Couple of weekends ago I blew my motor. I lost power and couldn't rev past 8k so I got off the track. Bike was blowing white smoke from the tail pipe and cylinder #3's header gasket. Sounds like complete shit. I drained the oil and took a sample for Blackstones. Didn't appear to be too milky looking and the coolant showed no signs of oil in it as far as i could tell. I got most of the trim off and took some pictures of the intake and exhaust ports. I am only posting the two that came into focus the most. All three cylinders ports look identical to one another. Any one have any thoughts as to what it looks like? I am no expert, but the intake valves and the whole exhaust ports/valves look like crap to me. I was hoping they would look good and this would only be a new head gasket, but not so sure anymore after looking at them. http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/Littlehat4111/20170309_220727_zpskzhjobwk.jpg http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/Littlehat4111/20170309_220704_zpssiu7ycuu.jpg http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g270/Littlehat4111/Capture_zpsezomo7m4.png
Sounds like a blown head gasket to me, based on white smoke you described? I'm guessing if you get to the point of removing the head, one of the piston crowns will be colered differently. Either cleaner, or different color, or rusty? Have you done a pressure test on the cooling system? If you do, it should hold pressure for 10-15 minutes. If not you may see where it is seeping/leaking or hear the hissing. I don't know your engine, so I don't know if there is a common place they pop? Have you done a compression test? How about a leak down test? If you don't have a leak down tester, you can buy a compression tester at Harbor Freight and then hook up the hose to your air compressor, if you have one? Have that cylinder at top dead center. Then listen/look for your problem.
Pull the sparkplugs, the blown cylinder will have a "steam cleaned" plug (or different color/condition) if it is headgasket. And a blown headgasket doesn't necessarily mix oil and water, so milkshake in the oil isn't the best indicator. It can be, but not always.
Leak down test w/ rad cap open, throttle plates open, oil filler off, breather out of the motor disconnected and unobstructed exhaust. TDC on every cylinder when you check. Make sure the valves are closed. Bubbles in the coolant = blown head gasket Air coming out the intake = intake valves Air coming out the exhaust = exhaust valves Air coming out of the oil filler = rings Air coming out of the breather = rings Sounds like a blown head gasket but do the test and get a proper diagnosis.
Thanks for the responses guys. I'll have a compression tester on monday and I can go ahead and test all the cylinders. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Compression tester is not the same as a leak down tester and is not a very good tool for diagnosing cooling system issues. It will tell you if one cylinder is not equal to the others.
Looking at the plugs should be enough to tell you if you have a coolant leak into the combustion chamber. One of the plugs will be super clean, like it was steam cleaned. If you find that, you found your problem cylinder. In my experience, it usually goes the other way and combustion gases get into the cooling system, and your temp gauge will tell you that you have a problem pretty quickly. In either case, it's time to pull the head. If it got HOT, have it checked to be FLAT. It is a big deal, because aluminum can distort at higher levels of heat. It doesn't take much to have a problem, so it is best to be sure. Good luck !!!
If it blew that significantly I wouldn't be cranking that engine over with the starter any longer, you may hydrolock and possibly bend a rod trying to crank it over.
If it's blowing coolant smoke and down on power, it's hurt. Why not just get it out of the bike and disassembled?
It's out right now and on its way to the shop this week for a full rebuild. Im going to be out of the country for 2 months so I figured it's a good opportunity to have a shop rebuild it while I'm gone. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
