02 CRF450 White smoke after new piston, ring and valves

[therapture]

Like DH367 noted, as soon as you start the bike the mister blasts the bottom of the piston and what not with oil...the hand cranking 50 times helps break the ring in because no oil is present and it is not going fast enough to hurt it (due to heat).

[Somis89]

Thanks for all the help guys. I am going to take the bike apart and replace the rings, gaskets, clean everything and put everything back together dry. I am still not sold on the break in hard" and am going to consult some other people I know. When I start the bike, I will post the results. Thanks

[SD]

Sounds like a water leak to me, not an oil/ring problem. I think Flyin Dub might be on to something.

[2WHLTUNER]

kelstr,

your words have truly spoken

[WOODY911]

white smoke = water/coolant

blue smoke = oil

black smoke = fuel

What our Friends have been saying about building dry is correct.

Do yourself a favor and break it in the hard way, you wont be disappointed.

I have worked in the high line auto business for 25 years and have found the engines that get broke in hard have the most power and least about of oil usage. If you search here, I remember reading a post about break in procedures and the theory behind his methods. On your white smoke issue go to NAPA and see if they have strips that you can dip in your coolant to check for hydro carbons if it comes up positive you have water in your combustion chamber. Do this before you take it all apart again. Good luck,let us know the end results.

[Gemfride]

Actually according to everyone that I have ever talked to, black is rich, white is lean, or burning coolant, and blue is oil. I have rebuilt several of my own motors and always use a touch of oil to lubricate the cylinder and have never had any problems. But I am having the same issue that this fella is now on this crf. Did you ever figure it out?? I know its like 5 yrs later, lol, but anyhelp would be great.

[Ken-Harrington]

well coming from someone who just did a top end and had the same issue of white smoke u did not tighten the head down enough and the head gasket now leaks coolant into the cylinder adn causeing white smoke that smells sweet unless u just use water then it might just be white smoke but all thats needs is to replace the head gasket and then break it in right

PS. although when i did the top end i did a dry build and was able to ride for 1 day before the white smoke apeared and have 85psi of compression(new 2nd head gasket) so i know my rings and valves are seating correctly

[kicker308]

Try this first I do it to all my new bikes.

Take some good brake clean remove the spark plug get your motor to top dead center spray down the plug hole get a real good amount of fluid in there. Now get ontop of the bike and go nutts kicking till all the fluid stops spitting out the top (hence dry break in dont even let the dealer start the bike or you wont accept delivery)

Now replace the plug start it up let it idle till she spits coolant, Turn it off once cool go riding should be fine. If you keep trying to break in unseated rings with oil on them your hitting a wall and most likely looking at another Hone job and new rings again. If you have less then 30 min on motor im sure this will work for you.

[MRD RACING]

Try this first I do it to all my new bikes.

Take some good brake clean remove the spark plug get your motor to top dead center spray down the plug hole get a real good amount of fluid in there. Now get ontop of the bike and go nutts kicking till all the fluid stops spitting out the top (hence dry break in dont even let the dealer start the bike or you wont accept delivery)

Now replace the plug start it up let it idle till she spits coolant, Turn it off once cool go riding should be fine. If you keep trying to break in unseated rings with oil on them your hitting a wall and most likely looking at another Hone job and new rings again. If you have less then 30 min on motor im sure this will work for you.

good tip and if you really want the rings to come in put some load on the motor as soon as it has some temp because the cyl preasure forces the top ring against the cyl wall harder

[charlevoixboy]

Before you go tearing anything apart, start the bike and pop to rad cap to see if there is any air bubbles present. I can guarantee you that shops lube everything up before assembly too, so I don't think burning oil due to non-perfect ring sealing is your problem. Top off the coolant, run it, let it cool and re-check. It sounds like the head wasn't torqued down hard enough, and you blew a head gasket on first startup. Burning oil smells like burning oil, it's a unique scent, but burning coolant (provided you're running a glycol coolant and not pure water or anything else) will smell somewhat sweet. It's sometimes hard to diagnose the problem due to the color of the smoke and the smell, because every oil burns different and higher octane can also smell sweet.

Do the rad cap check and report back. Good luck!

[Rocksalt]

This is what could have happened:

Surfaces were not clean enough

Surfaces are not flat (use the back edge of a dial caliper to check for flatness). Either look for light to come through or, as the honda manual states, use a feeler gauge)

Bolts were not torqued in steps to the full torque on the main bolts that torque the head gasket.

Bolts were not lubed and false torque readings were present

Buy a new head and base gasket and try again.

[Rocksalt]

Dry build...

Those holes in the side of the piston oil the "oil ring". The oil ring oils the cylinder wall. If you look at metal with a microscope you will see many valleys and bumps. The oil will fill in those areas and the piston ring cannot scrape it off.

When rings are new they do not conform to the cylinder wall. This means you will have oil that is not scraped off during initial run-in. What about all them "cross-hatch" patterns in the new cylinder? Won't they hold oil as well?

Seems like a fairy tale to me.

bash away