Kawi2strokes.com Forum

I went to ride my friends Zephyr Monday(the one I painted the engine in)and started it up and about 5 seconds later the oil pressure light started to flicker on and the engine started knocking somewhere down low. I figure between me and the fellow that owns it and my other friend that was riding it last Sunday, it has about 45 minutes of riding time on it since purchase late last fall. I pulled the engine, torn it down and here is what I found in the oil pump screen and the oil pump filter. Lot's of metal in a matrix that looks like a paper shop towel. The only way I can think of it getting in the engine would be that the last guys that built it overlooked it when the engine went back together and it must have sat in a corner of the lower case for a while till it broke loose and ended up in the screens. I started to question whether I did it somehow when I painted the engine but I didn't even take the side covers off or the oil pan and I don't have paper shop towels, I use rubber gloves most of the time and when not I use old towels and such. The number four rod bearing(bushing?)is eaten up the worst but the rest aren't bad and neither is the rod journals. I took the crank, rods, and bearings out to a machinist friend with the Kawasaki crank and rod specs and he said they the journals will polish out and the rod will re-con easy so when he gets done he will tell me which bearings to order. There was no traces of the stray metal anywhere else in the engine, not even in the oil filter. Here is the damage.






The lower screen is plugged level.

After I dug the stuff out I see the screen gasket has been sucked partially in.

The oil pump filter screen was also completely blocked.

There was about this same amount in the bottom screen.



It will be back on the road before you know it!

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1969 H1, 1971 G3SSA, 1974 G5, 1973 H2A, 1975 S3A, 1975 H1F, 1973 Z1, 1988 HD FLTC, Captain America chopper, 2000 Excelsior Henderson, 1965 Bridgestone BS90

Wow - nasty stuff! A triple would have belched that stuff out the exhaust port, and carried on!

I had two hot rod buddies from back in the mid 70's, they rebuilt a dual quad 426 hemi. Some how two shop towels that were under the tunnel ram were forgotten (or as they said "I thought you removed them") And they basically ruined the motor. Huge bucks even back then........

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Twist the throttle, tilt the horizon, and have a great time. What triples are all about...........

Way back I was doing some work on my Lambretta Li150 and the carb was off the Scoot. My Dad put a small shop rag in the manifold to stop debris falling in but I put the carb back on without noticing then kicked it over.... It happens.

Any idea what manufacture the oil filter was/is??? If it was a FRAM, I can see where the damage came from, they are notorious for lowering oil pressures, then, they break the ends off the filter, allowing oil to bypass the filtering media, just lots of problems with them.

Dave, I don't know the filter brand but I noticed it looked okay and there wasn't a spec of brass in it. My machinist friend called me last Saturday and told me the crank and rods were all hatched. I found a used crank and rods in jolly old England and it should be here Saturday. I hope I can get something done this weekend, it's supposed to be really nice out and I want to go for a ride but I have three bikes completely apart right now and I need to stay with it. I sure am having fun.

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1969 H1, 1971 G3SSA, 1974 G5, 1973 H2A, 1975 S3A, 1975 H1F, 1973 Z1, 1988 HD FLTC, Captain America chopper, 2000 Excelsior Henderson, 1965 Bridgestone BS90