TOPIC:

A few weeks back, the left piston slipped right out with a few taps of a hammer. Not so for its sister (or should I say evil twin). The right one didn't budge. I smacked it good with a hammer a few times. Nothing. And yes I have the circlips out.

So now I've made a piston puller and tried that. Yes! The pin is sliding out (with lots of torque applied).



But after an inch or so, she didn't want to cooperate anymore. I really cranked on the puller and she just won't move. Is this normal?



And once again, I chipped off some aluminum. This stuff is more brittle than a rose dipped in liquid nitrogen. The large socket dug into the piston just above the pin as seen in the picture above. At that point, I didn't really care. I just wanted the piston pin out. I can always get a new piston.

So now what? A hydraulic press?

I know some mechanics and bike enthusiasts out there are cringing. I look at this as a learning experience. I'm not afraid to make mistakes, just as long as I learn from them. Besides, even if I turn this into a parts bike, I'll consider it the best small engine repair course that $300 can buy.

I'm going to make a running list of all the stuff I break (for fun and for motivation to be more careful).

1. Chipped piece off engine case (cosmetic)
2. Chipped piece off clutch hub (may need replacement)
3. Chipped piece off right piston (will need replacement)
4. ?

Propane Torch, heat the piston, pin will slide right out. An electric heat gun might be enough, possibly a hair drier. But Propane, or better Map Gas will do it quick. Of course there's the OXY

Motor Head wrote: Propane Torch, heat the piston, pin will slide right out. An electric heat gun might be enough, possibly a hair drier. But Propane, or better Map Gas will do it quick. Of course there's the OXY

Thanks. I'll try that next.

Question: are the pins usually stuck in the piston or in the rod?

There is an area of the pin that is between the two, gets coated with varnish. That's most likely what it is stuck on. A bit of heat and it should come right out, especially with you Wrist pin puller.

Not to be a bitch or anything, but you really should stuff some rags around the rods to keep stuff from falling into the crankcase, unless you're going to split the case.

Patton wrote: For future reference. Counter-shaft sprocket holder.

Good Fortune!

With the chain still on the bike, you can use the rear brake as a countershaft sprocket holder....though I'm not sure how good of an idea it is, but I've used that method.

clutch wrote:

Patton wrote: For future reference. Counter-shaft sprocket holder.

Good Fortune!

With the chain still on the bike, you can use the rear brake as a countershaft sprocket holder....though I'm not sure how good of an idea it is, but I've used that method.

That's true, although it might stress some brake parts depending on how hard it is to remove the nut. Probably the biggest advantage of the method in the picture (assuming you have a bit of old chain available) is that you can do the work without needing a second person to hold the brake. That's important in my case because no one wants to be within 1,000 yards of me when I'm working on my bike. Actually, now that I think about it, no one ever wants to be within 1,000 yards of me. Maybe I should consider using deodorant. Nah. Ed

I'm still mostly following the shop manual (if I get stuck on something I skip ahead), and next up is the oil pan. I'm excited about this one because the inner guts of the engine will finally get exposed (from underneath anyway).

The 17 bolts came off easy, but the pan was stuck. I tapped with a hammer and prodded with a screw driver, but it wasn't going to come off that easy. The ever resourceful forums suggested (among other things) a 4 pound "dead blow hammer". This is essentially a heavy duty rubber mallet as I found out later when I purchased one. I'm trying to be a bit more careful and get the right tool when I can.

After several strong swings and whacks all around the oil pan, she just suddenly flopped straight down.



It wasn't too bad in there. The oil was thick and black. There were also some small bits of metal and whatnot in there. I know its not a good sign to have a lot of metal bits in the oil pan, but isn't it normal to have at least some? This may have been the first time the pan came off so maybe its just from breaking the engine in.

You can see them below. They look much bigger covered in oil than they really are after washing them off. Not all of them are metal. Some of it is just grime falling from above through the cylinders.



And cleaned up a bit. Man, I can't wait to get the rest of the engine squeaky clean! I'm getting tired of grime everywhere.



The oil pump.



Here's a shot of what's under the breather cover. I believe both the out gassing vent and the intake breather are both in here. Some bikes have them located at different spots on the engine. I'll be deleting the air box so I'm not sure where to put the breather tube. That's a problem for much much later in the project



Getting really close to splitting the rest of the case wide open and pulling out the gears and stuff. I can't wait!

Good Fortune!

Patton wrote:

Attachment crankcaseventhose.jpg not found

where's the other end? pointing to the ground?

pbmax wrote: ...where's the other end? pointing to the ground?

Vent hose from crankcase breather exits underneath bike.

The pic is on a Z! with 29 smoothbores that doesn't have overflow hoses.

Here's a pic of overflow hoses on KZ900.

The crankcase vent hose follows the same routing as shown here for the overflow hoses.

Good Fortune!

And still another option: