low compression ideas/help

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who444444

who444444

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Dec 13, 2013
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Location
oceanside, ca
Finally got around to checking my compression and what I got was
140 to 135 lbs. on each cylinder.
After a squirt of oil down the spark plug hole each cylinder went up to 160+ lbs.
My backyard mechanical knowledge tells me that probably the problem is ring related.
I might be willing to remove the heads if it was valve related but I'm not going to
tear the engine down to as far as I would have to to replace rings. Any suggestions as to my options
besides adding 1 qt. of oil per 500 miles as I have had to do. I have used marvel mystery oil in my gas but that is all and that was not for oil burning problem.
I'm open to all suggestions and some flaming for not wanting to tear down engine, and worst case I just add oil and ride as it really is running great.
BTW I have already replaced the valve stem seals as I had hoped that was the problem regarding oil consumption. ( but noooooo )
dave
 
A quart burned in 500 miles should be smoking quite a bit out the exhaust.

Since you've done valve seals I assume you've adjusted valves properly.

I'm afraid to say, that's a tired engine.
 
As long as you are not using heaps of fuel as well Dave I would be happy to just keep riding with plenty of dilligence on th oil level. Some of my early Subarus had oil ring issues and always used oil which seemed to be more pronounced as a flat 4 can sometimes struggle to return all oil to the sump. The other thing that used to cause oil usage in them was aggressive u turns in the wrong direction. All the oil would charge across the engine and up into the carby through the Pcv system and crate a little subaru steam train ( lots of smoke).

Just make sure that you are not overfilling the sump as that will increase your oil consumption, I would run it a little lower and add small amounts of oil more frequently :yes:
 
Thanks for help. Not huge amounts of smoke out exhaust ( that's what is weird and no leaks to be found ) but usually good puff when starting up as these bikes can do.
I'm thinking cylinder wall and ring condition is from many years of sitting around and not running.
I've had this bike since 81 ( just recently found receipt from dealer in my files ) 42,000 original miles on it now.
Was hoping for a way to "reseal or reseat " rings to wall.
I hope it's not as tired as I feel sometimes.

:thanks:
dave
 
willing to try. Your recipe please, any details you'd like to divulge, my engine is hungry. :smilie_happy:

dave
 
Most recommend 6-8 Oz per tankful. I am going to drop back to 100ml which is close enough to 4 Oz when I get a neat container that fits in the shelter.
 
Dont know how you feel about long trips but I once had a car that sat 10 sum years and I suspected the rings were sticking , had oil consumption and raised with a shot of oil,Loaded up a case of oil and I drove it cross country and notice half way it was using less and less and by the time I hit Florida it hardly used any, I changed the oil in Fla, gave it to my dad who said he never had to add any oil to it in months of driving.
I guess it needed a long shake down.
 
Agreed on both posts. A nice long highway ride with 6oz of atf at each fill up should bring it back nicely.
 
Agreed on a good highway trip and ATF!

Silly question, when you did your compression test, was the engine hot, plugs out, throttle held wide open and charger on the battery? (Just trying to help you get the best readings).

Also, that puff of startup smoke may not be oil, that is usually a sign of gas leaking. Careful there because gas leaking will get into your oil causing wear on the bearings and it will help oil to burn easy.

These engines do not normally need oil added (not after 500 miles) unless they are being overfilled. Also, take a look down the lower left side of the engine to see if your shifter seal is leaking. Common leak that only shows up under the engine, but often not on your boots or other visible parts of the engine while looking down from above.

Lastly, if you are burning that much oil, you should have a good oil burn cloud following you in your exhaust all the time that you ride.
 
With only 42K on the clock, the rings should not be worn, so they are probably sticking. Use the ATF and ride strong and long! It should loosen up. +1 on looking for leaks underneath.
 
thanks again all.
1.Silly question, when you did your compression test, was the engine hot, plugs out, throttle held wide open and charger on the battery? (Just trying to help you get the best readings).

engine cold but yes on everything else.

2. Also, that puff of startup smoke may not be oil, that is usually a sign of gas leaking. Careful there because gas leaking will get into your oil causing wear on the bearings and it will help oil to burn easy.

new single carb and electric fuel pump. no sign of gas leaking into engine.

3. These engines do not normally need oil added (not after 500 miles) unless they are being overfilled. Also, take a look down the lower left side of the engine to see if your shifter seal is leaking. Common leak that only shows up under the engine, but often not on your boots or other visible parts of the engine while looking down from above.

not overfilled, halfway up sight glass. will double check for any possible leaking.
thanks, dave
 
I agree Joe regarding quality of guages. I have a high quality guage that did not have the right size plug adapter so I had to buy a cheap guage set that had the adapter I needed. However I got the same readings with both guages. I checked cause I wanted to see if the cheap set was accurate.
Dave
 
Ok. Two duh type questions, which flavor aft or could it matter, and how much smoking should I expect from adding att. Will I have to hide my face in embarrassment and run from the pollution police?
dave
 
What ever flavor ATF you like doesn't matter in the fuel. 6 oz for a full tank you may get a little smoke until it warms up. You won't be killing off bugs with it though. :good:
 
+1 on smoke at startup, just like leaky valve stem seals. Just annoying when you know that you have a tight engine, my problem not the bikes.....
 

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