OzSTOC
Honda ST1100 Section => Oils, Oil Filters & Servicing ST1100 => Topic started by: Asterysk on April 11, 2020, 06:26:39 PM
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I dropped the sump pan off today and found some interesting debris, a piece of thread, some black pliable stuff and some metal shards, its the larger shard I'm especially interested in, I thought maybe it was from the edge of an old oil filter but it could also match the head, any suggestions gratefully received
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Wow! That doesn't look good, and is perhaps a good reason to be using a magnetic sump plug.
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:fp :eek
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Any one of those bits would be a concern, but a collection like that would cause a lot of people to tear the engine down.
In this case it could be evidence of way too long between oil changes, but even that would produce shards of metal.
You might just have to change the oil again after 1000 kays and see what's in there. Any more trash like that and the engine has to be overhauled. That's assuming it doesn't develop a horrible noise before then!
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Any one of those bits would be a concern, but a collection like that would cause a lot of people to tear the engine down.
In this case it could be evidence of way too long between oil changes, but even that would produce shards of metal.
You might just have to change the oil again after 1000 kays and see what's in there. Any more trash like that and the engine has to be overhauled. That's assuming it doesn't develop a horrible noise before then!
I am at the stage of heads off, gearbox out now and nothing obvious, I'll just keep going and if I get to the crank I'll pull it out and do a bit of piston polishing and honing to try and get some benefit ! Thankfully it is coming apart easily so easy that I think its been apart before
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Hi Asterysk, Did you ever find out where all of the shrapnel came from?
I also notice you are in the Middle East, I lived in Dubai for 9 years and traveled the region considerably but I don't recall ever seeing an ST over there. I hope you are all sorted.
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I did !!!
Turned out that the No.1 main bearing oil feed was blocked and the crankshaft journal, shell bearings and shell bearing holder had all started disintegrating.
The engine is completely broken down now and I am looking for a machine shop in UAE that can insert custom bearing shells.
I did consider buyng a second hand engine but they aren't too plentiful here and most likely will have issues with the shell bearings. Although my problem was accelerated by the blocked oil feed( in turn caused by too much gasket goo on a dealer rebuild !) I did uncover that the issue with fretting shell bearings is more common that initially appears
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I am so sorry that this has happened. Getting a 2nd hand engine might be a little difficult to get over to you.
Not sure the full extent of what was messed up. If you could get individual 2nd hand engine parts across ... what would you need?
I have friends who get to Dubai from time to time and the possibility might exist for a hand carry. It might take a while but perhaps some help could get you on the path of repair.
Please let me know if anything jumps out at you.
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Gratefully appreciate your kind offer. I would need both crankcase halves with intact bearing shell holders and that was where I hit the problem last year, not many engine sellers were willing to break the engine to check and the 2 people in USA who I did convice to do so found the same problem ie fretting in the shell holders !
I thought I am better finding a specialist machine shop who can overbore the shell holders to fit custom shells that match a replacement crank, that way I should have a bullet proof engine that will go forever. Problem is that none of the machine shops have equipment to machine a small block engine.
Its not looking likely I will get the ST1100 back on the road in UAE so I figure I'll wait until I move somewhere else and buy a similar ST1100 there and transplant all my refurbished parts across to the frame and engine.
My feeling is that the engines are probably okay if never taken apart ie they can handle this shell bearing fretting issue if left alone and thats probably why its not a widely discussed issue