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Need your help for heavy engine rebuild

3K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Gearhead1000 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, as my very first motorcycle I bought a KLR 650 in Fresno, September 2017, was 9k miles. I rode Mexico and after 2.5 months at 15k miles I had to replace the piston. The mechanic I saw in Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Chiapas, South Mexico) just put the new piston with the former cilinder which was looking good, despite I insisted to measure it he said it was not necessary. In addition he told me to run it gently for 200ish km but not more...

I reached Colombia in June 2018, the bike started to burn 1 liter oil per 1.000 km. Engine was starting to do a rattling noise but I postponed the job. By the end of June 2018 I entrusted the bike to people I know in Ipiales, South of Colombia, as I had to come back to France. I asked them to run it so the engine would stay in good state.

11 months later, May 2019, 2 weeks ago I'm back to Colombia, the engine still makes the rattling noise. I change oil and filter and ride about 5 hours from Ipiales to the North.

The Engine died, I put it in a truck to reach Cali and meet a recommended mechanic.

We opened the whole engine, the piston and cilinder are worn, the crankshaft flywheel and rod are stuck. We suspect lubrication failure but oil was full and new and the oil pump seems to be working.

I can not afford brand new parts as it's ridiculously more expensive than the bike itself, so the mechanic in Cali gives me two different options :

A.

Put a new 685cc piston in my cilinder with bigger bore and honed, plus installing a second hand crankshaft flywheel and rod in good state.

OR

B.

Put a second hand 650 piston and cilinder in good state, plus installing a second hand crankshaft flywheel and rod in good state.

The second hand parts would be shipped from Cúcuta where they have a lot of KLR parts from Venezuelan Police using KLRs. Basically I have no way to inspect them before delivery.

I'm privileging option A, the mechanic sent me the pictures of the 685 piston he has here in Cali.

Do you reckon the figures on the sticker are correct?

Is it normal that it comes in a box branded JE and the sticker is branded Schnitz Racing?
 
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#2 ·
What year is your bike?

Go with the 685. The eariler failure was likely due to the bore distortion/damage not being addressed.

Yes, JE makes the pistons for Schnitz IIRC. They are good though I bought Eagle Mike's 685 kit. The key to having a solid job is to have the cylinder bored correctly. I would only entrust that to Eaglemike or Engine Dynamics in Petaluma, Ca.

Since you have bottom end problems as well, I'd also consider option C. buy a low mileage, running KLR650 engine from a bike wrecker.....and avoid early Gen2 engines.

Dave
 
#4 ·
Thank you Dave,

My KLR is 2007.

Yes I considered option C, but I'm in Colombia and finding a good working KLR engine here is not as easy as in the US. The best option would be to buy an engine from Venezuelan Police KLR, they are on sale now. Though they are Gen2 and the trip to Venezuela is a bit risky.
 
#5 ·
Hi everyone, as my very first motorcycle I bought a KLR 650 in Fresno, September 2017, was 9k miles. I rode Mexico and after 2.5 months at 15k miles I had to replace the piston. The mechanic I saw in Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Chiapas, South Mexico) just put the new piston with the former cilinder which was looking good, despite I insisted to measure it he said it was not necessary. In addition he told me to run it gently for 200ish km but not more...

I reached Colombia in June 2018, the bike started to burn 1 liter oil per 1.000 km. Engine was starting to do a rattling noise but I postponed the job. By the end of June 2018 I entrusted the bike to people I know in Ipiales, South of Colombia, as I had to come back to France. I asked them to run it so the engine would stay in good state.

11 months later, May 2019, 2 weeks ago I'm back to Colombia, the engine still makes the rattling noise. I change oil and filter and ride about 5 hours from Ipiales to the North.

The Engine died, I put it in a truck to reach Cali and meet a recommended mechanic.

We opened the whole engine, the piston and cilinder are worn, the crankshaft flywheel and rod are stuck. We suspect lubrication failure but oil was full and new and the oil pump seems to be working.

I can not afford brand new parts as it's ridiculously more expensive than the bike itself, so the mechanic in Cali gives me two different options :

A.

Put a new 685cc piston in my cilinder with bigger bore and honed, plus installing a second hand crankshaft flywheel and rod in good state.

OR

B.

Put a second hand 650 piston and cilinder in good state, plus installing a second hand crankshaft flywheel and rod in good state.

The second hand parts would be shipped from Cúcuta where they have a lot of KLR parts from Venezuelan Police using KLRs. Basically I have no way to inspect them before delivery.

I'm privileging option A, the mechanic sent me the pictures of the 685 piston he has here in Cali.

Do you reckon the figures on the sticker are correct?

Is it normal that it comes in a box branded JE and the sticker is branded Schnitz Racing?
Take note of the bolded lines in your quoted post.

I suspect that metal crumbs from the backside of the oil filter cavity may have been allowed to drain into the 6:00 oil port in the mouth of the oil filter cavity, if the bike was tilted to the right during the recent oil change.

The 6:00 oil port is the Clean Oil Port which leads directly to the bottom rod needle bearing. Metal crumbs or slivers could conceivably get caught in a needle bearing and cause it to 'skid' around the rod instead of roll. Ultimately leading to major rod bearing failure.

Improper / Inadequate foam air filter re-oiling after cleaning could have been responsible for engine oil consumption both before and after piston & ring replacement.

A non-functioning engine balancer chain adjustment system could easily be responsible for rattly engine noises.
 
#6 ·
Thank pdwestman for your reply!

When we opened the engine we noticed a lot of metal particules indeed. Do you know a link where I can see what the 6:00 oil port?

Regarding the air filter, I always cleaned it and reoiled it after 3.000 miles. For the last three cleanings I used diesel to remove former foam oil, since it was impossible to find proper cleaner in Central America. Last time I reoiled the airfilter I used Motul blue spray, it came out freezing the foam filter but 5 minutes in the sun and oil was looking nice and sticky as usual.

How could air filter maintenance affect the engine oil consumption?

And for the doohickey, I reckon I been aware of the need to adjust it after riding maybe 10.000 miles...
 
#8 ·
In regards to air filtration, there have been more than a few KLR engines destroyed by a bad gasket between the exhaust header pipe & the muffler joint behind the rear brake fluid reservoir.
A bad gasket can allow the exhaust gasses to BURN a hole in the bottom of the air filter box forward clean section. This can allow dirt & dust to wear on the valves, valve seats, piston, rings & cylinder and cause oil consumption, even tho the foam air filter has been being properly serviced.
Also take note of the drain hose on the forward nipple under the air box, that hose needs to be Capped at the bottom to keep dust from being sucked up it!

Here is a link to constructing a heat shield to be installed on a usable air box,
https://www.souperdoo.com/stuff that i think about/melted-reservoir-dog-airbox-too
 
#10 ·
I installed the eagle mike 685 kit and it has been a great upgrade. No more oil burning and more power. I would go with option A if you could find a good rod and crank. you would need to clean up the crankcase and get all of the metal bits out of there and you could be alright. All of the above advice is sound. The air box problem is real and I have seen a couple with holes in them. I would look at the risk and get one out of Venezuela. It is not that dangerous and the west border is open but that is the only one and my info is not current. Can you get something off of ebay if you can get it shipped in to your mechanic. Good luck.
 
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