Dealership blows top end

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buddy roe

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Took my 06 FJR in for its second valve inspection/adjustment. Later that day the service manager calls and tells me that a guide fell into the cam chain assembly and when they started it up -boom- top end blown. They were good for it and replaced over 900$ worth of parts. Everything seemed fine until I got a chance to ride the bike at speed. I noticed that when rolling on and accelerating from about 4000 rpm in 5th gear a very noticeable buzz came up through the seat. I have put over 30000 miles on this thing and have never felt this before. The buzz subsides as you climb near 5000. Under steady state cruise at 4000+ rpm its not as noticeable. I have put on about 700 miles since the rebuild thinking I would see it things loosen up before I pose this with the dealer. Anybody have an idea what might be going here?

 
Well, I have ONE idea....

Since they had to tear a bunch of stuff apart, one of the things that might have come off the bike was the right-side timing cover. One of the many bolts holding the cover on is longer than the rest. Put back incorrectly, it could be rubbing something inside the cover.

READ SkooterG's take on the subject in an older thread...

 
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Other possibilities include, but aren't limited to: throttle body synch needs adjusted, vacuum lines damaged/missing or the caps not put back on after doing the TBS, engine mount bolts need to be re-torqued, spark plugs need replaced, plug wires need to be replaced...actually it could be a lot of different things. I'd take it back and have them look into it if you aren't comfortable doing your own work.

 
Sucks to hear this man, It could be possible a cam or the crank is a tooth off? I think that would definitely cause some vibes. Mine has always seemed vibey at 80MPH or above which is approaching 5K RPM. If it didn't do it before it would be reasonable to assume they didn't hook something up right.

I don't trust a dealer or mechanic I don't know. Something as important and complex as a valve adjust it pays to learn it yourself.

At least you know they worked the bike, my biggest fear with paying a shop is having the bike sit in the shop all day, taking your money, and giving your bike back without touching it. If I had to pay a shop I would have them call me so I could visually see them gauge each cam lobe and show me it was in spec. just my .02

 
Well..in my other bike a XTZ750 super tenere the cam chain now is a crape!100+ miles without change her..she is too much worn and the timing points are out half to one tooth out..Months per months the bike was started the vibes and worse months per months..The vibes in my bike they coming from this thing.Perhaps a tooth is out in this fjr..and the vibes coming from a faulty alignment...

 
buddy roe,

Greb and Mihalis FJR bring up a VERY good point...

When the cams are messed with, it is VERY easy to put things back together mis-timed.

Is your idle nice and smooth? Does the bike seem to have the same power after the fix it had before?

If not, take the bike back and DEMAND that they check the cam timing. Like I said, it's very easy to get it wrong on the FJR, even when you're trying to do it right!

 
I think this is going to be my strategy. I'll go back and tell the service guys what I told all of you. If they come up with nothing, I will present them with a list of possibilities I got from some FJR gearheads and see how they react. I've never had one issue in three years of ownership and I'm concerned that this could compromise future reliability. I really appreciate the input that all of you have contributed. Thanks...

 
Holy crapola... :huh:

I think this is going to be my strategy. I'll go back and tell the service guys what I told all of you. If they come up with nothing, I will present them with a list of possibilities I got from some FJR gearheads and see how they react. I've never had one issue in three years of ownership and I'm concerned that this could compromise future reliability. I really appreciate the input that all of you have contributed. Thanks...
Best of luck to ya. I hope they make things right again.

 
Sucks to hear this man, It could be possible a cam or the crank is a tooth off? I think that would definitely cause some vibes. Mine has always seemed vibey at 80MPH or above which is approaching 5K RPM. If it didn't do it before it would be reasonable to assume they didn't hook something up right.

I don't trust a dealer or mechanic I don't know. Something as important and complex as a valve adjust it pays to learn it yourself.

At least you know they worked the bike, my biggest fear with paying a shop is having the bike sit in the shop all day, taking your money, and giving your bike back without touching it. If I had to pay a shop I would have them call me so I could visually see them gauge each cam lobe and show me it was in spec. just my .02
+1.

Perhaps the dealer should take some pictures of open up your engine as proof of work. Hearing this accident scares me. I would rather spend a whole day doing it myself than screwed up by the dealer.

 
How long is dealer going to warranty this work? I would want some sort of in house warranty with this thing for some length of time.
At the very least. I woulda freaked out. I'm not big on "rebuilt" stuff. It never runs like a new one should. I gotta say that if a dealership FUBAR'd my motor like that, I would have raised the roof in an attempt to get a new engine put in.

As delicate as these things seem to be regarding torque settings, can teeth, and valve specs, a rebuild seems more like what you would do if you just couldn't afford to replace it.

I hope it works put for you. Good luck.

 
After ionbeam's CCT failure, when the shop rebuilt and reassembled his top end, they got the valves all re-timed correctly, but the balancer shaft timing was wrong. This resulted in heavy vibration and normal engine power.

His story starts here

It's just another possibility.

 
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