83 Interstate Rehab questions/problems ---Smoking

[snowlover]

Ok, after a couple of weeks, I have got some GL 1100 issues.

So far I have cleaned up and have a functioning rear master cyl. :grin:
Cleaned and polished most of the chrome. (very important :shock: )
Ran a tank of gas with Sea Foam, about 6 ounces per full tank
Checked Compression 155,155,155,160 Cold, no plugs in, about 10 seconds cranking fully openned throttle. 185 is spec? At least they are all similar!!
Adjusted valves. 2 were out less than .001
New plugs
Last night added 6 oz of ATF to full tank

1) It has smoked a little on startup, but it smelled more gassy, so I have assumed it needs syc, (Manifold adapter in-route) but today it seems to really smoke. Does the ATF make a big difference in smoking?

2) Grindy/growly noise in the front, especially when very cold and starting out under load. I never hear or feel it after it has warmed up.

3) Front end (motor) has a whine, particulary when under load, going up a hill.

4) Clutch seems to be 2-stage. Releases early in the lever, then pauses, then fully lets go near the end. I plan to do the sea foam treatment in the oil for 100 miles, then do another oil change.

5) Man this thing is smooth running @ speed. It just purrs @ 70 mph. :clapping:

 

[joedrum]

the clutch souldnt feel that way.......the whine in the front might be bad idler pulley .....the atf is obviously moving some gunk through and smoking it will do that but will get better with use....

 

[dan filipi]

Cleaned and polished most of the chrome. (very important :shock: ) I agree polished chrome is important :yes:

Ran a tank of gas with Sea Foam, about 6 ounces per full tank
Checked Compression 155,155,155,160 Cold, no plugs in, about 10 seconds cranking fully openned throttle. 185 is spec? At least they are all similar!! Your compression is fine.


1) It has smoked a little on startup, but it smelled more gassy, so I have assumed it needs syc, (Manifold adapter in-route) but today it seems to really smoke. Does the ATF make a big difference in smoking? The atf will make it smoke some also. What color is the smoke?

2) Grindy/growly noise in the front, especially when very cold and starting out under load. I never hear or feel it after it has warmed up.
I would check the timing belt tensioners real soon.

3) Front end (motor) has a whine, particulary when under load, going up a hill.
Normal

4) Clutch seems to be 2-stage. Releases early in the lever, then pauses, then fully lets go near the end. I plan to do the sea foam treatment in the oil for 100 miles, then do another oil change.
Treatment is a good idea. Put miles on it.

5) Man this thing is smooth running @ speed. It just purrs @ 70 mph. :clapping:
Nice!! Put even more miles on it!

 

[snowlover]

Things done tonight:

Carb sync. I was disapointed that they were all dead on @ 9 inches. Was hoping they were off so I could adjust and see some cold start up/idle improvement.

Clutch cable lubed. It sure loosened it up and it feels more smooth now.

Sea Foam in oil. ran about 70 miles. Will run again tomorrow, then change oil.

Smoke is blue and real noticeable @ start up like valve guide leakage. It also will put out blue smoke if reved hard in the garage. No noticeable drop in oil level after about 300 miles. Blue smoking motors is a pet peeve of mine. When I see one on the road, it bothers me, so having this GL puff blue smoke is going to drive me nuts. After this tank of ATF fuel, I will do another SF tank and see if the smoke lessens.

 

[mcgovern61]

If you park the bike on the side stand, it will smoke when started. Smoke after warm up and revved, gummed parts and rings. Ride with the ATF for a while and get her out on the highway above 70 MPH for at least 500 miles and you should see a vast improvement. These bikes like the high RPM to clean them out under a load and they run smoother the longer they are on the highway. Local hops will start to gum things up. I ride mine local most of the time and when I get out on the rode it turns into a whole different machine!

 

[toytender01]

I had some smoking and a little engine noise here around town...but last friday I went over the mountian to Reno and then on to Lovelock Nv....turned the dogs loose and kept up with those Nv truckers.....the beast was loose on the return trip and it wad very hard to hold it down to 75 over the mountian...put 481 miles 0n it that day and the next day went up into the foothills for a 138 mile rountrip... now it wants to leap out of the driveway........loved doing 70+ between Sparks and lovelock and back...NOTE: you know you are close to H__l when leaving Reno eastbound, because you can see Sparks!!! :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: Just a little Ca./nav humer have a good day Bob

 

[snowlover]

After 2 tanks with Seafoam and 1 with ATF, I am consigned to believe the startup puff of blue smoke is from hardend valve seals. My winter project will be to put new ones in without removing the heads using air pressure. It sounds straight forward, so for the cost of valve seals, it will be worth it to me.

One question, if valve seals are leaking oil into the cyclinders when it sits, aren't they are also leaking oil in when it runs or compression is leaking past them? Could valve seals be a cause for slight compression loss?

 

[joedrum]

not realy the valves are only open when no compression is going on ......usealy when running the oil could br going in th cylinders but being burnt instantly ....only sitting will collect enough oil to smoke .......but you havnt gave it a chance yet ....keep useing ATF mix the rest of the season and see where its at then ......you could do a leak down test compression test to .......you have an 83 the gearing is max out so lugging and whineing going up hills and stuff is completly normal for a motor not running up to snuff......those compression figures are not that bad ......i think your waisting your time on seal change ......the ignition can cause a lot of trouble on 83s too......id say new coils wires and caps ......and do a head job .....if its not got any internal noise in the motor.....they will stay that way.....it sounds like its running pretty good from your post if it wasnt an 83 wont hardly get out of its own way......

 

[dan filipi]

Snowlover, where is the oil level at and do you leave it on the side stand when parked?

I ask because it's been my experience that old valve seals don't let oil into the combustion chamber like they do on a car.
The believe that oil is making it past the valve seals while on the sidestand is actually oil getting past the oil rings.

I would try running your oil level close to the add line and parked on the center stand and see what happens before doing valve seals.

 

[mcgovern61]

When mine was smoking on startup after sitting on the side stand, I found out that it was actually gas leaking from the carbs because my floats were set wrong. After much playing around and adjusting, they stopped leaking and I stopped getting that puff on startup. When I ran ATF all of the time, I would get a longer puff on start up just because the ATF takes a little longer to burn off, but it was still related to my carbs leaking.

Since adjustment, I never get a puff at startup whether on side stand or center stand now.

 

[kirkwilson]

Ditto on what everybody else has said- I'm a newby as well trying to bring back a bike that hasn't been ridden for a long time and mucho, mucho gracias for all the help. If you don't know how old your timing belts are then replace them tomorrow- a good quality set can be had for $50 and if you break a belt your engine will be toast. Plus it's real easy to do- I recommend Octane's how to at nakedgoldwings.com. If your bike has been sittting for a long time you are going to need to pull the carbs, clean them up, and replace the rubber. Again, Octane has a good how-to. Like Dan said, your compression looks good so if you're smoking it's either ignition or carb. Check your plugs and see what they look like. In my case, I had 3 that were good and one cyl that I never have got perfect but at least I got it to stop fouling (still too rich). If your problem is only one cyl try switching the coils, wires, plug caps and the ign modules side to side- if the prob stays with the same cyl it's got to be the carb. Good Luck! With everybody's help I've gotten my new ride to the point where I can just ride- not wrench- I like to wrench - but riding's more fun!

 

[mcgovern61]

Ditto on what everybody else has said- I'm a newby as well trying to bring back a bike that hasn't been ridden for a long time and mucho, mucho gracias for all the help.

Kirk, you are hardley a "newby" around here anymore! The amount of work you have done makes you close to master around here! :cool!:

 

[toytender01]

:hi: Somewhere i did a post on syncing my carbs...well after putting up with lousy low end preformance but good upperend ( on the highway) I resynced then i found my #2 plug was wet and looked different then the rest :whistling: ... checked sync and all were the same....However in playing with #2 adjustment i found 2 places where it was in sync :cheeky: so i ran the adjustment in and then backed it out to the first spot where all carbs were in sync :music2: ....had better preformance thought the whole opeerating range.more power and better ideling :yahoo: .... took it for a 165 mile ride yesterday... expecting to get the 41MPG i was used to however when i gased the calculated MPG was 54.7.. :clapping: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: ...Have to check it again (ever the optimest) :swoon: ....I THINK I MIGHT HAVE DRIVEN THOUUGH AN INVERSION LAYOR OR A TIME WARP OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT :smilie_happy: any way I have used the seafoam and ATF treatment....If i can duplicate this i will not touch it again except to Ride, R idr, Ride and Ride. :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: Thanks for all of your tips trying to solve others problems I may have got some of that gold Ca. is noted for out of all of your posts :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: Bob

 

[snowlover]

Thanks for all the comments!!

Now convinced it is mostly ring related. Side stand vs center, no difference, left side still smokes @ startup. After about 1k miles, the oil level has dropped from mid glass to low on the glass. Not much oil loss, but it is going somewhere. Anyone know how much oil you have lost if you are on low mark on the glass vs mid or top mark?

I never saw any smoke when I first got it running. Seems it got worse after riding it some. I will do a follow up comp test tonight.

New brake fluid and brakes bled last night with the help of my harbor freight brand mity-vac. While side bag was off, just had to polish up the shock chrome and rack. Man it cleans up good! Loosened up the seat adjuster that was gunked up a little. Tonight if the rain stops, I ride, otherwise the other side bag comes off for a good cleaning after my comp test, both dry and wet.

 

[mcgovern61]

I will do a follow up comp test tonight.

Be sure you do the compression test with the engine hot, plugs out, throttle wide open for accurate results!

 

[joedrum]

if the compression is down some the oil is probaly gpoing out the crankcase vent breather .....check your air cleaner for oil in the bottom ....this only happens under hard accelleration at high rpm :yahoo: :yahoo: get out of it some till you break it in again ....this is like being born again after sitting so long ......istill dont think your compression figures look that bad :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

I agree your compression isn't bad. It can be mis leading anyway if theres a bad oil control ring allowing oil past.
Check it anyway for reference.

My gut feeling is after that many miles your still burning oil then it won't come back but I have been wrong many times before.

Anyone know how much oil you have lost if you are on low mark on the glass vs mid or top mark?

The '81 engine I have now with almost 100k miles uses some oil when on the full mark but none if it's at mid point.

 

[snowlover]

I am through, it's over, done, kaput.

Comp test tonight with a warm motor, all plugs out, crank 5 seconds or so with kill switch off, full throttle.

#1 170
#2 165
#3 170
#4 170

There was maybe 1-2 pounds increase with 3 squirts of oil for 2nd test, so the wet compression indicated there was little difference to dry so rings are sealing OK.

It runs perfect. Up to 60 in 2nd easy. Pulls hills and accelerates smooth. No hesitation or sputtering. Idles @ 1000-1500 great.

Slightly cold blooded, needs choke for 15 seconds or so.

I am going to pretend I am starting my 2-cycle snowmobile and ignore the blue smoke. I put in fresh oil tonight and left it right @ the bottom of the sight glass screw in the middle. I will monitor oil loss. I may do a 800 mile each way trip the end of the month if she keeps running great.

Thanks for the advice and support.

Out.

 

[joedrum]

good numbers ....i think your plan is sound for now .....im thinking it will get better..... :mrgreen:

 

[thewhiterhino]

I would run a good synthetic oil which will dissolve the carbon deposits around the oil rings and may free them up over time. :good: :good: :good: