UPDATE and Broken Exhaust stud and Valve Questions

[Guest]

Greetings,

I had posted earlier that #2 cyl on my 79 850 did not want to heat up. I had posted some infrared photos. I took my VM carbs off this week and took them to Cycle Recycle II here in Indy and they did a quick bench test for me. He showed me that I had a couple of floats sticking and he told me how to adjust them and he said they looked like a good set of carbs but I should run some carb cleaner through them as I had some flecks of what appeared to be the black float material laying in the bowls.. So I tweeked the floats so they would not stick and shot some carb cleaner through all ports. I reinstalled them and all 4 cyls fire up pretty quickly. I ran it enough to warm it up and set the idle . It goes off choke very quickly now and idles fairly smoothly. I do still get a little popping out of the left side and also some light vapor/smoke when revving... only the left exhaust.

So today I pulled the exhaust manifolds off my 79 GS850 so I could stick my bore scope in and peek at the valves. When removing the #2 upper bolt it snapped off, leaving about 3/16" exposed. I tried getting channel locks on it, but there is not enough stub for any substantial grip. Any suggestions?





My exhaust valves seem to look unburnt, pretty clean and have a good uniform edge...













The intake valves seem to have a good edge, but they have a great deal of gunk/carbon/baked oil?...?? built up on the stem and top of valve.




This 79 850 has less than 14,000 miles on it (at least according to the odometer) and I think this is true...but what would cause so many deposits on the intake valves? I have not check valve clearances yet, but it is on my list to do soon before I start riding it.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated!!

Thanks,

TP

[Nessism]

Deposits on the valves like that is 100% normal, and nothing to concern yourself with. I suggest you put your effort toward maintenance tasks like adjusting the valves, replacing the carb O-rings, replace intake boot O-rings, sealing the airbox, and of course, getting that broken bolt out.

Good luck

[twotimeGSr]

will do.. the bolt will be a challange.

[Nessism]

If you can find someone with a MIG welder, weld a nut onto the stud sticking out. The welding heat will help loosen the bolt.

[hampshirehog]

Yep - weld a nut on there, it'll come off. Fantastic close up pics by the way - all is normal. I must fork out on a new camera and try stuff like that.

[twotimeGSr]

Thanks guys.. The camera is my phone... original model Motorola Droid. It is only a 5 mega pixel... but it takes better close up shots than my nikon 10 mp. It is very flat and thin so I can squeeze it into many places. As for the shots of the valves.. I used my Testo bore scope... then just photographed the scope's LED screen with my Droid.

[twotimeGSr]

Again thanks on the welding idea.. sounds much cleaner than drilling and using an "easy" out.

tp

[Nessism]

Never use an EZ out, they just break off and make the repair worse.

Honestly, broken exhaust bolts are very common around here. If you use the Advanced Search feature, and click Titles Only and then search on a few key words like "broken" or "bolt" you will find tons of threads on how to get that broken bolt out.

[twotimeGSr]

Great advise out there.. looks like I should dip the entire bike in a tank of PB Blaster before I do any more wrenching! I think I'll start a premptive spray down on the valve cover bolts a day before I measure my clearances just to be safe.

[apopleptic]

Never use an EZ out, they just break off and make the repair worse.

Honestly, broken exhaust bolts are very common around here. If you use the Advanced Search feature, and click Titles Only and then search on a few key words like "broken" or "bolt" you will find tons of threads on how to get that broken bolt out.

Do you mean one of these?

If you are very careful they can work, There is a step missing on the instructions on the package. you need to tap the head of the tool into the pilot hole you drill of it will not seat correctly. but depending on how seized the screw is I'm sure it could strip.
Saved my butt here for like $14

[1980GS1000E]

I don't like ezouts as I broke one performing the same repair. I suggest changing to studs since you are there.

[twotimeGSr]

I have had some success in the past with easyouts too. In this instance I have a stub to work with which is a big plus for a weld attachment so I think I'll try welding the nut on first. It looks like I do have a decent angle on it if I need to tap it later without removing the engine. At first glance I thought the frame was in the way, but it's not.


If I want to buy studs to put in instead of the bolts ...does anyone have a favorite place for these and also possibly the allen head bolts?

[hampshirehog]

Please - throw your easy outs away. It will end it tears. If I had a pound for every time I've seen a broken easy out making an awkward job bloody difficult I would have enough money to have a good night out in an expensive place and buy fish and chips on the way home.