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Metal Shavings in Oil #2

Discussion in 'Tech' started by michael_chicago, Jan 2, 2019.

  1. michael_chicago

    michael_chicago Well-Known Member

    I found a few shavings in my drained oil yesterday that give me cause for concern. Previous threads on the forum suggest they are likely from the transmission and due to a missed shift or poor technique. Considering the expertise here I thought I would post a few pics and see what you all thought.

    The bike is a 2007 GSX-R600 with approximately 12,000 miles. It is a racebike with previous history not very well documented (I don't know how many miles are track vs. street). I picked it up a few weeks ago and went through it pretty throughly before it's first race weekend here in Florida. Compression and valve clearances were in spec. Oil was clean, but I changed it to Motul 7100.

    The pieces are magnetic and one or two are blued. I appreciate any input.


    IMG_1814.JPG IMG_1817.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2019
  2. RM Racing

    RM Racing Tool user

    Magnetic or not?
     
  3. michael_chicago

    michael_chicago Well-Known Member

    Yes, sorry. I wrote "metallic," but intended "magnetic." Original post edited now.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2019
  4. RM Racing

    RM Racing Tool user

    Maybe pieces of a shift fork - a known weak point of most GSXRs of that era.
     
  5. TurboBlew

    TurboBlew Registers Abusers

    maybe pull the pan to have a closer look at sump and pickup
     
  6. michael_chicago

    michael_chicago Well-Known Member

    Thanks, fellas. I'll drop the pan and have a look to see if there are more bits as soon as I get a chance. Looking at the pieces now, it doesn't look like much. They seem quite large in the photo I attached as the one pic was taken through my loupe, but that may be wishful thinking. I don't have experience in looking at this sort of thing and determining whether to carry on and hope for the best or dismantle to prevent further damage. My instinct says carry on and examine oil after the next meet.
     
  7. turner38

    turner38 Well-Known Member

    Looks like it ran something through a gearset.
    I’d cut the oil filter and look at it also.
    Any problems shifting or noises from the trans?
    I’d pull the clutch and chain and run it through the gears by hand looking for tight spots or clicking noises.
     
  8. michael_chicago

    michael_chicago Well-Known Member

    OK, I've cut open the oil filter, dropped the oil pan and examined as closely as possible the output shaft of the transmission.

    I found four more small ferrous particles. Three came out when I drained the oil again and one was in the oil pickup strainer. They are similar in size to the original pieces. The oil filter had no magnetic particles.

    There is some wear on the slots of the 1st and 2nd gears (the worse of the two) and I believe these particles come from this wear. They could also be from the shift forks as RM Racing suggested, but I can only see what I can see.

    Based on this examination, I will re-assemble everything and race the bike again later this month (with a little more attention to shifting technique). The bike exhibited no strange gearbox behaviour at the last outing (certainly not jumping out of 2nd). I will drain the oil after the next weekend and examine for particles again.

    Thank you all for the suggestions; it was an enlightening experience. It sure would be nice to have a cassette gearbox!

    2nd gear:

    2nd gear.jpg
     
  9. RM Racing

    RM Racing Tool user

    Good exploratory, this is the minimum a race mechanic might do. Most posters on here would ask the questions, ignore the answers, and go race.

    If you start to have 3/4 gear shift issues, tear her down and look at the middle shift fork. Good luck and thanks for listening!
     

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