Metal in oil, exhaust cam lobes grooved

[Guest]

Did an oil change on my 750e, found metal in the oil, quite a bit. The lobes on my exhaust cam are worm past hardened surface, approximately 1000 kms since last change if that. Have I just destroyed the engine or can I replace the cam, flush it out a few times and hope for the best? Please advise. Thx Sean.

[eil]

Which year 750E? 80-82, I presume? If so, these are known for oiling issues in the head.

Basically, if the engine seemed to be running okay you you might have caught it before any serious damage was done. You'll need a new cam shaft and followers for sure. The rest depends on how thorough you want to be. The metal shavings were definitely circulating around your engine and getting into bearing surfaces where they did untold damage. Might be minimal, might be severe. You have no way of knowing unless you strip down the engine completely and inspect/measure everything. If you're feeling really lucky, you could just drop in a new cam and followers and the bike could run fine for a long time but if it were me, I would definitely have a spare engine on hand.

[mits6dr5]

It's a 1980, and I took it for a quick ride before draining the oil so as to have it hot, it ran beautifully! I remember thinking that the first ride of the year shouldn't go that smoothly. No abnormal vibrations or sounds short of the usual valve train noise. It had good power, great throttle response, so when I drained the oil I was very surprised. I may pull the pan and check the damage anyway. Are there any oil recommendations you can give me? I've been running Castrol 10w40. Thanks again.

[Joe H]

I completely destroyed a set of cams and was worried about the same thing. I did what you are doing, dropped the oil pan and pulled the clutch and oil pump flushed the system. The filter had caught 99% of it I think. I put it back together changed the oil a few times within the next 500miles and had no problems, Except paying for new cams and rockers!!

[eil]

Many of us in North America use Shell Rotella 15W-40 for diesel engines. Walmart carries it for $13 a gallon. For almost double you can get the same thing in a synthetic. Or you can buy motorcycle-specific oil at $5+ a quart. Avoid car oils, they have friction modifiers that are bad for the clutch.