ENGINE rust help - been sitting for around a year

[jaifresh]

Hey all,

My xs650 engine was running pretty close to perfect when i pulled it out of my bike to change my frame. This was over a year ago.

Since then the engine has unfortunately been sitting in a wet garage with no oil in it since i drained it to remove the engine from the frame. All holes were plugged up with rags but must of gotten wet.

I had a frame built for the engine last night so i can start work on it while i get some other frame things welded.

We peeped into the exhaust and inlet ports and as you can see from the pictures there is some rust on the valves.



The right bank valves were left slightly open and i am worried the rust goes further than the head.

I have a feeling i will be pulling this engine apart to fix the problem?

My aim is to fix the rust issues and make everything safe and ready for it to fire up again and paint the engine and its bits while i have a stand made up for it.


My questions to you guys are:

What do i need to do before running this engine again?

What do i need to look out for in regards to rust and damage etc?

what could i have done to avoid all this?

Thanks

Jai

 

[rebel542]

If it ran "pretty close to perfect" before, it will after you install it. I'd never tear it down for what I'm seeing in your pics.

 

[jaifresh]

It was also leaking a goop that was mixed with oil while sitting for so long that I was concerned about......

 

[rebel542]

I'm afraid to guess on the goop. Information and common sense are the best tools to have in your box. We, The Forum, only have what you tell us to go on.

 

[jaifresh]

Is there anything I should be doing then before I crank it over?

 

[gggGary]

My dentist got great new X ray equipment. He discovered I had wisdom teeth up in my jaw, said we needed to do $2,000 plus surgery to get them out. I explained that a change in HIS equipment hadn't changed MY health.
Run it see what happens. It's amazing how bad an engine can LOOk and still run fine. But by all means if it lowers anxiety do a tear down. A new front cam chain guide is cheap insurance. Is it going to be a bar hopper or are you headed across the country?

 

[XSLeo]

A bit of rust like you have probably wont hurt any thing. There are many engines out there that sat in simular conditions as yours for much longer than yours.
There is a very good possibility that your right side has a thin coat of rust on the cylinde walls. when you get the engine in a frame and get it started that side may not runquite right, but as the rust wears away and the rings reseat it will run fine.
I wouldn't worry about it until then.
Leo

 

[blackbetty]

Man IDK ab all the other dudes on here.....but I wouldn't run it.

I have an SR500 engine, PO said it was rebuilt with a 1 over wiseco and set aside for a year. His garage wasn't even damp and this is what I found in the sump:

Old oil, water, mayonnaise stuff that forms over time when you mix petroleum and water, and last but not least, a dead housefly. I also found my kickstart stopper in 3 pieces at the bottom of the case, but that's a 500 single issue.

So I pulled the top end. It looked good and fresh as PO had mentioned, here's the piston, like new:

I decided to open the cases for good measure.

rusted clutch discs:

Rust on main bearings:

Rust on crank:

There was surface rust throughout the bottom end and the charging system looked as if it has been recovered from a shipwreck. When I saw it on the crank and surface rust on the main bearing races, I boxed up this motor and went with engine #2. OEM bearings from Yamaha are $400 and crank service with a high performance Falicon rod is nearly a grand.

Maybe I'm a bit more anal than the other dudes on here, but it doesn't take much effort to pop the top end and check on everything.

 

[jaifresh]

So I had a closer look at things, here are some photos:






The rust in one of the exhaust ports doesn't look great.

Motor cranks over easily with the kicker using my hand. So everything is fine there.

I took off the sump cover and took a photo:




Looks pretty clean in there so i dont know where the goop was coming from.

I was told by the guy who built my engine stand to blow out all the loose rust and crap with a compressor as much as i can. Then spray some crc in the port holes to just loosen everything up.

He then advised me to run some kerosene or diesel through the engine instead of oil and give the motor a good run around with a drill on the sprocket. Do this a couple of times until all seems clean and then replace with oil again.

What is everyone's thoughts on this?


Cheers

 

[650Skull]

The crank bearings are oiled by 2 small holes. If these get blocked then goodby crank, so blowing loose rust and crap around inside then flushing is not a good idea.

[/IMG]


If you are worried about loose material in the engine then remove head, barrels and split the cases and have a look, clean and if all is well a new set of gaskets, and front cam chain guide, ( 99% chance it needs replacing unless the PO isn't lying), and reassemble.

 

[jaifresh]

won't the rust get loosened eventually through running it and get sucked into those spots anyway?? wouldn't I be better off to try and get all these bits out and lubed up before putting everything back on and running it?

 

[rebel542]

The rust and scale in the intake and exhaust ports will be blown out of your exhaust and cause no harm to your engine. Fill it with whatever oil you intend to run in it and run it a couple of hundred miles then change it.
If, on the other hand you just wanna tear into that sucker then by all means do so. It's your money and time. Hope this helps.

 

[rebel542]

To answer your question nothing in your intake/exhaust port/ combustion chamber will enter the lower end of your engine. Change the oil, ride and enjoy.

 

[jaifresh]

no worries, thanks for the input everyone!