Burning oil, probably a ring going bad

[ian]

I haven't done a compression check yet, but I just wanted to get an idea of what I'll be getting myself into. How tough is this job going to be? Am I going to need a lot of time? How expensive would it be to have a garage do it? Should I try to find a lower mileage engine instead? (I've got 33, comin' up on 34k, and I have a 2k trip this summer)

Just tell me what you guys think. I hate going through a .5-.75 quart of oil every 3 weeks.

[mszilves]

I'm burning about the same, I have about 47,000 km on mine. Here is a good thread on the archives about it.

http://www.fzrarchives.com/ipb/index.ph ... 5&hl=rings

In short, it's really either your rings or valves guides. Not really cheap either way.

In my case, it's my valve guides. Right now I'm trying to figure out if I need a lower mileage head, or if it's cost effective to replace the valve guides. Some people have suggested that it doesn't hurt anything (in fact, my bike runs extremely well), but I just don't like burning oil and caking my exhaust with oily soot. I guess it depends on your particular situation and how anal you are about these things.

[ian]

yeah, my bike runs like a dream other than that, but I hate the carbon buildup on my pipe, signal light, and plate. And burning oil like that will become expensive in the long run.

[scott la rock]

my fzr has 23,400 miles on it and ever since i put in synthetic oil, ive been burning oil.... im on my second oil change with standard oil in the last 1,000 miles and im still getting a smoke stack effect from my crank ventalation tube. i cleaned out the spounge (it was soaked with oil) and i get very little smoke if any from the exaust. does this mean i too need rings or is there and additive i can use to cure my past sins?????

[ragedigital]

Just some pricing...

Cylinder Boring/Honing: $30-40 per cylinder
Head decking: $20-25 per surface
Rings: $30 per cylinder or more depending on how much is bored from each cylinder.
Head and Cylinder Gaskets: $100

Valve Seal Replacement: $250

These are quotes based on you doing the disassembly/reassembly. The shop would do all the valve disassembly, you just need to take them the head.

darrin

[scott la rock]

Just some pricing...

Cylinder Boring/Honing: $30-40 per cylinder
Head decking: $20-25 per surface
Rings: $30 per cylinder or more depending on how much is bored from each cylinder.
Head and Cylinder Gaskets: $100

Valve Seal Replacement: $250

These are quotes based on you doing the disassembly/reassembly. The shop would do all the valve disassembly, you just need to take them the head.

darrin

thanks gives me a baseline

[mszilves]

Guys, just an update on my situation.

I found a third low mileage cylinder head on ebay ($100), and this time it was perfect. It only had 11K miles on it, and was spotless. Along with that, I got the cylinders rehoned ($100), and put it brand new rings. The cylinders were really glazed, letting lots of oil past also. Here is what the insides and the rings looked like, what a mess:





Here are the cylinders after getting them honed:



They only removed 0.01-0.02mm from each cylinder, so the end bores were 59.02-59.03mm. The stock factory bores are 59.00-59.01mm, and the max tolerance before having to overbore is 59.15mm, according to the FSM, so I wasn't even close. Put in the new stock sized rings, put everything back together, and crossed my fingers (this was my first ring job). Complete job from start to finish was probably 12-16 hours or so.

I broke it in per these instructions http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm, which are similar to the motoman hard break-in, and the engine runs like a dream. It sounds tight and strong, and best of all, not a drop of oil anywhere, and no burning smell. It actually has a strange "new engine" smell.

So far so good, after 300km. So in my case, the oil burning was a combination of worn valve guides, and glazed cylinders.

[scott la rock]

my 1994 fzr 600 is burning about a 1/4 qt of oil in about 150 miles..... i called a local wrench and he said that he has some chemical treatments and recommends a carb sync and that should resolve the problem. has anyone ever seen that when the carbs are out of sync that the engine would burn oil??? thanks for the help.

[mszilves]

my 1994 fzr 600 is burning about a 1/4 qt of oil in about 150 miles..... i called a local wrench and he said that he has some chemical treatments and recommends a carb sync and that should resolve the problem. has anyone ever seen that when the carbs are out of sync that the engine would burn oil??? thanks for the help.

From my experience, chemical treatments are only band-aid fixes. Synched carbs have nothing to do with oil consumption. They will make your bike run smoother and probably give you a bit better gas mileage, but they will do nothing to minimize your oil consumption. Depending on the maintenance history and mileage on the bike, and whether or not it's been abused, you likely have a combination of worn valve guides/rings to some degree. If your oil control rings are clogged, the treatments may help, but also keep in mind that any treatments you add may also affect the clutch.

[scott la rock]

my 1994 fzr 600 is burning about a 1/4 qt of oil in about 150 miles..... i called a local wrench and he said that he has some chemical treatments and recommends a carb sync and that should resolve the problem. has anyone ever seen that when the carbs are out of sync that the engine would burn oil??? thanks for the help.

From my experience, chemical treatments are only band-aid fixes. Synched carbs have nothing to do with oil consumption. They will make your bike run smoother and probably give you a bit better gas mileage, but they will do nothing to minimize your oil consumption. Depending on the maintenance history and mileage on the bike, and whether or not it's been abused, you likely have a combination of worn valve guides/rings to some degree. If your oil control rings are clogged, the treatments may help, but also keep in mind that any treatments you add may also affect the clutch.

thank you i wanted to be sure before i dropped $400. on this snake oil treatment. thanks for the help