Lucy may need a heart transplant.

[Air Ready Auto]

Found this during an oil change.

I've also noticed the left front exhaust pipe is not heating like the others and I have white smoke coming out of the left tail pipe.

[BlueSky]

what kind of spark plug is that?

[cruiserlover]

head gasket

[cowpuc]

what kind of spark plug is that?

 

Guessing that isnt a sparker,,, looking more like an oil drain plug with kibbles and bits stuck to its magnet....

[cowpuc]

Hows you 2nd gear Ready,, been noticing any slippage or jumping happening?

As far as the white smoke and not running up to temp on the left.. You might wanna pull the plug(s) (at least on the one that is running cooler) and take a quick pic of it for us.. If she's pumping water and your getting white smoke because of it the plug in the pot that its leaking into should show signs of it. Also, can you smell anti freeze in the exhaust?

You could also drain down the coolant tank, pull the cap on the rad - see if it has oil/carbonish in the coolant - start the bike and run it and see if you get bubbles in the coolant in the rad and/or hit it with one of those rad pressurizers and see if you can push coolant into the top end..

You dont remember overheating the ol girl do ya Ready?? Truthfully,, I have ran these things out for a fair amount of hard miles and have yet (knock on wood) had a headgasket pop yet.. I am pretty sure though that, like most any aluminum headed varmint = overheat em,, even once and warpage is bound to take place... Just some thoughts...

[Air Ready Auto]

Guessing that isnt a sparker,,, looking more like an oil drain plug with kibbles and bits stuck to its magnet....

 

That is correct sir. I'm thinking it's probably head gasket and piston rings. Not a project I wanted to tackle this close to the riding season.

[Air Ready Auto]

Hows you 2nd gear Ready,, been noticing any slippage or jumping happening?

As far as the white smoke and not running up to temp on the left.. You might wanna pull the plug(s) (at least on the one that is running cooler) and take a quick pic of it for us.. If she's pumping water and your getting white smoke because of it the plug in the pot that its leaking into should show signs of it. Also, can you smell anti freeze in the exhaust?

You could also drain down the coolant tank, pull the cap on the rad - see if it has oil/carbonish in the coolant - start the bike and run it and see if you get bubbles in the coolant in the rad and/or hit it with one of those rad pressurizers and see if you can push coolant into the top end..

You dont remember overheating the ol girl do ya Ready?? Truthfully,, I have ran these things out for a fair amount of hard miles and have yet (knock on wood) had a headgasket pop yet.. I am pretty sure though that, like most any aluminum headed varmint = overheat em,, even once and warpage is bound to take place... Just some thoughts...

 

To the best of my knowledge she has never been overheated. My second gear was in the process of going bye-bye when I got her. It is now fully gone.

[Air Ready Auto]

She just rolled over 60,000 miles and I am going to pull that plug and send a picture.

[BlueSky]

Guessing that isnt a sparker,,, looking more like an oil drain plug with kibbles and bits stuck to its magnet....

 

I didn't look at the photo very much did I?

[Air Ready Auto]

The requested spark plug.

[BlueSky]

If you wanted, there is a coolant hydrocarbon tester available for about $30. Could the kibbels and bits be from the clutch?

[Yammer Dan]

My guess is 2nd gear remains. But I guessed last week that I would be riding Trike this week!! Wrong again!! Sorry still ticked. But really I would think left over from 2nd. These engines are almost bullet Proof.

[Marcarl]

That would be one pretty looking plug in my opinion!

[CaseyJ955]

Smoke and a cool cyl could be incomplete combustion for any number of reasons. If a head gasket were leaking into the cyl you would probably get visible steam, which is easy to identify because it dissipates much faster than smoke.

 

I would check the easy stuff first for missfire, plug cap, HT lead into coil, possibility that over winter some jets/circuits got plugged up. I used to have to do shotguns in the spring and once even had to pull the carbs and scoop corn squeezings out. Needless to say that I top off with pure gasoline, sta-bil and Seafoam after the last fall ride. A quick compression test should tell you about a possible head gasket issue in that cyl, it just doesnt seem to be a common thing for these to drop head gaskets. Good luck sorting through it and keep us posted, I hope it's an easy fix!

[Flyinfool]

Was this the first start of the spring? Mine always smokes like crazy on the first start of the spring, then gets back to normal once it gets fully warmed up.

 

The spark plug looks pretty good, A bit wet, I do not know if the wetness came from the removal or if there is oil getting in the cylinder. If it was coolant the plug would be super clean and look like new.

 

The stuff on the magnet, is it chunks of metal or is it all ultra fine metallic dust?

 

Any weird noises coming out of the left side of the motor, Stators have been known to come loose and rub on the flywheel, this would make metal shavings.

[Air Ready Auto]

Was this the first start of the spring? Mine always smokes like crazy on the first start of the spring, then gets back to normal once it gets fully warmed up.

 

The spark plug looks pretty good, A bit wet, I do not know if the wetness came from the removal or if there is oil getting in the cylinder. If it was coolant the plug would be super clean and look like new.

 

The stuff on the magnet, is it chunks of metal or is it all ultra fine metallic dust?

 

Any weird noises coming out of the left side of the motor, Stators have been known to come loose and rub on the flywheel, this would make metal shavings.

 

This was not the first start of the year. I started her at least twice a month through winter. I think the wet plug is because my hands were full of oil. The stuff on the magnet was metal shavings with some dust. No weird noises.

[mraf]

I'm going to ask a obvious question. Is there anti-freeze in the top plastic tank? If you had any kind of water leak anywhere that tank would be empty. I'm going with Dan on it is probably left over 2nd gear pieces which includes that thrust washer that prematurely wears out. Can you see any big pieces floating in the filter? Tear it up and have a good look. If its running quiet and not missing water run it. Like has been said these engines are normally bullet proof. There was a member here years ago that had a V-max and a Venture in Germany he used to go to meets over there where they would intentionally fry the v-maxs rear tires over and over in some kind of competition. That right there was a testament to the toughness of these engines. If its a bad engine I'd buy another on e-bay before I'd rebuild it. It would be quicker and maybe cheaper. But that's just me.

[cowpuc]

Hi Ready,, sorry so long getting back here.. Reason I asked about the 2nd gear,,, looks like a familiar site to me of 2nd gear shavings on the drain plug magnet and it sounds like you nailed it down with your comment about your 2nd gear having failed.. I have ran many many thousands of miles with a failing/failed 2nd gear = just get into the habit of short shifting. The shavings are actually probably part of the gear window edges and dogs on the mating gear that ramp up to those windows.. The grinding/notchy sound you hear when 2nd gear skips is those shavings in the makings IMHO..

Got another quick question,,, have you been using SeaFoam? I only ask because that plug your showing has a certain "sheen" to it on its porcelin that I have seen on bikes that have had SeaFoam ran thru them.. I am not one who regularly uses SeaFoam and the sheen I am talking about which, IMHO, can cause early spark plug failure is the main reason why.. The tannish color of the plugs porcelin looks good to me but, again IMHO, it appears damp/sheenish and it should be a dull tan..

[Air Ready Auto]

Hi Ready,, sorry so long getting back here.. Reason I asked about the 2nd gear,,, looks like a familiar site to me of 2nd gear shavings on the drain plug magnet and it sounds like you nailed it down with your comment about your 2nd gear having failed.. I have ran many many thousands of miles with a failing/failed 2nd gear = just get into the habit of short shifting. The shavings are actually probably part of the gear window edges and dogs on the mating gear that ramp up to those windows.. The grinding/notchy sound you hear when 2nd gear skips is those shavings in the makings IMHO..

Got another quick question,,, have you been using SeaFoam? I only ask because that plug your showing has a certain "sheen" to it on its porcelin that I have seen on bikes that have had SeaFoam ran thru them.. I am not one who regularly uses SeaFoam and the sheen I am talking about which, IMHO, can cause early spark plug failure is the main reason why.. The tannish color of the plugs porcelin looks good to me but, again IMHO, it appears damp/sheenish and it should be a dull tan..

 

I have run a total of 2 cans of SeaFoam through her. One last spring and one this spring. I was planning on replacing the plugs before any major riding this year. I'm still having the problem with the left front pipe not warming up at the same pace as the rest. I have done a spark test on that cylinder and all of my wires have the same resistance. As far as I can tell, they are all getting the same amount of fuel. I have yet to do the syringe test to see if it equal all the way around. Also, she has started to backfire out the left tailpipe more than before. I'm hoping that is because of the pinhole exhaust leak that has about doubled in size from last year. As far as her performance goes, after she is all warmed up, she doesn't seam to have lost any power from last year. The only change is a slight shake when between 40ish mph and 55ish mph. I'm thinking I have that narrowed down to my front tire needing to be changed.

[Air Ready Auto]

I'm going to ask a obvious question. Is there anti-freeze in the top plastic tank? If you had any kind of water leak anywhere that tank would be empty. I'm going with Dan on it is probably left over 2nd gear pieces which includes that thrust washer that prematurely wears out. Can you see any big pieces floating in the filter? Tear it up and have a good look. If its running quiet and not missing water run it. Like has been said these engines are normally bullet proof. There was a member here years ago that had a V-max and a Venture in Germany he used to go to meets over there where they would intentionally fry the v-maxs rear tires over and over in some kind of competition. That right there was a testament to the toughness of these engines. If its a bad engine I'd buy another on e-bay before I'd rebuild it. It would be quicker and maybe cheaper. But that's just me.

 

I have a known coolant leak from a hose. Just been too busy/random excuses to replace it. Might be time to actually replace that. I tossed the filter before I thought to check it for chunks...