Back to #1 cylinder fouling....

Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Classic Goldwings

Help Support Classic Goldwings:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
kirkwilson

kirkwilson

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
194
Reaction score
0
Location
Tennessee
Sorry to bring this up again- but things still aren't right. To recap- low miles bike sat for years, carbs rebuilt by Pistol Pete last fall, all cylinders run good with clean plugs but #1. #1 fouled with black soot after 20 miles. Tried all sorts of things but finally put on different carb body and bike ran lots better- but #1 plug still black but not sooty like before but shiny black and bike ran on all 4. Compression test #1-170, #2-175, #3-160, #4-160.

Before it looked like fuel fouled plug but now it looks like oil-fouled. Am I burning oil even though my compression readings are good? Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Try synchronizing the carbs. It might minimize the issue or eliminate it. If it's oil fouling it might be bad valve seals.
 
Valve guide seals will have no impact on compression. A burned/bent/stuck, or mis-adjusted valve would. You can have oil control rings on the pistons that are not seating and burn oil without the loss of compression. I don't even know if our 'Wing engines have a PCV system, but if so, a clogged PCV valve can cause excessive oil use, and might foul the plug closest to the PCV tube location. Worn valve guides, or bad seals, will definitely cause excessive oil burnage. You would normally be able to see the engine smoking from the exhaust on deceleration with bad valve seals/guides.
From the looks of it, with everything you've done, carb/fuel wise, it's hard to believe the problem could be carb related, tho I'm no expert on these engines by any means. Sitting for a long time could very well have seized the oil control rings in that one cylinder... :(
 
i think apple is on the right track .....its not the carbs to many changes with same results .....i dont think its valve seals either but at this point it couldnt hurt.....the compression is good so proably not valves ......cylinder walls and oil ring makes a lot of sense to me .....id say change plugs and keep riding it will proably get better kirk .....this bike sat for a long time right ....it needs a lot of riding to make up for it in my opinion :mrgreen:
 
That's what I'm going to do, Joe, until winter comes. But I would like to get it right before next year- I do think it's an oil-fouling problem now- Is there any way to tell if it's the valve guides vs. the piston ring? Pulling a head isn't something I would look forward to but I don't even want to think about getting into the bottom end......
 
id change the valve seals .....and i think running it over the winter a lot in your garage making sure it dont get hot might be the best thing to do to free up the oil ring ....with such good compression id hate to do anything else and i think it will free up after time
 
Is there anything I can bang on with a big mallet to help free things up? ( besides my own head - tried that- didn't work)- hitting things with a mallet always makes me feel better whether it fixes anything or not-
 
If the plug doesn't foul, I would just keep putting running time on it.
These engines are known to free up rings over time running.

One of the engines I put in this frame had a bad oil ring on number 2. I found that out after opening it up.
It would smoke like a SOB for the first 5 minutes heavily then taper off but continued smoking. Even at that much oil burning the Iridium plug didn't foul.
IMO if yours doesn't smoke, put in Iridium plugs and put as many miles on it as you can before it gets too cold to ride.
 
Thanks, Dan- Would I do better running it on the hwy, 55-60, the interstate , 65-75, or just local , usualy 30-45 mph? Or screw it, just ride it everywhere until my 'roids act up?
 
Just get out on the road and enjoy it.

What you want to avoid is running the rpm's low over long periods with low rpm shifts.

I'd run it up to 3500-4000 rpm between shifts and occasionally crank it up to 6-7k rpm to blow the carbon out.
 
When I popped my '83 engine in, I thought it was running great! (And it did run much better than my '81 engine). But after I put 1500 miles on it on the highway at 75+ miles per hour continuously (road trip to Ohio) the engine really responded and I could hear the difference as the gum and engine parts cleaned up and started working like they were supposed to.

If I ride for more than 100 miles below 60 MPH, it seems like I can actually feel the engine start to become more sluggish. Get her on the highway, run her at 70 MPH in fourth gear (assuming 6000RPM) for at least 10 miles (maximum load at high RPM and wind resistance) and let her work herself free.
 
try a mixture of a half qt of ATF in the crankcase oil. And just ride it easy. If it's a stuck ring or dry valve seal this may clean things up and get her right. A long sit is hard on motors and all machinery.
 

Latest posts

Top