Fall update

Suzie has been my main vehicle this year since I sold my car. I did quite a bit of riding and I now have just over 50,000 km on the engine. As the weather is getting pretty frigid around here, it was time for some maintenance before the imminent winter storage.

Performance and smokiness had somewhat degraded lately and there were new interesting sounds coming from the engine. I found the culprit. My head gaskets had all failed and I had leaks from the combustion chamber. The carbon buildup on the head was also pretty heavy, no doubt due to that sweet castor oil I use.The pistons were still reasonably free of crusty carbon, more oily goop rather than hard buildup.
The head came back nice and clean after some good brushing. I also replace a cylinder stud that was stripped.
Since I was at it I also put fresh points and condensers.

She runs super strong again and the smoke is gone. Interesting how the head gasket can affect the smoke.

October 19, 2014 | Categories: Engine | Leave a comment