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Old November 5th, 2019, 08:32 PM   #1
SibSerge
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Found shavings on the oil screen

Today I was taking the oil screen cover off to check the state of the screen and also upgrade to the 2008 screen cover that comes with a drain plug.

The screen in general was clean but I found some shavings on the edge of the screen. I will take the pic of it tomorrow (did not have the phone with me). They are definitely aluminum - they are white/gray and they are not magnetic. And they look like shavings coming from a thread tap, mostly 1mm in size and some of them do look like pieces of thread.

The thing I found out is that one of the previous owners has stripped oil drain plug threads and re-tapped it for bigger size plug M14 with 19mm head instead of M12-17. I suspect they did not remove all the shavings and some of them ended up in the case.

What could this potentially cause ? It looks like the screen is fine grained enough to stop the bigger ones. I assume the oil goes to the pump next and then to the filter ? so technically they should not have ended up in the engine's critical parts?

The new plug they installed has a magnet and it was totally clean when I unscrewed it.

The engine runs well, oil pressure looks good (the bulb turns on instantaneously) I hear no knocks other than clutch basket sometimes (it goes away with slipping the clutch and then I do not hear it - at least now I could not hear it). Both cylinders hold pressure (about 205 and 215 psi).

Bike has about 10k , I did not have a chance to ride it for long distances (it is currently not plated) but testing it on the driveway did not show any issues - it pulls well from a stop.

Your thoughts on this situation are welcome.

Thanks in advance.
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Old November 6th, 2019, 02:17 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SibSerge View Post
Today I was taking the oil screen cover off to check the state of the screen and also upgrade to the 2008 screen cover that comes with a drain plug.

The screen in general was clean but I found some shavings on the edge of the screen. I will take the pic of it tomorrow (did not have the phone with me). They are definitely aluminum - they are white/gray and they are not magnetic. And they look like shavings coming from a thread tap, mostly 1mm in size and some of them do look like pieces of thread.

The thing I found out is that one of the previous owners has stripped oil drain plug threads and re-tapped it for bigger size plug M14 with 19mm head instead of M12-17. I suspect they did not remove all the shavings and some of them ended up in the case.

What could this potentially cause ? It looks like the screen is fine grained enough to stop the bigger ones. I assume the oil goes to the pump next and then to the filter ? so technically they should not have ended up in the engine's critical parts?

The new plug they installed has a magnet and it was totally clean when I unscrewed it.

The engine runs well, oil pressure looks good (the bulb turns on instantaneously) I hear no knocks other than clutch basket sometimes (it goes away with slipping the clutch and then I do not hear it - at least now I could not hear it). Both cylinders hold pressure (about 205 and 215 psi).

Bike has about 10k , I did not have a chance to ride it for long distances (it is currently not plated) but testing it on the driveway did not show any issues - it pulls well from a stop.

Your thoughts on this situation are welcome.

Thanks in advance.
Pretty normal finding aluminium and also steel shavings and tiny bits and bobs in the oil screen. That’s why the oil screen is there. It traps the bigger bits before they can get into the system and cause any damage. All motors produce metal particles as they run in and there could also be some in there left over from manufacture that are caught up. Clean it out and I’ll bet you won’t find any more when you check it again in 10000 miles time. Don’t worry everything is normal and OK!
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Old November 6th, 2019, 06:32 AM   #3
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I assume our 250s have a full-flow oil filter system, but I guess I've never verified that. Assuming so, chips in the sump from a threading tap can't get into the engine's bearings. If they're nasty enough I guess the oil pump may not like them though. Hopefully it's fine and you have plenty of oil pressure.

Those chips are the reason I don't trust the old "grease the tap" method that you hear recommended so often.

As 59096 said, it's also not unusual to find a little debris on the screen. Mine had a little the first time I changed the filter.
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Old November 6th, 2019, 06:57 AM   #4
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Thank you gentlemen , thats good to hear. At first I freaked out but then looking at them calmed down a bit . I bet the screen has never been taken off before. Most likely some of the crap is there from day one. It takes more time to take the screen cover on ZZR as it also works as a holder for a fairing bracket. Given how mechanically negligent some of the previous owners were I would not expect them to go as far as taking the screen off. We will see how she runs on the road in Spring.
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Old November 6th, 2019, 07:28 AM   #5
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We will see how she runs on the road in Spring.
That comment made me check your location. Sorry you won't be riding until spring, but I guess you have fun things like snowmobiling and ice sailing that I miss out on. A couple winters ago a small cove on the lake here did freeze enough that we dug out our ice skates and a private rink, but that's very rare.

I'd really like to go ice sailing someday before it's too late.
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Old November 7th, 2019, 02:34 PM   #6
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That comment made me check your location. Sorry you won't be riding until spring, but I guess you have fun things like snowmobiling and ice sailing that I miss out on. A couple winters ago a small cove on the lake here did freeze enough that we dug out our ice skates and a private rink, but that's very rare.

I'd really like to go ice sailing someday before it's too late.
Jim that’s right, we have tonnes of stuff to do in winter Some people even ride enduro bikes in snow
Southern Ontario is not very cold though. Its more wet slushy weather. Lake Ontario does not freeze so we need to go a bit North to smaller lakes to do any ice activity.

I bought my bike in September to use winter time to fix everything up. That will allow me to save on the insurance as they say the insurance companies charge for a “season”. I will just start new season in Spring. The bike is jot even plated yet.

People tend to drop prices lower at the end of the season as well as they do not want to go through a hassle of winterizing and storing a bike they are not going to use.
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Old November 12th, 2019, 09:41 AM   #7
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Thank you gentlemen , thats good to hear. At first I freaked out but then looking at them calmed down a bit . I bet the screen has never been taken off before. Most likely some of the crap is there from day one. It takes more time to take the screen cover on ZZR as it also works as a holder for a fairing bracket. Given how mechanically negligent some of the previous owners were I would not expect them to go as far as taking the screen off. We will see how she runs on the road in Spring.
When I pulled my screen off, there was a lot of engine sealant in the filter. Kinda freaked me out but I found out that this is pretty normal on older bikes and that the previous owners likely hadn't cleaned it off. Bike runs fine and hasn't had an issue with cross-leakage.

Unless you're seeing a lot of metal long after the initial break-in period has passed, a little bit of metal is normal (especially if you live in an area where the temperature varies significantly or if you ride through multiple micro-climates reguarly, like in California)
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Old November 12th, 2019, 01:16 PM   #8
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This is what used to be on the screen, at this point the screen has been cleaned off the garbage and reinstalled with the old gen cover. I did not have proper bolts and the gasket for the new gen cover and decided to change it during my next oil chamge procedure. I will also inspect the screen to check the “delta” hopefully it will be clean.
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Old November 12th, 2019, 01:21 PM   #9
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When I pulled my screen off, there was a lot of engine sealant in the filter. Kinda freaked me out but I found out that this is pretty normal on older bikes and that the previous owners likely hadn't cleaned it off. Bike runs fine and hasn't had an issue with cross-leakage.

Unless you're seeing a lot of metal long after the initial break-in period has passed, a little bit of metal is normal (especially if you live in an area where the temperature varies significantly or if you ride through multiple micro-climates reguarly, like in California)
Thank you Brian. I will be checking it in a couple of thousand miles again. At this point I have upgraded my clutch to the new gen and now to me the engine sounds well, no knocking or other strange sounds i hae also hecked the piston connecting rods for a “play” by pushing on them on the downstroke and both were good. Sk those shavings should not be from anything like bearings. Hopefully
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Old November 18th, 2019, 12:40 AM   #10
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Thank you Brian. I will be checking it in a couple of thousand miles again. At this point I have upgraded my clutch to the new gen and now to me the engine sounds well, no knocking or other strange sounds i hae also hecked the piston connecting rods for a “play” by pushing on them on the downstroke and both were good. Sk those shavings should not be from anything like bearings. Hopefully
No problem. Bearings tend to whine before they fail and the bearings in the crankcase should be engineered to last for the lifetime of the bike. Unless someone did shoddy work on it or consistently beat the hell out of the engine by riding at redline, I wouldn't worry about the bearings.

The cylinders/rings are the more likely culprit. I would check it again next season and if you find the same amount of shiny bits, bring it to a professional for a diagnosis.
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