Aluminum glitter in oil

[sdew99]

Hi all,

After recently draining my oil, I discovered that it has a lot of aluminum sparkling in it. The top end was rebuilt about 2000 km ago, and there was no sparkling in the oil directly after the rebuild. I have tried the magnet test.

The timing/cam chains were not loose.

Do these cam bearings look like they could be the cause of the sparkling im seeing in my oil?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[dirtdigger]

What did the bearings look like before? Is this new wear? There is definitely wear in the bearings but no way to know how it looked before the rebuild. The only aluminum parts that can really wear are the cam bearings, pistons, clutch basket, oil pump housing. It is common for the timing chains to wear in the chain tunnels in the head and cylinder block. Also if the primary chain is loose and hitting the case you will get aluminum.

 

[sdew99]

What did the bearings look like before? Is this new wear? There is definitely wear in the bearings but no way to know how it looked before the rebuild. The only aluminum parts that can really wear are the cam bearings, pistons, clutch basket, oil pump housing. It is common for the timing chains to wear in the chain tunnels in the head and cylinder block. Also if the primary chain is loose and hitting the case you will get aluminum.

What did the bearings look like before? Is this new wear? There is definitely wear in the bearings but no way to know how it looked before the rebuild. The only aluminum parts that can really wear are the cam bearings, pistons, clutch basket, oil pump housing. It is common for the timing chains to wear in the chain tunnels in the head and cylinder block. Also if the primary chain is loose and hitting the case you will get aluminum.

I just looked back at some pictures and I dont think there's noticeably more wear on the bearings. I have used my boroscope to inspect the tunnels and haven't found any areas where there appears to be wear. Pulling the head to really see around the tensioners and retainers may be my next move. One thing that did happen, was the oil pump strainer in the sump loosened off and was just sitting at the bottom of the pan last time I had my sump off. So maybe there was some crap that got pumped through and im just dealing with the remaining stuff? Where should I expect to see wear on the clutch basket? Around the basket "fingers" if you know what I mean?

 

[dirtdigger]

yes the fingers where the disks ride, they wear gooves into the basket

 

[sdew99]

yes the fingers where the disks ride, they wear gooves into the basket

Thoughts on these pics dirtdigger? Im seeing one spot where it looks like the cam retainer was rubbing aluminum but all in all doesnt look that bad to me.

 

[sdew99]

Thoughts on these pics dirtdigger? Im seeing one spot where it looks like the cam retainer was rubbing aluminum but all in all doesnt look that bad to me.

The primary chain also seems loose to me. I can pretty easily move it up/down and laterally on the sprocket.

 

[sdew99]

The primary chain also seems loose to me. I can pretty easily move it up/down and laterally on the sprocket.

Just found this

 

[dirtdigger]

Doesnt take much metal to make the oil sparkly

 

[Biebs]

Run it!! Looks clean!!

 

[sdew99]

Run it!! Looks clean!!

Even with the glitter?? Lol

 

[sdew99]

Doesnt take much metal to make the oil sparkly

Some updates.. yes that is copper showing on the bearings. Seems like a lot of slack on the primary to me.

 

[VFFreedom]

That sucks, sorry to see your having issues. At least you found the source. Now what do you do? How bad is the crankshaft?
Full rebuild? Or just a bottom end. Tough call depending on how much you like the bike and what you want to spend.
Wish the best for your project and hope to see it resurrected.

 

[sdew99]

That sucks, sorry to see your having issues. At least you found the source. Now what do you do? How bad is the crankshaft?
Full rebuild? Or just a bottom end. Tough call depending on how much you like the bike and what you want to spend.
Wish the best for your project and hope to see it resurrected.

That would certainly cause the sparkles in the oil eh? That's probably a stupid question but this is new grounds for me. Fortunately my top end has already been rebuild, and I do have a spare bottom end so we'll see where I go from here.

 

[sdew99]

Any thoughts on this wear guys? Can certainly feel the ridge with my fingernail.

 

[VFFreedom]

You are in it this far. Buy bearings, gaskets, rings. Clean everything and do a rebuild on this bottom end. Buy once, cry once. I suppose this is the spare bottom end you mentioned earlier. Its been sitting for awhile. You probably never saw it run. Why was it sitting or pulled apart? I understand sometimes time and money affect our decisions, but in the long run you'll be happier and have something you know is solid. Again good luck and God speed.

 

[Dewe]

I don't know man,the very FIRST picture You've shown,of all the cam-bearing housings pointing up.........where everyone else says "doesn't look to bad to me"........Me personally? Whew,#1,#2 and #5 of those bearing housings from left-to-right...........look pretty darn Scored up to Me!!! Certainly enough to throw some tiny aluminum shavings into your oil (particularly with the Screen,lying in your oil-pan,disconnected from your oil-pump! However,those tiny shavings just from said cam-bearing housings I don't think,would be enough,to make all the oil in your engine,become all glittery! However,that constant "gouge" from your timing-chain,that's shown in your further pictures,I think would indeed,turn your oil pretty glittery! That's just my opinion of course.