Dumped oil=seized=heartbreak?

Xjers:

Last Thursday the oil drain plug on my Seca 400 evidently vibrated loose (unbeknownst to me) and dumped all of the oil on the interstate.

When it started losing power I thought I was running out of gas and switched to reserve, which, of course, did no good. As I pulled off on the shoulder, the engine seized and quit.

After I stopped and discovered the tragedy , I called my wife to bring the trailer.

After cooling off for a minute, the engine would turn over again.

So, if the engine seized due to overheating, and not galling from lack of lubrication, is there a chance it has survived?

If so, how should I proceed resurrecting it (other than filling it with oil, of course)? I'm waiting on a new drain plug to come in, but I want to be ready when it gets here.

Speaking of the drain plug, can someone please tell me the purpose of the little screw in the middle of the plug? The parts catalog calls it a "bind screw" -- does that mean it is somehow supposed to lock the plug in place?

Any guidance on reviving my baby and preventing this from happening again would be much appreciated.

Herb

 

Phew , if it is your oil drain plug twas lucky the rear end was not trying to catch up with the front end with all the oil about.

can't answer on the plug , but the only thing you can do is fill erup and see/hear what appens. good luck.

 

Way I look at it, you got two options here. Break it down and inspect the bearings, or as HooNz says, fill it up and see what it sounds like. Considering what is involved with pulling it down and checking, I think I would fill it up first and run it. As long as its not knocking or tapping real bad, you might be okay. Not familiar with these engines enough yet, but I would think there would be a plug you could remove and install an oil pressure gage to check your pressures once you fill it up and start it. would be ideal if you could see what your pressure is doing..

 

Hoonz:

I know what you mean -- the back tire was totally coated in oil.

Glad I was on the slab and not in the twisties!

Herb

 

Hi there,
after you've refilled her with oil and before you throw it over on the starter try removing the small timing side crancase cover and using a spanner/wrench turn it over by hand (after removing the spark plugs)
to see how it 'feels'first.

 

Do a compression test. You really should do a compression test before you oil it and run it.

You might very well be the lucky guy. Stranger things have happened. You'll get a very good idea of what's-what when you look at a set of compression readings.

I'm not exactly sure what the low-limit is ... but, I'd venture a guess at around 120 psi. -- maybe a couple of whiskers more. Obviously, if there's no compression you'll have a serious situation to deal with.

If the compression "pumps-up" but falls-off ... you can do some further testing.

If the readings "fall-off"; squirt a tablespoon of engine oil in there through the sparkplug hole and get a new reading.

No change = Hang black bunting. Drape flag over it. Then; Cue Bugler.

Pumps-up and hold's relatively steady; very slow fall-off = Damaged or cracked rings? There's hope.

We'll deal with what options you'll have if it's ++ PROBABLY ++ just the rings.

In the mean time, the "Board of Inquiry's" decision is that you may return to Flight Status immediately upon completion of the repairs made to your Groundcraft.

 

I cordially disagree with Rick. Sorry!

My X only had 40 psi compression with oil in it until I got it fired and warmed. Granted it had been sitting for 5 years, but I believe these were caused by stuck rings or crap on the cylinder wall, or crap in the valve seat.

Any of these things could have happened during your overheat session.

Anyways, point is, try to fire it up after you put oil in it! Don't worry about any tests. All that happened to me when I did this is that I almost gave up! Goodness, I would have missed out on a lot. BTW - my compression readings came up to spec after it fired. Rings popped back out, cylinder was cleaned, crap knocked off of the valves, whatever!

 

Thank you very much for the cordiality. Although I don't agree; I guess I can understand the logic of it.

Although it's a roll of the dice, as I alluded too; because, sometimes you do catch a break ... and, the bike is OK. The situation turned-out to be just a nightmare, and you can return to business as usual.

Conversely, the situation may not, right now, need any machining beyond a quick touch-up with a hone. Who knows?

Starting it might cause the present situation to become worsened; needing the holes punched-out to an oversize. Then, it's a nightmare again.

It's all that Old School in me. I'd rather not be sorry I fired it up.

 

Wow! Very Glad to hear your OK all that oil that could have been major lay down! 2nd going to check my drain bolt and oil filter cover bolt tonight. 3rd Well IMHO I would most likely replace the oil then add a table spoon or 2 of Marvel Mystery Oil to each Cyl. Then crank it by hand (no plugs in)10 maybe 15 times let it soak for an hour or so. Burnt oil is nasty stuff the Marvel will help cut it. Then I’d try and fire her up. If it starts it’s going to smoke for 15 min. if everything is good. And if not well…it’s not going to Stop smoking. Then I’d run a warm compression check and see where you stand if you get 130 PSI or better across the board give that bike a Kiss! It some how managed to save you and itself from disaster. If you get high & low numbers more than say 20 PSI different between Cyl well you got work to do. By the way even if the numbers are good your valve train may now be noisy & could be in need of adjustment from accelerated wear do to a lack of oil. I would also plan on changing the new oil & filter after 100 miles or so.
Of course I could be wrong.

 

Well you have lots of opinions - I can't say any of them are right or wrong - we all speak from experience likely. In my experience, I dropped the oil in my XJ and didn't realize until too late. Bike stalled out - why, I don't know. Too much heat, friction etc. Regardless, I put some oil into each cylinder and topped up the pan and cranked it a bit. Bike started right up and haven't had a problem.

It really depends on how the bike shut down. I was at low speeds, giving her easy. If you were full pop and the back wheel locked up then that is an entirely different animal.

Good luck with that. Nobody wants their engine on the bench.
Rob

 

I don't see how you can do any additional damage to the bores so long as they are lubed. I'd pull the plugs and get some oil in there (marvel sounds like a decent idea).

I'd worry about a bad bearing. Fire that thing up and throw a rod you could damage case/cyilinders etc. and make the situation unsalvagable.

Leave plugs out, fill crankcase to normal level with oil. Crank the starter (for the board: should plug wires be grounded?). Listen for any unusal knocks.

If everything seems ok, get an oil gauge on it (don't worry about a permanent install, just plumb it up.)

Put plugs in. Fire up, but be on the kill switch. Hear any unusual knocking shut it down. If it knocke you need to get into the lower end.

Let it idle, see what the oil pressure is. Anyone have an idea what it should be? If I had to guess, I'd guess anything more than 10PSI you are probably good on the lower end.

Then I'd worry about compression.

My 2 cents.

 

Dunno Mate.. feel yer Pain. But in fairness I'd be quite surprised if it ran' as before'. Siezing does all manner of bad things.. doing so due to oil loss is no Joke. as a GUESS I'd say yer crank journals are scored and your bores are damaged.
ALL fixable.. untill you discover what just rings alone cost at the local Yama dealer. You will have source a known good' replacement engine unit.
But again the real trick is the 'known good' part. G'luck.

 

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply.

I put some BreakFree CLP (gun oil) in each cylinder and cranked it over by hand. Everything seemed free and smooth.

My new drain plug should be in tomorrow, so I plan to assess the situation this weekend. I'll let you know next week how it goes.

Keeping my fingers crossed...

Herb

 

Get a plug with a magnet built in, you'll be glad you did! Keeping my fingers crossed too!