New to me '83 (engine that is!)

[mcgovern61]

The engine has 3,590 miles on it since I installed it in my '82 frame. I just came back from a 2800 mile trip and surprisingly, it has not used a drop of oil yet!! :clapping:

I am shocked! :shock:

I expected at least some oil loss. My '81 engine used about quart every 900 miles or so (of course it could have been leaking on the road too).

I am impressed with this engine! :music:

 

[dan filipi]

That's great Gerry, you got a real winner there!

It amazes me how well built these engines are.

 

[jdept]

Well,I have finally started the process of swapping out by poor old '81 diesel engine for a '83 engine that I got over a year ago. I have spent some time replacing parts on it, o-rings, timing belts, covers, seals, tstat, set the valves, compression tests etc..... and now it is time for the swap. I will add a few pics of the engine in it's before stage.

I apologize in advance if someone has already asked this, but did you say "Diesel"? There's a GL diesel engine? :heat:

 

[mcgovern61]

Well,I have finally started the process of swapping out by poor old '81 diesel engine for a '83 engine that I got over a year ago. I have spent some time replacing parts on it, o-rings, timing belts, covers, seals, tstat, set the valves, compression tests etc..... and now it is time for the swap. I will add a few pics of the engine in it's before stage.

I apologize in advance if someone has already asked this, but did you say "Diesel"? There's a GL diesel engine? :heat:

:smilie_happy: :hihihi: My '81 engine that I pulled out of the bike has either bad bearings or something else going on and it sounds like a diesel when it is up at highway speeds! :hihihi: :smilie_happy:

I would not hestitate to keep it running since it has sounded like this since I put it into the '82 frame, but something inside me said to swap it out!

 

[jdept]

I thought that was crazy ..... would you be able to tell me what the clunky sound is on my GL1100I whenever I am in 1st or 2nd and below 2500 RPM ...seems to go away after that. I'm thinking it may be the drive chain that has some slack at these lower RPMs a friend said it could be the thrust bearings .... :laptop:

 

[joedrum]

yea its probably primary chain noise ......carbs may need to be sync ...sometimes this all but eliminates the clunking chain slap :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

I thought that was crazy ..... would you be able to tell me what the clunky sound is on my GL1100I whenever I am in 1st or 2nd and below 2500 RPM ...seems to go away after that. I'm thinking it may be the drive chain that has some slack at these lower RPMs a friend said it could be the thrust bearings .... :laptop:

Carbs out of sync will cause the primary chain to slap back and forth.
Try pulling the clutch in when it's loudest in neutral. If it lessens then it's primary chain.
Not much can be done about other than a carb sync. It won't hurt anything to run it that way.

 

[jdept]

Thanks for the encouraging info. ...I'll be doing the sync soon ...it's way to cold now for me to want to do anything .... :good:

 

[joedrum]

getting a little cold in jacksonville :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: yeah the ocean breeze can be tough there this time of yr. :mrgreen:

 

[jdept]

getting a little cold in jacksonville :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: yeah the ocean breeze can be tough there this time of yr. :mrgreen:

Yeah I am a Florida boy we complain when it gets down in the 50s or at least I do ......

 

[mcgovern61]

It has been just about 1 year since I swapped out the '81 engine and I have put about 5200 miles on the '83 engine. (Lost a lot of riding time last fall because the rear tire got a tear). I just changed the oil and realized that I never added any oil since I installed this engine. The oil level was at the full mark when I started last year and it was at the halfway mark when i dropped it out. Nothing unusual found in the oil.

I did ride it for about 35 miles on the highway before I dropped the oil out and boy that 10w40 sure does turn almost like water when it is real hot! (It was a tad bit thicker before I left home.)

 

[dan filipi]

These engines are well built, mine uses very little oil too and it's got well over 100k on it.

 

[AApple]

That's great news, Gerry! :clapping: :clapping: I bet yer glad it worked out well, eh?

Mine uses oil like crazy, but it uses it to lubricate the bottom of the engine casting so it doesn't corrode....I gotta fix that leak someday! :smilie_happy:

 

[mcgovern61]

That's great news, Gerry! :clapping: :clapping: I bet yer glad it worked out well, eh?

Mine uses oil like crazy, but it uses it to lubricate the bottom of the engine casting so it doesn't corrode....I gotta fix that leak someday! :smilie_happy:

:smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: My '81 was like that too! Actually, this '83 came to me with grime all over the bottom and sides and it turned out to be the shift lever seal was bad. Easy fix! The '81 was leaking at the cam seals at the front behind the timing belt cover...a little more work if I ever wanted to fix them.

 

[mcgovern61]

Approaching the 2 year mark and I cannot say enough good things about this engine. Problem is....nothing to tinker with!!! :smilie_happy:

Of course I can always tinker with something, but it is nice to just fire up and ride!

Come to think of it, Joe pointed out something I was not aware of:

I have an '83 engine with '83 spark advance being controlled by '81 coils, '82 RR, '81 CDI and wiring with no issues to date. But apparently there may have been differences between the '81 and '83 coils and wiring? Anyone know for sure?

 

[joedrum]

yes im sure ....im possitive your working with no ballist resistor in the ignition setup ....all yrs 1100s had them ....80-81 in the cdi pulse generators and 82-83 in the coil setup next to the coils....this leads me to beleave your ignition is 12 volt all the time ...instead of droping to 6 volts after starter button is released ....the dyna setups with coils ...dyna picups...with no ballist resistor used is 12 volt full time....if its working good like that ...then this is a ignition upgrade in my book ....it would be nice to know more on whats this is doing in a bean counter way of cracking the numbers :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

Resistor at the pickups Joe? I've never seen any there unless your referring to built in resistance in the pickups themselves?

 

[joedrum]

yes dan i think this is the system that suffers from heat and melting epoxy you hear about from time to time....unless its some where else in the ignition system .....im rather sure about this

 

[Tory]

Nice work gerry,looks real good.
I am curious if you noticed any differance in millage from the 81 to the 83 motor.

 

[mcgovern61]

Nice work gerry,looks real good.
I am curious if you noticed any differance in millage from the 81 to the 83 motor.

Yes I did! The '81 averaged 32 MPG most of the time and the '83 averages 38 MPG mots of the time in mixed driving. On the highway at 75 MPH average, the '83 gets 42 MPG. Add ATF and it runs up to 45 MPG.

However, I should be fair to the '81....I had the carbs rebuilt when I swapped to the '83 engine. I did not run with them on the '81 because the PO of the '81 had claimed they were rebuilt (and they might have been in his opinion). After I had the carbs rebuilt, I still had to do a fair amount of worth to set the floats to get them to stop leaking into the intakes when the bike was turned off. (And yes the petcock was closed)