KawasakiTrax Community
Tech Information => General Help => Topic started by: booblover on January 06, 2013, 05:33:39 PM
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Tore into my newest 81 invader 440 today. Recently picked it up because it was so clean. I was told it ran great but didn't want to take a chance on crank seals. Upon disassembly, I noticed some light scoring on the stator side piston. Wasn't terribly concerned because that side had 145 psi. (Clutch side has almost 155) When I pulled the flywheel and the coils off, the crank seal looked like it was brand new. Do not know the history of the sled but I am guessing someone had an issue with it and replaced the seal. Should I just do a leakdown test on the case? The seal looks perfect. What is the best way to do a pressure test on the engine.
Another question I have is about the clutch side cylinder. The aluminum looks very white and clean, almost like it has been run lean. That cylinder has about 155 psi and the piston and cylinder walls look perfect. Any comments?
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If you have it apart, put new seals in. If the cylinders have that much compression, I would have left them together.
Button it up and do a few test runs and watch the spark plugs. Adjust the carbs accordingly.
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Just got my seals and im pretty sure they are not the right ones. Now im really thinking about leaving the existing seals in. Every time ive done seals on my invader I have bought the whole gasket kit for an 81 invader and not had any issues. I got them individually and I think I screwed up.
Any thoughts on the white cylinder?
Thanks Mark for that windshield going to look awesome. Ill post pics when im done.
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Just hit 63 degrees and all the snow is just about gone, so I have ordered all the correct parts, and I am going to be responsible about the seals and just change them. At this point all I really have a question about is my white jug. Cylinder wall looks perfect, piston looks perfect (viewed from spark plug hole and exhaust port), compression is high, oil pump seems to work fine. Anyone?
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Is it the outside of the cylinder that is white? Or the inside???
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Outside of the jug. Maybe im just crazy. Maybe its just cleaner than im used to seeing a 30+ year old engine.
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My guess would be someone has cleaned it at sometime.
The only thing I would worry about is how to keep it that clean. :)
lloyd
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Lloyd is correct. Someone either cleaned it or replaced it. There should be nothing to worry about.
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Pic
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Outside of the jug. Maybe im just crazy. Maybe its just cleaner than im used to seeing a 30+ year old engine.
im gonna say its the sam adams ;D
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Got it all back together after three days of cleaning and assembly. Pulled it over and its only running on the clutch side cylinder. Switched the plug wires and still only clutch side ran. Checked compression and fuel. Both good. Plug sparks on flywheel side when I pull it out and pull it over. Similar thing happened with my first invader before I changed the seals. New seals fixed it but ive already done seals. While it runs, both carbs are sucking the same. Im tired and stumped. Any ideas?
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I have had spark coils that sparked with the plugs outside of the cylinder but would not light a plug inside the cylinder. Do you have a working spark coil that you can swap in?
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Like Mark with his coil sugestion. I have seen plugs do that. They would spartk fine outside but under pressure they would not.
Have you tried different plugs?
Lloyd
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I did try new plugs. I have a brand new coil on my other sled that I will try. Im going to swap carbs too to see if the problem follows it.
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Carbs shouldn't affect the spark.. I have had brand new sparkplugs not work right.
If you mean won't run on one side, maybe check carb boots or primer for air leaks??
Maybe a seal tore after the install. I have seen that happen too
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Brand new carb boots. I carefully inspected the seals after install and they looked fine. I use a light coat of grease when I install seals. I find it works better than oil. I tried a new coil this morning. Now I have a new problem. Engine is full of fuel. Going to pull carbs and fuel pump before I can get back to this problem. What is the best source for fuel pump rebuild kits for the stock pump? I have a new one but it does not have the same mounting holes as the original.
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All set. The diafram at the bottom of the pump was torn and my engine was full of fuel and my pipe had about a quart of fuel in it. Changed out the coil and it fired right up.up. two final questions. I bought a rebuild kit for a mikuni df52 pump. It didnt have the diafram I needed, so I just made one out of one of the plastic ones from the kit. Will it last? Second, I have my idle screws set at about 5 turns out, and my air screws at one turn out. What are the stock settings? It idles perfectly at about 1100 rpms, and revs as it should under load. This is the strongest of my three invaders. Pretty pumped.pumped.
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Kick the idle up to 3000 and air screws are usually about 1 1/2 turns out. around 3 turns out for idle screws is a good base to start with and then adjust to 3000 rpm
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Thanks. Here she is all done. Now I have to address the suspension and im all set. What would the best way to mount the seat be if someone broke the four bolts off in the seat pan?
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First choice would probably be to get a new seat pan from Paul. Short of that we have used a few tricks to re-use broken seats.
The pans can be repaired by solvent welding new pan pieces to the broken area. They cement together well using PVC cement. Try some broken pieces separate from the seat to get the feel of it before doing the final repair.
In the back we have opted for alternate bolt locations. After we had to cut the seat bolts to install the tunnel guards that were necessary when we studded the tracks we re-attached the back end of the seat with two bolts - one through the center of each of the hinge tabs. If I can I will take a photo of the bolt location. These have worked well.
I am sure that others also have creative repair approaches.
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Here are some photos of the 79 Intruder seat and the new bolts that we installed at the rear of the seat to replace the ones that were broken on the corners.
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By the way, nice looking windscreen on that sled.
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Thanks. This sled looks awesome with the windscreen I got from you. Im going to give the tunnel a light polishing and this sled will look like its ALMOST barand new. The manufacture date makes it almost exactly 1 year and 4 months older than me. After all is said and done, I can't have it looking better than me. New Hampshire offers lifetime antique OHRV registrations, so 50 bucks got me a permanent plate, and I'm ready to go as long as this invader keeps running.
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New question for you guys. Been putting some miles on the old invader. been running great (for the most part). I noticed that my tach needle bounces. I do not remember my other invaders doing that. Would that be the gauge or wiring. All electrical components work great. One wrinkle is that someone wired in heated grips (which don't work). wondering if thats the problem, or if I should just swap out this gauge for one that works.
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Can't say for sure, but if everything else is working properly i would suspect the tach.
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Check all connections at the harness Plug by the coil. A loose connection there will cause tach bouncing.
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It's the tach. I have had several tach's that were bouncy. Each time, I replace the tach and the problem goes away.