| Author |
Message |
Jim Edgar
| | Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 5:06 am: | |
I have a T20 that I've owned for 25 years - 20 years ago I did a fairly substantial frame up rebuild on it and rode it for 2 years then put it away. Last year I dug it out, cleaned out the carbs, put on new tires and put it on the road. But it smokes like crazy when I accelerate up hills. Runs as smoothy as I could hope for but I don't remember it being so smoky.
I've tried 3 different oil pumps thinking that one might have been over oiling - no difference. Finally this past weekend in desperation I drained the oil tank and mixed up a fuel tank of 30:1. This cut down the smoke to more of what one might expect from a 2 stroke exhaust but after reading some of the articles on on your message board, I wonder if I might have starved the bottom end of lubrication.
I'm sorry, but I am not clear on the complete function of the oil injection system - i.e. if is is just functioning to lube the top end, or if some oil is fed under pressure to crank bearings and such.
I have a lot of used spares plus some new gaskets and rings that I bought when I first rebuilt it 20 years ago. New repair parts don't seem to be available in Western Canada now. The only other bikes I've seen like it (other than pictures on the net) are 3 pretty complete T20's that a man has in Williams Lake, BC at a salvage shop. Mine is nice and I'd like to keep riding it but they'll kick me off the highway if I don't fix the smoke problem. I'd sure appreciate help from you folks in the UK. |
Spen
| | Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 11:21 am: | |
Was you just doing short journeys? If you only do short trips it seems to make 'em smoke more.
I'd stick the oil pumpback on and give it a good long run to warm it up and clear it out. |
Adrian
| | Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 11:51 am: | |
You almost definitely have leaking crankseals. After all these years, the seals will have given way. When you ride along, you will be sucking in gearbox oil - hence the smoke. If you check your gearbox oil level regularly, you will see that it is going down.
Don't run it on petroil mix as you will indeed starve the main bearings of oil. It is OK for short periods of time though.
Spares are plentiful if you know where to look (I can help you) but it looks like you need an engine strip and crank rebuild first. |
Spen
| | Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 5:02 pm: | |
Maybe you should check if the right hand cylinder is smoking more than the left to ascertain whether the crank seals have gone.
Expect smoke from this machine........ |
Adrian Baker
| | Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 7:19 pm: | |
True to a certain extent Spen, but if the centre bearing seals have gone it would draw oil in from the centre bearing - fed by the gearbox!
If the LH outer seal has gone, it will suck in air and run weaker on the LH side. |
Jim Edgar
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2004 - 9:12 pm: | |
I want to thank you both for your information. It does need crank seals. That little drain plug with a 12 mm head in the engine case underneath the crank shaft tells the tale. When I pull it out, trans oil comes out. I have a spare engine/trans which I put in this weekend - the crank seals leak on it as well but not nearly as badly as the other one. If I pull the plug every once in a while, #2 engine will keep me running long enough to rebuild #1 engine. I sent a note to Crooks to see about ordering seals as the Suzuki dealer in Vancouver is not able to supply.
Thanks again for the counsel - your website is a great help to those of us with old bikes. |
Gordon Lawry
| | Posted on Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 6:36 pm: | |
Hi,
Found your site and wondering if you might know about the oil injection system for my X-6. I have a 1968 TC-250 High Pipe that is practically restored. One cronic problem with the bike is it smokes a WHOLE lot. I think the oil pump is malfunctioning but I cannot know for sure. One thing I want to try is to premix the oil and fuel at 15 or 20 to 1 and bypass the oil injection system to see if the bike still belches smoke.
My question is --Is their any risk to doing this? I don't want to fry the cylinders or seize the bike by .
Thanks,
Gordon Lawry |
Adrian
| | Posted on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 8:47 am: | |
You can bypass the oil system with premix BUT you then weaken the mixture - ie reduce the fuel/air ratio. If you do this, check your plugs regularly as if you are on the weak side, you'll melt a piston. Try 25:1 with good quality oil.
As for the smoking - this generally means that your crank oilseals have had it. When they start to leak, the engine sucks in gearbox oil and burns that. Does your bike smoke more on one side than the other? Check your gearbox oil regularly and see if it goes down - if it does you've lost a seal.
T20s did smoke fairly heavily (to modern eyes)when first opened up after a slow potter round, but a quick 10 minute thrash normally clears things. If it doesn't, it is probably your seals.
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Matt
| | Posted on Friday, August 13, 2004 - 1:54 pm: | |
It probably does need crank seals like mine did, but that 12mm bolt is supposed to have oil behind it. It's how you drain the used oil from the inner main bearings when you change the transmission oil. |
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