How to Unseize an Engine-My method

[JEEPRUSTY]

yeah that tiny pin might break.

[spyug]

Needless to say, you should adjust the valves before trying to start the engine. Valve neglect is very common and you shouldn't run the engine if the valves are too tight

More excellent advice from the GS Guru. To which I would add weak spark is also a killer. Make sure your battery is fully charged and better than 12.5 volts at rest. Once you start cranking the battery will quickly discharge. I usually add an automotive or marine battery for extra oomph on first time starts. When the battery drops into the 11+volt range it can be difficult induce spark and turn the engine over. You may find the engine turns over easily but there is no firing as the coils can put out a good spark.

Because of dirty and corroded connections in the wiring harness, you may find 12+ volts at the battery but all that's getting to the coils could be 10 or 11 volts resulting in little or no spark. It is always a good idea then to clean all the connections up as well. Sometimes, unfortunately, that doesn't help much and then you should consider the coil relay mod as discussed inthe archives and on BassCliff's site.

Remember you need compression, fuel and spark to get an engine running so bear that in mind if you have starting troubles.

Good luck and let us know ho it goes.

Spyug

[Steve]

I'm always leery of trying to turn a stuck engine with a wrench on the crank. There is always a risk of breaking a bolt off with extremely unpleasant consequences. My preferred method is to put the bike in top gear and GENTLY rock the bike back and forth. Quite often siezed parts will respond to a gentle impact as opposed to steady force. Just my 2cents worth, although with us doing away with the penny maybe it's a nickel's worth.

I'll see your 2 cents and raise you another tuppence.

Yes, there are times that gentle rocking might do the work, but since you don't really know what the insides look like, how do you know that there isn't something REALLY stuck in there? In that case, the "gentle impact" might be just enough to break something that "steady force" might have told you was not going to move.

Just as an example: It is quite common to find an engine that has had a bit of water in one or two cylinders. If the water has been there a LONG time, there will be a rusted area, usually along the forward part of the cylinder, that is rather bad. If your "gentle impact" tries to force the rings over that rusted area, they may find that there is a deep ledge there, where the rust has eaten away the liner. It is very possible that you can break a ring forcing it over that ledge in the wrong direction with any sense of urgency ("gentle impact").

A couple of years ago, I decided to fix an exhaust leak on my wife's bike. In the process, I broke three header bolts, so I just took the engine apart and took the head to a shop. On a whim, I took the cylinders to see what he thought of them. One of the liners appeared to have a crack in it, so I sourced an engine and changed a liner. Further inspection showed that there was no crack in the liner, it was just a rusted area that had been polished out by over 20,000 miles of use.
I guess we were just lucky, there were no indications that the bike had been exposed to much water (we know the previous owner) and did not suspect anything.

Yeah, there is always that urge to hear it run, but starting with known rust in the cylinders is not something that I would encourage.

.

[chuck hahn]

He can turn it counter clockwise from the left side..if he wants to remove the rotor bolt!!

On the right side, the bolt wont loosen.

And as Ed said once before ( in previuos threads ) ride it a while and the crud will loosen even more in the ring grooves and then the number will be at their best levels.

[Agemax]

dont you think its ironic that sometimes you can get a 6 foot pole on the end of a breaker bar with a socket on the crank bolt with 3 x 180lb alpha males hanging off the pipe and another guy with a nuclear powered blow torch blasting the flywheel until it is close to melting point, and that darn bolt wont budge 1mm.

on the other hand, you try and turn over a tight engine with a measly little spanner...(oops, wrench!) and that darned bolt just cracks right off with the force of a mouse's biceps!!!!!

lol

[gaillarry]

Update: Runs good but sure smokes a lot. Notice the more I run the engine, there's less smoke. I suspect some rings are still stuck.

If - I were to put in new rings - can the head be removed with the engine in the frame?

[chuck hahn]

And the stuff seeped into the exhaust, and is all over the tops of the cylinder ( head side ) in the valves..so yeah its gonna smoke like a train for a while. If it has good tires and the tranny is good..ride it for 20 miles or so and run the crap out of the entire systems.

[chuck hahn]

Head will come off..but you need to get the cylinders off to change rings..which means pulling the engine. If you go that far, you may as well recut the valve seats , lap the valves to the new seats, and change the valve stem seals..then the entire top end is redone.

[Nessism]

No need to pull the engine when pulling the cylinder. The entire top end can be removed with the crankcase still bolted to the frame.

[gaillarry]

Can't ride it - too cold and too much snow !!

I let the engine idle for 5 mins then rev it a little but no WOT - yet.

I'll run it every few days and see what happens, thanks for all the replies.

[Steve]

If - I were to put in new rings - can the head be removed with the engine in the frame?

Yes, you can remove the head. Since you will be planning on doing the rings (which means that you will be removing the cylinders), you will automatically be replacing the base gasket, too. Some guys will try to avoid that if they are just cleaning the head, but any time you remove the head, you are also compromising the integrity of the base gasket, so you should always replace BOTH of them.

By the way, those two gaskets are also the ones that are HIGHLY recoommended that you replace with genuine Suzuki gaskets, not aftermarket ones.

.

[gaillarry]

No need to pull the engine when pulling the cylinder. The entire top end can be removed with the crankcase still bolted to the frame.

That's good news. If the need arises I'll put the cylinder and have a look.

[chuck hahn]

ED...Steve..I admittingly, have not pulled cylinders while in the frame..to which I did post. I have read that some have done it and its a tight squeeze. If my post is incorrect I accept the inaccuracy. I have only done it with the engine out of the frame.

Just for my education..do you need to pull the monts and lower the engine in the cradle to gin room or just leave bolted in?

As i said, i have only done it on engines out of the frame.

[first timer]

before pulling it apart run it for a good while like chuck said. Since it's been running for a bit now dump the oil into a clean pan if it's still honey colored put it back in the engine. Change the filter too. after you have put 20 miles on it change the oil again. Use the cheapest non-energy saving oil you can find for the first few changes since it's a good idea to change oil often after bringing a motor back to life.

It's not a bad thing to blip the throttle a little, especially on the street, it will clear the smoke out quicker and free the rings.

when you pull the cam cover to check valves check the condition of the cam surfaces to make sure you have lubrication (no scoring or hot spots)

[Nessism]

ED...Steve..I admittingly, have not pulled cylinders while in the frame..to which I did post. I have read that some have done it and its a tight squeeze. If my post is incorrect I accept the inaccuracy. I have only done it with the engine out of the frame.

Just for my education..do you need to pull the monts and lower the engine in the cradle to gin room or just leave bolted in?

As i said, i have only done it on engines out of the frame.

No Chuck, the head and cylinder pulls off without any interference at all.