Bad news on my 550

jaybob · Post by **jaybob** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:53 am

So I've been trying to get the jetting sorted on my 550 and things did not always seem to be adding up to what should be happening.

With all three carbs set the same it looks like my center cylinder is running way leaner than the other two. Also my left cylinder is way oily and rich.

Well for the left cylinder Some of the problem is found. I have a leaking cylinder base gasket. It is puking out a fair amount of injector oil. easy enough to fix just a few new gaskets and some time with the torque wrench.

The bigger problem is that I seem to have a fair amount of oil leaking from behind the stator. From studying the parts diagram it would seem that the culprit may be my left side crank oil seal. I guess if this seal is bad than I might as well figure on a crank rebuild.

No sense trying to tune any further until some of the root problems are taken care of.

I hear Bill Bunes is the best/only place to get this done?

diamondj · Post by **diamondj** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 10:51 am

Jay,

Check with these guys too:

Wisconsin Recreational Crankshaft
5049 E County Road B
South Range, WI 54874-8408

(715) 399-8868‎

You'll need to supply the seals and new big end bearings (if needed).

Jim

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:10 pm

Jason. I'm relly sorry to hear that. You looked so 'good to go'. Was the bike running when you got it? Oil in the stator housing would have to be a seal. GRRrrrrrrrr..
Gasket sets come up all the time on ebay for cheap. A couple of complete seal sets went off a few weeks ago, but I havn't seen them again. You may have to deal with PM for those seals and bearings

jaybob · Post by **jaybob** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:05 pm

Yes the bike runs and not too bad however when I took the stator cover off to see if the cylinder base was leaking down into there I saw that the whole winding of the stator was covered with oil and a puddle in the bottom of the compartment.

Suzukidave · Post by **Suzukidave** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:54 pm

Jason , i guess you already know that end seal can be replaced without sending the crank out ? i guess you figure to get the crank rebuilt as long as the engine is apart ?

tz375 · Post by **tz375** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:39 pm

I'm with dave,

We are half way through summer already, so how about a new seal driven in from the outside plus a new base gasket and run it like that until fall when the riding season is over.

Strip the motor the day of teh first frost and send the crank to Bill Bune and you will have the motor clean and together before spring.

In the meantime, do all those compression and leakdown tests to see how bad the air leaks really are.

Craig380 · Post by **Craig380** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:05 am

jaybob wrote: With all three carbs set the same it looks like my center cylinder is running way leaner than the other two. Also my left cylinder is way oily and rich.

Well for the left cylinder Some of the problem is found. I have a leaking cylinder base gasket. It is puking out a fair amount of injector oil. easy enough to fix just a few new gaskets and some time with the torque wrench.

The bigger problem is that I seem to have a fair amount of oil leaking from behind the stator. From studying the parts diagram it would seem that the culprit may be my left side crank oil seal. I guess if this seal is bad than I might as well figure on a crank rebuild.

Jay, forgive me for playing devil's advocate here, but if the left cylinder is showing rich from the plug reading, the left-side crank seal is probably OK and not sucking air.

Some unburnt oil / fuel WILL seep past the seal when the motor is stopped and make the puddle in the cover you describe.

I've seen 3 or 4 triples in recent years that are still on their original bottom end, and all had some oily goop in the generator cover (including my own). But they all run sweet and strong.

I wonder if you have a slight base gasket leak on the center cylinder which is causing it to show up lean?

It's an hour's work to pull the carbs, drop the pipes and try and nip up all the cylinder base nuts, that could be worth a try first.

Good luck

jaybob · Post by **jaybob** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:01 am

Thanks for the reply's guys. That's why I post.

First up no I didn't know I could replace that end seal without doing the whole crank....Good News!!

I have a set of aftermarket gaskets. Is it safe to just replace the one cylinder base gasket which may be a different thickness than the other two? Maybe I should just replace all of the base gaskets? especially if the center base gasket is suspect.

Craig thanks for checking, back when I had the carbs off I made sure all of the cylinder base nuts were tight.

Cylinder compression reads good and even between 150-155psi.

Not real sure how to do a leak down test on the crankcase.

Sounds like the best course of action will be to get a leak down test done and then install new cylinder base gaskets and try to finish out the summer before a major excursion into the cases.

I'm going camping for a couple days...I'll check back with you guys on Saturday.

Coyote · Post by **Coyote** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:37 am

If the 550 had individual heads, it would be safe to change just one. But since it has a common head for all 3 cylinders, it's best to change all 3. In an extreme difference in gasket thickness it is possible to distort the head and cause more grief.
Make sure all the mating surfaces are clean and coat both sides of the base gaskets with brush on anti-seize compound. On the head gaskets, use Permatex Copper Spray-A-Gasket high temp available at most auto supply stores.
That's what I did and there are no leaks anywhere -- except air

Suzukidave · Post by **Suzukidave** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:04 am

leak down info http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum ... -20-a.html

Bad news on my 550

Bad news on my 550

Re: Bad news on my 550