Ironhead Uh oh.. I hope I didn't do serious damage.. ('71 XLCH)

[egarrett]

Had a bog down problem once...The tranny fluid had leaked out and the shafts and bushings seized.

[brucstoudt]

it may have been a,little hasty,to pull the motor so,soon,several check's can be made with the motor in the frame. but that's water under the bridge,now.

[kizzletruck]

Well guys, I pulled the heads off the motor and looked inside. It seems the front piston and combustion chamber has much more soot and carbon on it than the rear. I am wondering if the front needs valves/guides/seals. I also pulled the rockers off and gave the rocker arms a wiggle to see if there was any play. None noticeable.

Generator was pulled out. The gear on the gen is intact, as well as the idler gear in the cam cover. I suppose I could pull the oil pump off and inspect that. I know my buddies '70 CH had the gear in the oil pump fail and shatter into a million pieces, so I am hoping this was not the cause and that it is a simple valve job. I don't have the clamp/compressor to remove the valve springs.

Do you guys think I should pull the jugs/pistons and that? I also found that the rear motor mount is cracked and had been welded and has since cracked again.

Here is what I've got for pictures so far, so let me know what you guys think.



Front Combustion Chamber



Front piston



Rear Combustion Chamber



Rear Piston

[85mm]

You should have done a compression check before pulling the heads. Looking at pistons is not a good way to debug motor. There are many reasons for crud buildup and some can be solved by just replacing plugs or wires. While you are this far down, run pistons to the bottom of the bores and see if there are any major scratches up and down the bores.

[brucstoudt]

do not pull the oil pump at this point. i,wouldn't have pulled the motor to troubleshoot,but i,already said that.

[ezmerf]

Well since your being nosey.You can release the valve keepers by taking a socket about the dia.of ring and place on top and smack it with a hammer keepers should pop out.Now you will need something to reinstall keepers.Look in the red stickies at the top of this page and look for homemade tools maybe someone has something in there that'll wk.

[IronMick]

Some auto parts places [Canadian Tire is one] rent shop tools for the cost of the tool, then refund the complete rental charge when you return it. I used a valve spring compressor like this before i had my own.

In my limited experience carbon buildup is common in these engines [?because they run better on the rich side?] and is not evidence of a serious problem.

[phideux]

Sometimes it's the simple things, did you check or change your plugs before you pulled everything apart?? Mine would act like that if my S&S E was off just a teeny bit on the rich side and my plug would gas foul.

[kizzletruck]

Originally Posted by 85mm

You should have done a compression check before pulling the heads. Looking at pistons is not a good way to debug motor. There are many reasons for crud buildup and some can be solved by just replacing plugs or wires. While you are this far down, run pistons to the bottom of the bores and see if there are any major scratches up and down the bores.

There are no major scores or scratches in the bores. Before I towed the bike home I put new plugs in it on the side of the road. No success. At this point I am at a loss of what to check. I am going to pull the points cover and see if everything is still in adjustment. (I know I could have done this with the motor in the bike, but realistically I only have 4 hours of work into the bike.. I obtained lots of practice tearing my roommate's '70 CH down when he ran into the trouble with the oil pump. He figured he mine as well have the frame blasted and coated and reworked all of the tins. Not really too worried about it since I have the entire week off of work.

But what I was thinking is maybe worse case scenario is I can have the frame blasted and coated, and do whatever motor work may need to be done. It is to my understanding that in order to replace the rear motor mount I have to split the cases. Would it be advisable to bring it over and have it re-welded again?

I can tell you that I don't think the manifold was sucking air, as the last person to work on the bike used a thin layer of RTV on the O-Rings and everything was pretty well stuck together.

I can also measure the bores and see if indeed the motor was bored out or if the guy I bought it from is full of $#!T.

Worse case scenario, I am out a few gaskets and some time..

[Tracker]

Originally Posted by phideux

Sometimes it's the simple things, did you check or change your plugs before you pulled everything apart?? Mine would act like that if my S&S E was off just a teeny bit on the rich side and my plug would gas foul.

My Super E would do the same thing when my accelerator pump was set way too rich. It would gas foul the front cylinder, lose power and back fire (after fire to some) and barely able to get off the road under it's own power. Got things adjusted and all is well.