My '03 may have seen her last miles.

[dunhamg]

https://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee24/dunhamg/FJR%20Motor.jpg

Pretty much what I suspected. Looks like a rod broke the case. I'll dig into it a bit more to see exactly what caused it if I can determine that.

If anyone needs any part from a salvage bike, make me an offer and I'll be glad to ship.

Grady

 

[rPGoatBoy]

https://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee24/dunhamg/FJR%20Motor.jpg
Pretty much what I suspected. Looks like a rod broke the case. I'll dig into it a bit more to see exactly what caused it if I can determine that.

If anyone needs any part from a salvage bike, make me an offer and I'll be glad to ship.

Grady

Euugh...I think I see ring lands. Which cylinder was it and at what RPM/gear did that happen?

 

[Mihalis fjr]

OUCH!!!Unbelievable!!!

I have never seen a like this before!Perhaps it caused from a bad CCT,the spring of the CCT broke,the cam chain jumped some teeth,the piston knocked the valve,the valve or valves broke and dropped in the combustion chamber..Then came the destroy..A thought..

Sorry for your loss..

 

[RadioHowie]

That WON'T buff out....

 

[dunhamg]

https://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee24/dunhamg/FJR%20Motor.jpg
Pretty much what I suspected. Looks like a rod broke the case. I'll dig into it a bit more to see exactly what caused it if I can determine that.

If anyone needs any part from a salvage bike, make me an offer and I'll be glad to ship.

Grady

Euugh...I think I see ring lands. Which cylinder was it and at what RPM/gear did that happen?

Running right at 70 in fifth gear down the highway. About an hour and a half into my trip. It was the far right cylinder.

Grady

 

[rPGoatBoy]

What kind of noises was it making before going kablooey? Chain noise? Cyclic knocking? Are you planning on tearing it down to find out why?

It's a decent datapoint.

Anybody remember why Patriot's motor quit? IIRC it was a mechanical failure, and I don't remember reading about anybody having a lower end failure before.

 

[Canadian FJR]

That is a sad sight.

Canadian FJR

 

[dcarver]

KaPOW!

 

[08FJR4ME]

Lucky for you the motor didn't lock up and send you on an unwanted trip. I can here all the BMW guys now chatting up how Feejer engines blow up.

Sheeeezzzz, Lock this thread quick,

Sorry for your loss,

Dave

 

[Cav47]

That WON'T buff out....

JB WELD!! done deal

 

[wheatonFJR]

Was it the namby pamby CT or the replacement part?

 

[wfooshee]

I'm not sure why everybody's asking about the cam chain tensioner. When has a cam timing problem ever yanked a rod off a crank journal? That hole is at the case split, where the crankshaft is. The bottom end. What do valves have to do with that?

(Halfway sarcastic, because I don't think there's any way in hell that cams and valves did that, and halfway actually asking if anything at the top really could have caused that..... I guess if a piston broke, but when has a piston ever been broken, in all the cam chain failures we've seen? Nobody who's fixed one of those ever replaced any pistons.....)

 

[rPGoatBoy]

I'm not sure why everybody's asking about the cam chain tensioner. When has a cam timing problem ever yanked a rod off a crank journal? That hole is at the case split, where the crankshaft is. The bottom end. What do valves have to do with that?
(Halfway sarcastic, because I don't think there's any way in hell that cams and valves did that, and halfway actually asking if anything at the top really could have caused that..... I guess if a piston broke, but when has a piston ever been broken, in all the cam chain failures we've seen? Nobody who's fixed one of those ever replaced any pistons.....)

I'm guessing a rod bolt failure judging by the location. The way OP described it was all of a sudden and out of nowhere, at least that's the way I interpreted it. Every once in so many million you'll get a sub-par bolt in mass production manufacturing ($6 ea. from Partzilla) that will only last 12 years and 132,000 miles.

 

[dcarver]

I demand a complete autopsy!

With picture, video and narrative!

...oh, maybe not then?

Looking at the stored pix, that bike had some horizontal dirt nap time.. i wonder if any of the crashes might have oil starved the engine causing later issues?

 

[mcatrophy]

Just thought I'd try to see what's in there from the original photo, hope you don't mind.

(Click on image for larger view)

Original Enhanced

 

[dunhamg]

I demand a complete autopsy! With picture, video and narrative!

...oh, maybe not then?

Looking at the stored pix, that bike had some horizontal dirt nap time.. i wonder if any of the crashes might have oil starved the engine causing later issues?

Yes, this bike did have a deer strike and a slide down the road 6 years and 50K miles ago. Also, I live 3 miles out on a gravel road so it gets quite dirty. But, the fact of the matter is that this bike has had a very hard life The the front tire rarely saw the pavement until the end of third gear when I hit the pavement leaving home every morning. The first 20K miles I averaged low 20's for mileage due to excessive use of the scenery fast forward button and several track days which probably took an additional toll. I can't say it owes me anything. Still on the original clutch and no transmission issues, I'd say Yamaha did a good job with this design.

I'm doubting it was a cam chain issue as it lost power for a couple miles, just barely maintaining 70, I was thinking I maybe had a fuel issue until I heard really bad mechanical noises and knew it wasn't a fuel issue. Grabbed the clutch to prevent a lock up and by the time I stopped it was seized up solid.

Hope to get it further apart this weekend. Will definitely document with some pictures.

Grady

 

[bluesdog]

Some borescoping prior to disassembly may be interesting.

 

[rushes]

"Headed out on a ride tonight and all of a sudden it lost power and started to make a terrible racket. Grabbed the clutch and coasted to a stop. Now it won't crank over and its dripping oil. 132,150 miles may be all it had in it."

*snip*

"But, the fact of the matter is that this bike has had a very hard life

The the front tire rarely saw the pavement until the end of third gear when I hit the pavement leaving home every morning. The first 20K miles I averaged low 20's for mileage due to excessive use of the scenery fast forward button and several track days which probably took an additional toll. I can't say it owes me anything."

This reminds me of some of the vehicle problems and the stories I got raising 3 boys.

"I was just going down the road and it quit running for no reason."

 

[RaYzerman19]

Looks like the rod punched a hole in the crankcase....... say no more, I think you've told us all we need to know. RIP, sorry for your loss.

Agree with Wfooshee, CCT/valves wouldn't have caused this... woulda bent the hell out of valves, but not blow a rod.

 

[HotRodZilla]

That's exactly how the engine in my first car died, except for the hole in the case. Exact same thing; it was running strong and BLAM! Noise and smoke. The noise from mine was from the other 7 cylinders dragging the broken rod around. If you remember, that's what I said happened when you first posted.

All I had was a broken rod and a disconnected piston. We did a bore and stroke and made that thing a runner. It's easy when dad has a machine shop and Bridgeport mills.

Nothing else was found wrong. Sometimes, a part just can't go any more and the part fails with no warning. Sucks man, but maybe it was just time.