Did I spray water in the heads? 92 softail not running good.
A little background: 92 Softail fxstc; i got polished jugs, 10:1 dome top pistons, and s&s hi-4n kit (wires, ignition module, + coil) installed (I already had ev27 cam installed). I had polished heads but they were milled too much and wouldn't work with the pistons so I ended up using the stock heads. Bike ran good when I got it back; slight occasional hesitation on acceleration but I was happy with it. 80 in 3rd gear with no problem.......
anyway, I decided to strip the powder coat off the heads so they would somewhat match the jugs. I covered all openings with layers of duct tape and used aircraft stripper to do the job. I hosed it down with water, did a quick polish, and put everything back together. After around 60 miles, I noticed it was def running rough; a lot of hesitation near top of rpm scale, only getting to 60ish in 3rd gear, and feel like its all bark and no bite (maybe misfiring)?
Thinking back on it i did not cover the air cleaner bracket holes in the head when I was hosing the stripper off of the heads. Is it possible that the bolt holes have a passage that leads to the head? I checked and it looks like they don't lead anywhere but I can't figure out why it's running like crap. Oil looked ok but I got paranoid water was in the motor. I did 1 oil change + purged oil from crankcase; rode it for prob another 40,50 miles and changed oil again (including purging oil from crankcase) & added new spark plugs. I guess it runs very slightly better but still runs like crap compared to when i got it back. I also tried changing settings on the ignition module and that didn't help.
Was thinking about putting the stock plug wires back on to see if that changes anything but wires should be fine; less than 200 miles on them. Not sure what else to look at.
So did I spray water in the head? I included a pic with the bolt holes circled that I left uncovered when hosing it down.
Yes..those holes lead into the heads. That is how the motor is ventilated..sorry had to edit this...you might have what they call a bottom breather and those holes might be dead ends...not sure what year they switched to the head breather
Those holes have a poppet valve where the vent gases exit by. Yours are probably metal. Your engine also has a spinning valve driven by cam gears that times it from below. They are one way out, so it should not have hurt anything. Even if water went in there, it would run down into crankcase, mix with oil and if you got enough in there, you would see in on the dip stick.
Very possible you got water in all the high voltage areas and it's bleeding some ZAP out of it. That will dry.
Last edited by Jackie Paper; 09-14-2018 at 07:47 AM.
Aircraft stripper on a motor that is in the bike? You are a lot braver than I am.
Check for a vacuum leak. Spray a little carb cleaner around the intake. Or if after waiting for everything to dry it still does it, ignition? Those Hi-4's were problematic before S&S bought what was left of Crane. I have heard of people having problems with them even after S&S took over.
Weeell, technically your '92 Evo was a bottom breather but supposedly the heads were set up for top breathing except solid bolts were used in 1992. 1993 is when they switched to the hollow bolts and completed the change to top breathing. So if your holes were open when you were pressure washing then yeah, you probably forced some water in there. If your oil is foamy dump it and put in fresh. Run it for 50 miles or so miles and flush it again. As far as any damage? Hard to say if any corrosion has gotten in there and clogged any passages ways that would starve the top en of oil.
Yes..those holes lead into the heads. That is how the motor is ventilated..sorry had to edit this...you might have what they call a bottom breather and those holes might be dead ends...not sure what year they switched to the head breather
Those holes have a poppet valve where the vent gases exit by. Yours are probably metal. Your engine also has a spinning valve driven by cam gears that times it from below. They are one way out, so it should not have hurt anything. Even if water went in there, it would run down into crankcase, mix with oil and if you got enough in there, you would see in on the dip stick.
Very possible you got water in all the high voltage areas and it's bleeding some ZAP out of it. That will dry.
When I inspected the oil tank after riding I noticed some small bubbles/very light foam but when I looked it up on the forums it seems normal. They are only visible when checking oil pretty much immediately after riding then they are gone. Just in case the small bubbles are not normal Ive done 2 oil changes and purged the dirty oil from crankcase by removing oil return twice now.
As far as possibly getting water in the high voltage areas and it bleeding zap out how can I check? Should I just continue to ride and hope that it dries eventually?
Aircraft stripper on a motor that is in the bike? You are a lot braver than I am.
Check for a vacuum leak. Spray a little carb cleaner around the intake. Or if after waiting for everything to dry it still does it, ignition? Those Hi-4's were problematic before S&S bought what was left of Crane. I have heard of people having problems with them even after S&S took over.
Yea, had to strip the powder coat off the heads while in the bike. Used painters tape + applied stripper w/a brush a section at a time, and it came out decent. Surprisingly it wasn't too messy. I just did the sides + front; didn't go too nuts.
I'll try carb cleaner around intake. I was thinking maybe it was the hi-4n too but it is a newer s&s and it only has maybe 200 miles on it. Although it does get super hot in the nose cone........
Weeell, technically your '92 Evo was a bottom breather but supposedly the heads were set up for top breathing except solid bolts were used in 1992. 1993 is when they switched to the hollow bolts and completed the change to top breathing. So if your holes were open when you were pressure washing then yeah, you probably forced some water in there. If your oil is foamy dump it and put in fresh. Run it for 50 miles or so miles and flush it again. As far as any damage? Hard to say if any corrosion has gotten in there and clogged any passages ways that would starve the top en of oil.
interesting...they are indeed solid bolts; didn't know the head was still set up for top breathing though. I wasnt using a power washer ; just using a hose with a garden spray attachment. I have flushed oil twice so far, I guess I'll try it again. I almost forgot, before I put the bracket back on I took some qtips and soaked up what I could that was in the cavity.
07-12-2017, 03:30 PM
Did I spray water in the heads? 92 softail not running good.
