Engine Seized- What now? PICTURES

[VdirtV]

Hello everyone,

I was cruising through the woods yesterday and out of nowhere my bike stalled coming out of a corner. It felt like it was a gear too high and stalled from too low RPMs. I electric started it up and rolled about 10 feet and it stalled again. I tried to start again, but e-start did not have enough power to turn over. Pulled out the kick start, but it was locked up so I did not force it further. Long story short, the oil plug was gone so I lost all the oil. I have not done anything to the bike since. How do i handle this now? The bike is a 2008 KTM xcf-w.

Also, what parts can I go ahead and order at this time? Piston kit, top end gaskets, oil plug (obviously) ?

Edited June 2, 2011 by VdirtV
Added pictures

[ballistic]

how many hrs ride time since your last oil change?

[Lead Head]

Tear it apart. Good chance your top end (Cams, rockers/buckets, etc..) suffered damage too. Crank bearings will probably be okay.

[VdirtV]

how many hrs ride time since your last oil change?

Roughly 7 hours since oil change, and a complete engine check for that matter. I had it taken apart and inspected. The oil leaking out was nice amber color and it did not really smell burnt. Will see what I can find tonight...

[PSD_Sun]

I'd dump oil in it and drag it behind a pick up truck.

Sounds like a light sieze to me.

[Just_a_trail_rider]

I'd dump oil in it and drag it behind a pick up truck.

Sounds like a light sieze to me.

Can't hurt to try this. I'd pour or spray some penetrating oil in the top of the cylinder, probably through the spark plug hole, just a couple of ounces though.

What do you have to lose. You gotta take it apart anyways.

How did you lose the oil plug? Do you not have a skid plate?

[VdirtV]

I opened the engine last night and I might have lucked out. The cams were seized slightly, but not much damage at all. Looks like will be able to clean them up, put it back together and see how it runs. The bike turns over as suppose to with no abnormal noises. Compression seems to be at appropriate the levels. Here are a couple pics of the damage:

[jar944]

Exactly the seizure i would expect on a RC4 motor.

I would hope you plan on replacing the cam bridge.

[MrBlahh]

dont over torque those cam bolts

[VdirtV]

dont over torque those cam bolts

I hear you on that. I had this motor apart this winter and it has been only 7 riding hours since. Everything was measured to the specs. I actually had to use a heat gun to expand the bridge to snap it in and put it back together. That bridge was sooooo tight!

If you carefully look at the pictures, there is very minimal surface damage on the bridges. You can barely feel it by running your finger nail. I will carefully clean up it all up and plan on replacing it after this riding season.

[jar944]

I hear you on that. I had this motor apart this winter and it has been only 7 riding hours since. Everything was measured to the specs. I actually had to use a heat gun to expand the bridge to snap it in and put it back together. That bridge was sooooo tight!

If you carefully look at the pictures, there is very minimal surface damage on the bridges. You can barely feel it by running your finger nail. I will carefully clean up it all up and plan on replacing it after this riding season.

It looks like a good bit of galling in the 2nd pic.

[AZTrailNut]

I hear you on that. I had this motor apart this winter and it has been only 7 riding hours since. Everything was measured to the specs. I actually had to use a heat gun to expand the bridge to snap it in and put it back together. That bridge was sooooo tight!

If you carefully look at the pictures, there is very minimal surface damage on the bridges. You can barely feel it by running your finger nail. I will carefully clean up it all up and plan on replacing it after this riding season.

What torque value did you use for the bridge? My manual states 18 NM but recently most comments I see say 12 NM. I've read about several cases where cams are seizing when the bridge is over torqued. When I adjusted my valves about 3 years ago I stopped at 17 NM because it just did not seem right. I checked the valve clearances and they had closed up quite a bit. I loosened everything up and started over. I then stopped at 14 NM. At that time no one was talking about 12 NM on the two forums I frequent. I'm at 100 hours and have had no problems. I will be doing a ring job very soon so I'm looking forward to inspecting everything. From what I have read it is important to make sure the cams are free to move before releasing the tensioner. I also would be concerned about the amount of galling I can in your pictures.

[Throttlejockey]

Minimal? It seized! Don't expect it to last long if you put it back together like that.

I hear you on that. I had this motor apart this winter and it has been only 7 riding hours since. Everything was measured to the specs. I actually had to use a heat gun to expand the bridge to snap it in and put it back together. That bridge was sooooo tight!

If you carefully look at the pictures, there is very minimal surface damage on the bridges. You can barely feel it by running your finger nail. I will carefully clean up it all up and plan on replacing it after this riding season.

[racertodd]

Minimal? It seized! Don't expect it to last long if you put it back together like that.

Agreed and might not be as lucky next time.... A little extra cost right now may save you a very expensive mistake later

[VdirtV]

I had a mechanic of 30 years work on this bike with me. The bridge was cleaned up nicely; it had only one score, the rest was just surface discoloration. I was advised not to get a new bridge. Crankshaft and bearings had no damage, piston and rings up to specs and no damage, cylinder still had bore marks and no damage, no cracks. Valves up to specs and within clearance range. No aluminum shavings in oil screen. We put it back together and I rode 41 miles yesterday. I like to think I was very lucky on this one. There are others out there that had similar issues with no further damage. Time will show.