in front of your knees when you look down from the seated position.
Some of these guys know their actual name. I can't remember it.

Zilla, those are Dzus fasteners.

+1 on G's advice.

 

[lele]

fjr look cool without side fairing

 

[bhendron]

When you do get the FJR rideable, I'll say be gentle on the first few RPM pulls. In addition to stuck rings, the engine could have a lot of carbon on the pistons and valves.
Feed the engine the throttle it will take but don't push it if it bogs. The key is to work the rings and get them sealing again. Run it up to 5-6K and then back down on closed throttle...do this several times until the engine takes the throttle easier. Continue running it up with progressively more throttle and revs as it frees up and rings work free.

It might also be worth adding some Sea Foam directly to the oil, follow the directions with 1 oz / quart. Continue with throttle and revs and work those rings!

Just my $.02!

--G

I like the Seafoam in the oil idea, a bit of Ring Free / Seafoam one-two punch!

 

[ionbeam]

^^^^ Just be careful not to poison the patient. Even good medicine can be toxic with excess use and mixed with other medicines. Get it running, ride it and evaluate your FJRs condition and try one thing at a time and note how your FJR compares to the baseline after the the action/change. The FJR is pretty bullet proof so the issues are likely to be minor.

It's just a thought but worth mentioning. The valves were loose which can almost only happen from an adjustment and the bike is in the range of needing the second valve adjustment so it is likely someone was 'in there'. It is common for even professionals to get the valve timing wrong by one or two teeth on the cams and the FJR will still start and run, but may not start easy and will not run strong. If the crank sprocket was off a couple of teeth you would be looking for a new cylinder head. I know you have just done the valves, the valve timing may be what caused the previous owner to think something was wrong with the bike and mistook low compression as the root cause.

Time to get in some baseline riding

 

[graler]

Thanks for taking us along on the ride.

 

[bhendron]

^^^^ Just be careful not to poison the patient. Even good medicine can be toxic with excess use and mixed with other medicines. Get it running, ride it and evaluate your FJRs condition and try one thing at a time and note how your FJR compares to the baseline after the the action/change. The FJR is pretty bullet proof so the issues are likely to be minor.
It's just a thought but worth mentioning. The valves were loose which can almost only happen from an adjustment and the bike is in the range of needing the second valve adjustment so it is likely someone was 'in there'. It is common for even professionals to get the valve timing wrong by one or two teeth on the cams and the FJR will still start and run, but may not start easy and will not run strong. If the crank sprocket was off a couple of teeth you would be looking for a new cylinder head. I know you have just done the valves, the valve timing may be what caused the previous owner to think something was wrong with the bike and mistook low compression as the root cause.

Time to get in some baseline riding

Noted! I'll get her on the road and see how things shake out with the Ring Free only and then go from there. I wished I'd looked at the cam sprockets before putting it all back together again!

(I assume that's the only way to verify the timing is correct, by looking the cam sprocket positions?) What I can say is that the cam lobes 'looked' to be in proper position per timing marks on crank sprocket at 0, 180, 360, and 540 degrees.

 

[ionbeam]

There are a number of threads in this Forum about timing the cams. For possible future reference should it become necessary, this is a recent thread rescuing a Forumite from a valve adjustment with cam alignment issues. Other threads show pictures of how close it can be to get the lines on the cams aligned correctly and the threads also offer different techniques to assist in the alignment.

As a bonus, this Forum won't let you search on three letter or less words so things like cam and oil are not searchable (cams is). A workaround is to go to Google and type in: cam alignment:site fjrforum.com

Hopefully none of this will be necessary.

 

[bhendron]

When I got home last night, I couldn't wait to see if the bike would start and not leak oil this time. It took a few presses of the starter button, but it did start and idle. I let it idle for a few minutes and then slowly opened the throttle up to about 4k rpm and then slowly closed it back down to idle. No real issues, but a bit rough, lots of vibration compared to my '04. I did this a few times, and on the last, I let it snap shut. Stumbled and died. Just like yesterday.

It was hard to restart, like yesterday, but it did eventually, I let it idle for another 5-10 minutes. No oil leaks! I tried the throttle again and it was a bit smoother and I was even able to rev and let snap shut with no issues.

I left it idling, letting the Ring Free continue to work, and went into the house to grab a beer. I talked with my fiance for a few minutes and then went back outside to check on the bike. OH ****! huge puddle under the bike and the lower radiator hose dangling off! I lept to the bike and hit the kill switch. The knuckleheads whom were working on it loosened the hose clamp, for what reason I don't know, and left it in place. (EDIT: re-reading this. Probably just to drain the coolant to remove the valve cover, duh.)

I reattached the hose, scavenged the garage for some coolant, refilled and restarted. Started easily and normally. I let it run for a while longer, testing the throttle here and there. On repeated shut-downs and start-ups everything operated as normal.

Looking forward to another cold start test this evening and possibly a scoot around the neighborhood.

 

[lele]

how are your spark plugs? are fouled?

 

[bhendron]

The looked normal to me when I had them out. I gave them a quick once-over with some sand paper and re-gapped them before putting them back in. But no, no oil fouling or any other abnormality. They'll get replaced before I'm done, along with coolant flush/replace, new oil and filter.

 

[Intech]

There is a drain plug on the water pump on the right side. No need to mess with any of the lower hose connections.

 

[bhendron]

There is a drain plug on the water pump on the right side. No need to mess with any of the lower hose connections.

You and I know that, but apparently they didn't or weren't patient enough, or something...

 

[eflyguy]

On some bikes, the plug can seize and you end up damaging it or the thread trying to remove it, so pulling a hose is a safer way to drain the system. Perhaps they were just being cautious based on experience..

 

[bhendron]

The bike started and ran pretty normally last night. I did not ride it.

Were there any GEN II tickers? The engine sounds pretty noisy; tap, tap, tap, tap....

I'll get some video up next week, heading out on a fly fishing trip through Monday!

 

[ionbeam]

No Gen II tickers and tickers did not go tap, tap...

Listening for noise, Mechanic's Stethoscope (excerpted from a Ticker Thread): Find a long metal rod, very long screwdriver or even a length of COPPER pipe (must be metal), you will be able to slip it through the faring gills, then with the engine running, place it on the exhaust header as close to the engine block as possible. Now, put your ear on the rod/pipe and listen. What you hear will be amazing; you can hear the cams, valves and gears all turning, whirring and churning.

Move your 'scope around the engine and you will most likely be able to find the tap, tap source PDQ. The fuel injectors do make a clicking noise...

 

[RossKean]

Any chance the "ticking" is due to the (apparently) too high clearance for the valves? Is it possible that these were incorrectly set by the previous owner. As it has been said, valve clearances tend to get tighter (and quieter) rather than looser as time goes by.

Edit: Once you start to listen for odd noises, everything starts to sound wrong! These engines do make some noises.

 

[RaYzerman19]

That bike needs to be ridden some miles to get the cobwebs out, then see if noises change or disappear. A couple of good long rides and heat cycles should do it.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Keep running the RF in it. You'd be surprised how well it works.

As posted in your other thread, run it at 2-3x' the recommended amount.
It won't hurt anything (I do that on any machine with fuel issues).

I also run the RF in my bike and EVERY gas engine machine I own.


As posted earlier, if it doesn't feel like it had the power like your other bike,
pull the rt side cover when re-adjusting your valves and make sure the timing
is dead nuts on. The CCT is likely original, 10 years old, at least worth checking.

It will run a tooth off but crappy.

 

[bhendron]

Hey! Quick update. Thanks for all your comments and advice! I was out of town for a few days, so not working on the bike.

Monday night, I got it back together enough (no hanging wires, heat shield and T-brace in place, gas tank bolted down, etc.) to give it a little test ride.

I followed the advice given by escapefjrtist:

"When you do get the FJR rideable, I'll say be gentle on the first few RPM pulls. In addition to stuck rings, the engine could have a lot of carbon on the pistons and valves.

Feed the engine the throttle it will take but don't push it if it bogs. The key is to work the rings and get them sealing again. Run it up to 5-6K and then back down on closed throttle...do this several times until the engine takes the throttle easier. Continue running it up with progressively more throttle and revs as it frees up and rings work free."

I'd say it runs pretty damn good, a bit more vibes at high RPM than my '04, but pulls hard and sounds good. My butt dyno wanted to tell me it's faster than my GEN 1, but that's just silly.

I'm going to get a full tank of RF and fuel through it and do a warm-engine compression test, just to be sure. Also check the valve clearances one more time and adjust if necessary. But I think after that and a good TB sync she'll be right as rain. Oh, and that ticking noise at idle is history.

 

[RossKean]

DEAL OF THE CENTURY!!