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What have I done wrong now?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimmyR
  • Start date Start date
J

JimmyR

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I recently got new rings for my GS1100G's engine, plus new seals in the valves and had the vales reseated. I put the engine back together, shimmed the valves, got it all together and running only to discover that the base gasket was leaking. Don't worry, I did use all Suzuki gaskets. I found a bit of old gasket that I had missed and scraped it off, so hopefully no leaks now.

So after taking it all apart again I have put it back together now. I just put the crank at TDC, buttoned down the camshafts and installed the cam tensioner only to find that now the crank won't turn over. It will go about 1/2 way and stop with an ominous clunk if I turn it over with a wrench. I was meticulous about lining everything up as per the manual - this is the second time I have done this now!

I am sure it is in neutral. The neutral light even comes on if I turn the ignition on. What have I done wrong??
 
First check is to re-check your timing. Then check it again.

Plus was the cam chain 'tight' when you set it (not slopping about down the bottom)?
 
Sounds to me that you may be a tooth or 2 off on a cam and are hitting a valve??? DONT FORCE IT till you recheck it all again!!!!!!
 
Oh no I will not force it! Thanks guys - will check the timing again tomorrow. It was embarrassing how many times I counted the links already. It's late here now so it will have to be tomorrow which I find annoying. I like to get things done and hate having to leave things half done.
 
JimmyR said:
Oh no I will not force it! Thanks guys - will check the timing again tomorrow. It was embarrassing how many times I counted the links already. It's late here now so it will have to be tomorrow which I find annoying. I like to get things done and hate having to leave things half done.
Click to expand...
I hate it to but sometimes it's best to just leave it.When you get back to it you see what as wrong right away about 80% of the time.
 
Did you install the rings correctly and distribute the gaps to their respective off sets?
Timing set correctly? Ensure your not 180 degrees out.
 
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Ring Orientation, if Top and 2 are on wrong- the piston may not move. How long was it running before you experienced the trouble?
 
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Ring orientation?
What does that have to do with the valves hitting the pistons? :confused:

Eric
 
SVSooke - you are of course absolutely right. I hadn't got to the point of no return though - I had to stop as my wife needed me to come in and cook dinner. :-) It's our sunday night thing.

It's Monday morning here and I'm about to head out on a job. But I did have time to check that yes I have the bike in neutral. The rear wheel moves freely. I am sure that I got everything lined up just right, but will be happy to be proven wrong. Right now I can't get the crank back to TDC but the cams are lined up again how the diagram says, with "2" on the exhaust cam and "3" on the input cam being dead vertical in relation to the engine. So I think the crank is at 180 degrees to TDC now. It's just past this point it goes clunk.

Could the cam chain be caught on something?
 
He said he couldn't rotate the crank- something is seized or jammed.
Hence the pistons and rings/orientation.
 
If you can't free it- the safest and saddest thing is take it down again.
Sucks I know- A good rest as one said to reevaluate it all a good idea too.
Did you try rotating the crank with all the plugs removed?
 
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Have you tried removing the cam chain tensioner, remove the cams and set it again?
After holding tension on the cam chain by hand while rocking the crank back and forth to make certain the chain is right.

Eric
 
This is the bike with the RS flatslides? Get yourself a dial indicator and degree wheel and do it properly, learn something while you are at it. Gain some more power and knowledge.
 
Hey Jimmy R, put up your location, its possible an experienced GS'er is close to you and would swing by to help out. It happens all the time.
good luck, I am about to rebuild my 1100, and as sure as you are checking and doublechecking everything, I will be too. I am sure your problem will show itself soon enough.
Good luck
 
Thanks for all the replies guys - much appreciated. I am in Perth, Western Australia, and rarely see a bike from 1982, much less a Suzuki GS around here! We live in the most isolated capitol city in the world. Adelaide is the next capitol city and it's easily two days drive from here. So I don't hold my breath that someone near me will know GSs!

Well I got one thing sorted out today. Yes it was the timing. I am completely baffled. I know I lined everything up with the crank at TDC, but when I pulled the exhaust cam out I could move the crank again and they were miles out. I just don't understand it. Anyway, it's all fixed now. Everything lines up - once it was all torqued down I checked by turning the crank a few times and everything is spot on. I am an anal person by nature so how the cams could be so out compared to the crank is a mystery to me. I blame my Harley Davidson.

So I buttoned everything up meticulously and started it up. Still seem to have an exhaust leak - that is really hard to fix - but it's running ok. It's a bit rich but that's easily fixed. What is more concerning is the smoke. I would expect a little smoke on startup after this, after all, oils has been sloshing everywhere. But there was rather a lot of white smoke on startup, and a little when I revved the engine.

The exhaust is quite a problem. I have a custom exhaust because I wanted a 4-2 and none was available for my bike. The only guy I could find in Australia who knew the bike was in Queensland and has an excellent reputation, so he made one for me. But he used really wide flanges on the headers and it makes attaching the pipes very difficult and leaks extremely hard to cure. Oh well, I'll sort it out.

Any clues on the smoke?
 
Smoke out of the pipes or where they connect to the head? Did you use a new set of crush gaskets when you re- connected the pipes?
 
Out of the end of the mufflers - esp the right hand one. Yes to new crush washers.
 
It's normal to burn oil after a ring change- keep an eye on your oil level- Change at 500-1000 miles and by then the consumption should begin to stop and you will be on your way to many miles of good riding. If it seems to get worse then there are issues.
 
Thanks! That's a relief! I found that after testing with 27.5 pilots it felt like it was running lean but checked the plugs and they were very black. So I redid the exhaust trying for fewer leaks this time as I think that's why it behaving as if lean and went back to #25 pilots and sure enough it's running a lot better now with no smoke.

So big improvements. I still have to fix the exhaust leaks (long story) and then I think I will be able to finalise the jetting. Right now it runs really well above 4000rpm, idles very well but just off idle is quite poppy and rough. I think the pilots are pretty close to being right, and the plugs looks black but grey around the tips. So I might try dropping the needles a notch and see what happens.
 
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