Hello,

I purchased a FXEF shovel from 1979.

Some info:

The engine had a little service, they changed the piston rings and gaskets the rest was all oke, the seller sold it before he had any running in with the new rings, and after contacting the seller with this problem he said he had not any oil burning before the service.
I trust the seller, because he is an old friend.

The engine is smoking only on the rear cylinder and with coming of the throttle, not smoking on acceleration, so i thought it were the guides, tonight i removed the heads to replace the guides by a specialist now it comes,
by removing the rear head the head gasket seems to be blown by the return oil hole, can anybody confirm that maybe this is just the problem?

Can anybody confirm that it can also be only the head gasket? See pictures.

Many thanks for watching and your help.

Nick

I also post the questions on other forums so maybe you will see it twice)

(

 

Yes, the primary reason it is burning oil is because of the headgasket failure. This is generally caused, but not limited to, by torquing the headbolts incorrectly. When you are putting it back together, follow your FACTORY maintenance manual specifications for tightening the head bolts. It takes time. Don't get in a hurry with it. You will need a 2" "dogbone" 9/16", 3/8 drive wrench, available through snap-on, and a torque wrench.
Other resons this happens is because of uneven surfaces on your heads and/or cylinders. Have your mechanic check them.
While you have the heads off, pull the cylinders and have them checked. Do it now and you won't have problems down the road.
Good Luck.
BTW, this same thing happened to me about 50 miles south of London (Gravesend, England) back in the early 70's. I pulled the plug of the rear cylinder and rode on into London on one cylinder. Fred Warr himself fixed me up and rode with me to the Isle of Mann. My head gasket problem was due to bad milling of the head from the factory.