Suzuki VZ800 Marauder Engine Lock Up

[snark]

I bought a used motor for my 1997 Suzuki Marauder VZ800. It ran ok for a bit and then when I tried to start it, it locked. I pulled the lugs and tried cranking it by hand and it turns part way in either direction and then stops. Some have said crank bearing. Others have said a valve problem. Thoughts or suggestions? Part of me is saying buy another motor. Part is saying trying a rebuild. Any help would be appreciated.

[RedBaron]

I don't know about any specific problem areas in a marauder in particular, but as soon as you say "part way" it would make me think valve to piston contact if it were to come in to the shop. IIRC one could pull the clearance inspection covers and possibly notice a bent valve not returning home.

[snark]

Thanks for replying. So the big question now is, can I just swap out the head or is the motor toast?

[RedBaron]

Well, in the condition it's in it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and start dissassembly and inspection if you're doing the repair yourself. It should be a D-type spark plug but I can't remember how difficult it would be to look through it's hole, sometimes if you're lucky you can see a little in there. If it were crank damage, you'd have to pull the top ends to get to it anyway so no harm there. If it were in at the shop and it was the way it is, even though I'd suspect valves I'd likely pull the stator cover, valve adjustment caps, and tensioners just to see if I could see something out of the ordinary as I'd likely have them off looking at the piston and combustion chamber anyway if it were valves. Depending on what you're comfortable with I'd recommend a service manual and jumping into it. It's odd to me because from your description it sounds like it ran well until parked, and then wouldn't turn over starting. Just thinking about most of the valve stuff I see is catastrophic stuff or miss timed stuff that people didn't bother turning over by hand (I've been the guy the managers put on fixing the quicker mechanic's mistakes at every dealer I've been at since I got in the industry lol). It shouldn't be hydrolocked if you're turning it by hand because all of the fluid would leave the access hole for turning the crank so I guess it must be mechanical. Just go slow and check everything until you find a good lead on something off, but I think the number one first thing I'd do is pull the valve inspection covers and look for excessive clearance from a valve that never made it home. If it were just a damaged head, valves, and piston I'd think it would be worth fixing. Wouldn't hurt to move conrods around to check crank. Only one way to figure out what's broke, it's all just guessing until then. Maybe if your lucky it'd be some goofy little gear or camchain binding on some junk somewhere or something. Crazier things have happened lol. I hope it's something simple and you're back on the road soon.

[RedBaron]

Hmmm, pull plugs, then inspection covers, then go from there. Maybe they'll be a noticeable problem with little disassembly

[megatwin]

There is very little you can do on the Vz800 engine,without pulling it out of the frame.
You can check the valve clearances which is about all you can access from the top of the engine. I have seen a few with bad bearings,usually do to lack of service,or running low on oil.
Trouble with a used engine,is you don,t know the history.
Best of luck to you.

[GS1150Pilot]

The VZ800 motors seem to have a number of mechanical problems and do not appear to be particularly robust.

[bwringer]

I had a couple of VX800s, which use the same engine.

This is usually a problem traced back to a petcock that leaked. The cylinder filled with gas, and the next time the bike was started, the engine hydrolocked. The thing is, this usually didn't kill the engine right away -- it only bent the connecting rod slightly. Other than perhaps a slight bit of added vibration, once the petcock issue was handled the engine would run fine. Later on, sometimes thousands of miles later, the weakened connecting rod would shatter and destroy the rest of the engine.

I truly hope this isn't what happened to your bike, but your symptoms point that way. Sometimes the parts punch a hole in the crankcase, sometimes not. Pull the clutch and/or stator cover and take a look.

[tom203]

Snark,

Have you made any progress on this? I'm having a similar issue. After many hours finally had my 1982 GS1100 GK running pretty well, then one time I went to start it, heard a loud "clunk" and now I can't turn the engine over by hand. If I put a wrench on the timing bolt, I can move it maybe 90 degrees back and forth but then it hits something. (Don't mean to high-jack your thread).

Jake

best if you put this in 4 cylinder engine section for more visibility, then delete here!
Sounds like you might have a cam chain adjuster issue. Do you understand how to correctly reset and reinstall thisgizmo?
if the chain has skipped on camshaft sprockets, you will have to fix cam to crank timimg

[Jedz123]

Snark,

Have you made any progress on this? I'm having a similar issue. After many hours finally had my 1982 GS1100 GK running pretty well, then one time I went to start it, heard a loud "clunk" and now I can't turn the engine over by hand. If I put a wrench on the timing bolt, I can move it maybe 90 degrees back and forth but then it hits something. (Don't mean to high-jack your thread).

Jake

I second Tom on that bud... We are discussing the V-4 engine in this off topic thread. More info will be had for you in the 4 cylinder engine section that pertains to all GS models.

[snark]

Well, It was a valve problem. A valve dropped and made contact. I went to the junk yard and picked up another motor. Right now I'm riding it around working out the little bugs that crop up here and there.