whats inside?

just stripped the 400 this evening. what did i find?

well i found that there are bits of big end cage laying in the sidecover but that 99% of the engine is in good nik!

the clutch pack has had it and has adgitated the back of the alloy pressure plate which is a sh.. i'll skim .005" off that and that'll be good to go.

the barrel tells an interesting tale. it's ingreat nik despite a very open air filter which i can nearly see through. no scratches etc BUT, as the piston has been coming nearer to the top of the bore, the rings have started fluttering. i wonder if some of this is the piston wearing?

but the biggest suprise on the bore is this massive lip around THE BASE of where the rings run. it's a bit like when 'jerry' used to put the brakes on and the carpet would build up! it's worse on the RH side and bad everywhere!

rings too strong?

checked the gearbox and thats just how i left it a year ago with just the inbuilt 1st on the output showing chipping. all the bearings are good.

the mains which are the standard ball are like silk still. c/b both the shaft and itself - excellent.

big end - clonks.

the top end has had enough, the rocker shafts are worn, the pads are hollowed, the cover leaks. the new dual valve ssprings had done their job but the inlets have already tuliped again five years after the first time took barely months. not bad given the only change was the LX2 cam and blade until last sunday week.

i want to try a 450 rod assembly but i've been quoted £280. ouch!!! and oddly enough i remember the inlets costing a fortune last time as well!!!

the 450 rod is 3mm shorter and would allow the sherco camgear.

anyway, just wanted to share that with y'all!

Pictures can be found HERE.

regards

Taffy

Re: RE: whats inside?

Neil_E. said:

First time I've heard of a ridge being worse at the bottom than the top. Maybe the worn big end has resulted in some additional ring loading from piston acceleration as the play is taken up. The bore must be very shiny where the rings fluttered causing wear on the coating. Hard to see how the rings could be "too strong". The end gaps must be large now.

Click to expand...

it's just that somewhere along the line they decided to bounce not up and down but AROUND the piston closing and opening the ring gap. is it possible the rings resonate and bounce? i think i'm going to have to send the barrel to langcourt here in the UK and maybe they'll give me a clue?

the ridge at the bottom is quite deep.

could it be the ridge was so strong that the big end took a hammering.

unforgivably i forgot to mention the little end is worn as well.

i just enjoy this type of thing!

regards

Taffy

neil, eric

the rings have gone:

C .. O ..C . O .C O C

and then TDC. so it all happens with the rod coming in at an angle. piston has been under the wear limit for at least a year. after all it is 7 years old as a racer! it's shagged!

but even the little end is worn!

OK HERE IS ANOTHER ONE FOR YOU!
on the 400 you get the crank, then the balancer and then a hardened steel ring, then the leftside bearing. ok????

well that steel ring is shagged!

it has somehow squeezed and wedged itself under that curved edge to the main bearing?????
it now has a a sharp lip on the side face near the I.D.

so is the ring THAT hard? what forces have drawn it out of shape and under the main bearing? i always torque the crank nut to the correct amount.

dark forces have been at work.

i haven't been able to upload photos for 3-4 years. json has tried everything but it's no go. however, i will try and get some and maybe someone else will host them? PM me an email address.

regards

Taffy

ok so 6 minutes over but the journey is 8 yards ok!

ok further kinda clues or little tricks for y'all....

the crank has been running with 1.5mm of axial float. the ring which should have been 3mm wide is 2.5mm below the lip. so instead of being soft metal and CRUSHED into this shape: i think it is worn down to 2.5mm.

even so, it means that i had 1mm of axial float. if i crush the crank to the right it means the crank was central and the 1mm gap should be on the left. the balancer has been rubbing against the crank cheek so perhaps a 1mm washer could have gone in there. i don't know why i have 1mm of float nor why the balancer can rub like this?

on my model, when you tighten the crank gear you aren't drawing the crank left or right you're simply locking the gear? the crank journal is worn and lippy on the left. the crank slips into the inner race too easily! on the right its a fight? so the inner on the left has been too loose and has been rubbing on the crank. it's highly polished and nothing is blued anywhere?

there is no plaay in the mains with the crank refitted?

of course if the left main was TRULY TRULY loose then i would have lost the oil pressure to the big end.......

the little end gudgeon pin is very worn on the left and right and so are the piston bosses but, the little end (and pin) isn't too bad! in the meantime the piston bosses have two very worn marks. they are worn at 10 'o clock and at 2 'o clock inside.

weird!

so imagine the piston from the side. the hole through looks a little like mickey mouses face and his ears! of course those ears are only slight recess' but you get my drift!

the rings have been reaching right down to the cut out in the side of the linar. like right down and touching the edge almost. that close!

so the 117mm rod is out and another way of doing the sherco mod must be found if at all....

hey don't worry about me! i love it!!! someones nik used to say something about time in the garage..... was that steve?

anyway, those reading at this end of the thread just to say that json has been really decent and treated me like the cripple i am and added five photos to my gallery and the link is in the first post of this thread.

a note about the photos:
if you look at the photo of the barrel taken from the side you can see the DOUBLE INDENTATION of EACH half of the OIL RING - incredible hey!

the barrel at an angle? to see the ripples best try and view the part of the barrel at 6 'o clock for the true ripple effect.

looks like the main spun , supported but couldn't be bothered to keep up with the journal?

thank god she's only a widdle 400.

regards

Taffy

well they do look perfectly formed! i have to say though that i have never seen them before. lubrication or not they didn't work.

regards

Taffy

just got my barrel back today from langcourt and as usual the job was superb. i called the engineer for a report and he explained that husaberg run chrome rings in a nikasil bore which isn't usual. he said that apparently cast iron but i think he meant steel are the alternative.

the reason i have a massive lip is because the nikasil was worn and that the ripples at the top are because they have lost their strength!

i kept trying to get him to call me a cheapskate but he was far too polite!

thats about it. BTW i didn't think there was that much nikasil on the bore to feel that difference.

regards

Taffy