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Engine Mechanical TopicsDiscussion for motor builds, cams, head work, stripped bolts and other engine related issues. The good and the bad. If it goes round and around or up and down, post it here.
hey guys, been hiding in the shadows for a couple years just observing, but i finally have a problem to share.. last year i picked up a 1993 fxrs from a friend of mine who was in desperate need of some cash. i bought it knowing it had engine issues, and im just now getting around to checking it out. i put a new battery in it today and attempted to start it up. im no bike expert so im hoping you guys can help me out here. all i have is a video of the attempted start up today. hope you can help me figure this out!
Last edited by wilytangs; May 8, 2021 at 01:16 PM.
Video or audio recordings make it extremely difficult to diagnose a noise, but I feel safe in saying the heads and jugs are coming off at the minimum.
You might get lucky and find a scored piston or something that's gone thru the intake, like an air cleaner screw head. Sounds like it's hitting on every upstroke of one of the pistons. Doesn't sound like a rod bearing, but again, difficult to tell when you can't "feel" the noise as you're hearing it. Good luck.
Don't try starting the bike again. Jack the bike up, put it in 5th gear, take out the spark plugs, and try turning the engine over by spinning the rear wheel. Does the engine turn freely? Does it feel stuck or tight/binding anywhere?......like you have to really push your rear tire to turn it? Now, put your thumb over each hole and turn engine over. Is there compression? A broken valve spring will not allow a valve to seat tightly and can cause not compression, and more importantly make quite a racket.
Next, you should pull your cam cover to inspect what's inside. If you see silver-goo mixed in oil, then you have some sort of bearing failure, and that bearing could be your rod bearing. This is the worse case scenario. If you have adjustable PRs, this will be a simple procedure to pull the cam cover.
If all that checks out, I would start taking off the rocker cover on the cylinder that is making the most sound. Again, take it slow and easy so as not to do more damage. Let us know what you find out.
Okay that's pretty severe, you're going to have to just start tearing that down.. It's always good to start the cam chest see what's going on in there because most of the time materials will collect there and it'll give you an indication as to where you might have to look and if you don't find anything in there then we got to go up to rip in the cylinder heads off and then take a look as it was mentioned, possibly a screw that might have got in there but that's the way you're going to have to go with that.. What carburetor you running on that?
thanks guys, i honestly know nothing about the bike with regards to carb etc, i literally just pulled this thing out of the back corner of my garage yesterday. im going to head out and start tearing into this thing right now, ill be sure to post pictures along the way, any and all help is appreciated! thanks!
Often as not, what sounds horrible in a video turns out to be as simple as a bad lifter. Other times a video that sounds not that bad turns out to be a disaster. Sounds, especially in the valve train will travel thru these engines in ways you wouldn't believe.
If you start with draining the oil filter and look for "moon dust" in the oil and that looks clear, maybe you'll get lucky. Best advice as mentioned is turning the engine over by hand to listen and feel for anything abnormal. You can collapse the push rod covers and check for a push rod abnormally loose for a quick check of the lifters. And you can run the engine with the valve covers off without spraying oil all over.
ok guys please excuse me as i am far from a mechanic, but im trying! i removed the cam chest and this is what i found inside... all the oil seems dirty but no grit or shavings inside..
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1993 fxrs knocking! help!
