Blasting Engine - What Parts to Remove?

[SpongeBobbed]

Hey guys,

So I decided to soda blast my engine. Bought it last year and rode it for a bit but some unattended oil leaks caused some serious grime. I've spent hours and hours cleaning down the engine but there is a lot of caked on crud that I just can't get to.

The engine is in good running order and I have all the seals and gaskets needed to stop the leaks. I really don't want to tear the engine down so I want to blast it assembled.

My questions are:
- what has to be removed? (Other than the normal stuff, carbs, mounts, etc)
- the inside of my left case is super cruddy. Can I blast it with the left case off? If so, what do I have to remove? Do I keep the seals in? Do I have to remove the rotor from the alternator? I know it's a pain so id rather not.
- anything else I should consider?

I'm going to take it somewhere because my compressor isn't big enough to do it myself.
Thanks!

 

[peanut]

are you serious ?!

any kind of blasting is going to destroy your oil seals .How are you going to replace them without opening the crankcase ?
You'll be blasting all the lubricant out of your bearings . Water is going to get inside your crankcase no matter what you do.

You can't see the area under your alternator cover once its on and it is only going to fill up with dirt and oil from the chain again anyway.!

Why not use an engine de-greaser like Gunk and put it into all the nooks and crannies with a small paint brush . leave it a while then brush it out with some parrafin

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

One of the shops I was at, we used a pressurized steam cleaner, like a pressure-wand car wash but without soap, just hi-pressure steam. Of course, anything electrical had to be removed first if necessary, or removed afterwards and cleaned/dried.

At the other shops, we would just haul them to the car wash, and have at it...

 

[AG650]

I had mine soda blasted with no issues whatsoever. I took the left cover off and left all my original seals in place (plugging the clutch pushrod hole of course). I took note of the seals that were leaking prior and changed them after it was blasted. I would take off the electronics if it were me. I made block off plates for the intake and exhaust openings and plugged the crankcase breather as well. when you change your seals....be sure to chamfer the leading edge of the block to avoid cutting your new seal. The soda didnt affect the old ones at all

 

[SpongeBobbed]

Thanks guys. That's the beauty of this site. Very different opinions on what to do.
I would definitely remove all the electronics as I wouldn't want to mess with them, I just wasn't sure about the seals. I have seen others blast their engines with the cases off and I know you can replace the main seal and pushrod seal with the engine fully assembled so I didn't want to take it apart.

Although you can't see under the case when the engine is running Id rather clean up the mess as it's pretty caked on. If soda blasting is a safe option then Id rather go that route then spend another 3 or 4 hours hand scrubbing everything. I have already put a lot of gunk in this spot but it's not doing the trick, so that's why I was looking for another option.

Thanks!!

 

[peanut]

well good luck its sure going to be a lot easier than hand cleaning.
Let us know how it goes .

If you have a compressor you could make your own soda/sand blaster http://www.garagenight.tv/diy-soda-blasting-build-your-own-rig-cheap/

 

[SpongeBobbed]

well good luck its sure going to be a lot easier than hand cleaning.
Let us know how it goes .

If you have a compressor you could make your own soda/sand blaster http://www.garagenight.tv/diy-soda-blasting-build-your-own-rig-cheap/

Thanks peanut, I think I'm going to switch it up a bit. I think I'll just hand clean the inside of the case and then soda blast the outsides. I want to bead blast the case covers so I'm going to make some plywood covers for the left and right side so I can soda blast the engine with the covers off and bead blast the covers at the same time.
I'll post some pics when I'm done.

I would do it myself but my compressor is only 3 hp and 5 gallons so I don't think I'll get enough out of it.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

There's also liquid type siphon spray adapters.

 

[chizler62]

IMO......you have a lot of time in removing motor, removing electrics and etc
Why not just complete take the motor apart and clean it properly?
A XS650 bench motor tear down and reassy is probably a 4hr job.

 

[5twins]

Get yourself some kerosene. For cleaning off grease and oil, it's one of the best and cheapest things I've found. It's an essential part of my motorcycle tool arsenal.

 

[bergoff]

5twins I was just going to suggest kerosene also. I use it when I'm cleaning my oil filters also. I have some in a coffee can with a small turkey baster and some brushes. When it gets really dirty use it to start a fire and refill it.

 

[SpongeBobbed]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the input. I'm going to pick up some kerosene tonight and see if that works. The stuff is really baked on so I'm hoping something works. I have a high pressure steam cleaner (non industrial) and it got some off but not much.

I'm really interested in chizlers comments about tearing the engine down. I've never torn one down as I felt like it would be too much, but it would let me put a new head gasket in and take a look at the cam chain guide. I also wanted to paint the barrels as well
So that would make it easier. It scares me a bit to think about pulling the pistons and stuff out. Is it relatively easy? Just follow one of the guides posted on this site?
Thanks!

 

[5twins]

Honestly, it doesn't look too terribly bad under that cover. I've seen and dealt with much worse (no silver color showing anywhere). A stiff parts cleaning brush and some kerosene should take care of most of it. You will probably need to get into some of the nooks and crannies with a pick and some Q-tips (another "essential tool", I buy them by the 1000 packs, lol).

I try to get under that cover sometime during the beginning of each season to give it a "spring cleaning". It doesn't get too bad if you keep up on it. This also gives me the chance to give my clutch cable a proper oiling. Here's under mine before the cleaning. Like I said, not too bad if done yearly, mainly just some accumulated chain fling-off .....

When done, coat the exposed portion of your clutch pushrod with grease. It's just plain steel and will rust if you don't. I also grease the portion of the shift shaft that sits in the side cover .....

 

[SpongeBobbed]

Thanks 5twins. I think you've convinced me to just clean it with kerosene and keep the blaster out of that area.

The area that I am more concerned about is where the top fins and bottom fins meet on the jugs. (I'll take a picture but I'm not by my bike right now). I had a pretty bad leak there (which I think will be fixed by retorquing the head bolts, and now there is some serious caked on gunk in there. The majority of it is behind the oil delivery tube and right where the top and bottom connect. I sprayed a lot of gunk on there, used a stiff brush, tried some steam and then started using a small pick but it's not coming off. It's also really hard to get in there with a pick and fully get all the spots.

Is there anything I can do to get that oil off or should I still soda blast it?
Thanks

 

[cruzin]

Im not sure that soda blasting with take that junk out either. But it may.
One thing if you take apart your engine you will probably find some things that need replaced that later on you may wish you had like the cam chain tensioners and gaskets. If you take it apart you will spend some money putting it back together tho.

 

[SpongeBobbed]

Im not sure that soda blasting with take that junk out either. But it may.
One thing if you take apart your engine you will probably find some things that need replaced that later on you may wish you had like the cam chain tensioners and gaskets. If you take it apart you will spend some money putting it back together tho.

Ya that's what I am kinda worried about. It seems to be running good now and I'm not seeing any parts from the cam chain guide in my oil anywhere so I don't want to take it apart if I don't have to.

Does anyone know of a link for a top end teardown?

 

[SpongeBobbed]

Also, here's the photos from the baked on oil on the other side. What do you think?

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[wherearewe]

I agree if i was already taking the motor out, i would consider a top end rebuild. But 4 hours to do an over haul of a 650 motor? Unless you are super experienced with every part and variable on hand that seems quite optimistic.

Soda blasting is very effective. A professional job would take it back to a fairly nice clean finish. Ive had carbs that were disgusting, oxidised, been at the beach for ten years type thing come back pretty respectable. Whether or not you would do it on an assembled engine...

 

[chizler62]

Alright...you're right about 4hrs.I have a lot of experience. Not with xs650's but none the less. I never have charged more than 4hrs for a bench motor rebuild.
Regardless if it takes you 40 hours. Who cares. You cant put a price on pride in your work.
you bought a xs650 to tinker with. So tinker.

You buy cheap you buy twice. You do a half ass job you get half ass results.

 

[wherearewe]

You buy cheap you buy twice. You do a half ass job you get half ass results.

Exactly!