Rebuilding the bottom end of an '03 R6 is not quite as simple as a a TZ250, but not that much harder either. I am looking for any information (or even hints) in regards to a few particular things: 1. Crank came out. Main bearings looked OK. Replaced with same "color" new bearings, checked clearances (fine of course) and assembled as per the manual. 2. Motor came out due to loosing a con-rod bearing after 5 or so laps (which too, of course, spec'd fine) to find that the main bearings looked way too polished for my taste. I don't believe those bearings would have lasted for a few races, much less an entire season. Is case warpage a problem with the '03 R6 motors? I followed the manual in terms of torque specs and pattern - but have haerd about problems when doing the same with old style GSXR motors (AOD I believe hints about this in the last RRW). Anyone with experience with these motors have any info they are willing to share? I believe I have warped cases, but am not quite sure how they became that way and hope to not do the same thing to any more motors in the future. I also would love to avoid any "common" problems when yet again rebuilding this bottom end. -dave ( yes, I torque the con-rod bolts using tension deformation and nota torque wrench. Yes, I have checked the con-rods with a bore gauge and they all come out almost identical. I do not believe I will ever again trust what PlasticGauge tells me. :/ Now I have no earthly idea why my main clearances are showing so tight...Guesses welcome.)
...the oil pump was in better shape than expected, although I only primed it and verified it was functional at "finger speeds", and have no tooling to check oil PSI while running. I am not saying that is not a good idea, as my first thoughts were low oil pressure - but I frankly can't see how after finding no assembly errors on disassembly and no mechanical issues with the pump. What is a good place to tap/pick up oil pressure with a small gauge on the R6 motor? -dave BTW: the cases have .013" of a gap .5" long between them at the rear of the cases under the clutch cover. There are no external marks to indicate a "big bang" could have dented them in, but they physically do not touch and I was getting oil seepage after very few laps. I have not checked the main bearing bore alignment however, and am simply jumping to a concussion that there is the possiblity the cases are warped in other places than simply the clutch area. I miss my two-stroke motors. :/
<What is a good place to tap/pick up oil pressure with a small gauge on the R6 motor? > I'm pretty sure the 03 is the same as my 00. There are 2 galley plugs, one on each side of the engine. The easiest to get to is the one on the left side, to the left of the oil filter. tom
yes, you are right about those gally plugs - that would probably be a great place to put a small gauge. Good suggestion! I am still not sure oil pressure was a real issue, but I guess there is only one way to find out... -dave
if rod bgr spun I would bet it had something to do with low oil psi.or misassambly...rod bgrs just do not fail that quick if you have oil psi and the right clearances..What happened to cause the rebuild?? Did the engine get real hot before the build? did you use new rod bolts? did the rod bgrs need replacing do to wear. If so did you resize the rod ends? Did the bgr. shells snap in place during assy? Lots of things to look at...How did you break it in? did you prime the oil sys before you started it? The R6 is a tough engine.....
I amstarting to think that is the case. I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you. I can say the motor was running before it came apart. If you are really curious what I was/am doing to it, email me off list and I will give you the skinny. No. Yes. Custom Carrillo rods. Was a street motor, so the bearings were used, but not really worn. No, but will have to now due to the spinning of one bearing. The bearings snapped into the rod halfs if that is what you mean, yes. On the dyno. Not a Factory, but a dyno none the less. 3 pulls up to half RPM, cool, 3 pulls to 10k or so, cool, 3 pulls up to 11.5 - all were a full coast down to 4k RPMs to really load up the oil rings and suck the fuel/oil off the cylinder walls. Yeah, but possibly not enough? I wouldn't have really guessed it, but it really seems to be the case. I am glad there are at least a few people out there that have been succesful at working on these bottom ends that can give me some tips though....
I have built 20 to 25 of the 03-04 R6 motors and have not had a problem yet except for a transmission bearing failure last weekend at Nashville which was the inner input shaft bearing that does not come out during a normal rebuild. You said you used new Carrillo rods. Here is a little tip for you, when you roll the rod bearing in take a razor blade and clean all the bearing coating that comes off from the sharp edge of the rod. This was probably not your cause but it is a good idea anyway. Jeff
So it sounds like we have a few people who have had no problems with the R6. I am not going to tempt fate and go against the manual in terms of clearances - but I am curious what you guys think I can get away with on the rod and main bearing clearances? 1.1 - 3 I believe is spec for both (right about there - dont have the manual in front of me) Also, what is your (everyones) opinion of plasticgauge? Should I suck it up and buy a good quality bore gauge instead? If "YES" to above, is the standard method of measuring out clearances come down to assembling a rod with bearing to torque spec, and subtracting the OD of the crank journal from the bore of the bearing surface? Any tricks there, or is it really as simple as it sounds? How would one go about doing that same process for main bearings? It seems like it would be pretty hard to measure the inner two main journals as they are inside the cases pretty far... Last question for now: What should I expect to see for oil PSI if using a small gauge connected to one of the gally plugs next to the oil filter (as suggested above)? 30PSI or so? (I have no idea)
