What did I do....?

I did a compression test today to determine the cause of my oil burning. I did the first cylinder, seemed to get reasonable results. Moved on to the second one and I must have put too much oil in for the "wet" test because when I turned it over it hydro-locked and then my comp tester wouldn't give an accurate reading. I decided to button that one up and go back to the first cylinder to troubleshoot whether my gauge was messed up from getting oil in it perhaps, or if there was something wrong with the second cylinder; similar results on the first cylinder. I decided the one sure way to see if everything was working was to start the bike back up. Long story short, cylinders 1 and 2 aren't firing anymore, and I'm pretty sure I busted my brand new compression tester.

Can someone please give me a heads up on what might have been hurt internally that would cause the cylinders not to fire? Thanks...

 

Are you getting spark on 1 and 2? maybe just moved a wire.

Why did you put oil in the cylinders anyway? Its only supposed to be done after youve already tested the cylinders and is done to the lower compression cylinders.

 

You saturated the plugs with oil would be my guess. Once the plugs get saturated, flushing them with contact cleaner won't even do it; if they're "soaked to the bone" be it with gas, oil, or cleaning solvent, they're done.

Fit a new set of plugs and see.

When doing a "wet" compression test, you only need to add maybe a tablespoon of oil to each cylinder. It won't "hydro lock" with the plugs out; if you accidentally put too much in just spin the motor a few times (with the plugs out.) Have some some rags standing by.

What were your "dry" compression numbers, and are your valves in spec?

 

Was thinking everything was soaked with oil too. Hard to get a spark when drowning.

Boost: Oil will tell you if either your rings are bad or if your valves are bad when you get low numbers on a dry test. If your rings are bad then too much explosion is leaking through and burning oil.

 

Well, not exactly.

What adding oil (doing a "wet" test) does is seal the rings to the cylinder walls better.

If you have a cylinder that's low on compression and add oil:

-if the compression rises drastically, it indicates worn rings, cylinders, or a ring issue of some sort.
-if the compression doesn't rise or only rises slightly, then it generally indicates a valve problem.

If there's almost ZERO compression, you might have a hole in the piston.

If your compression is fine and you're burning oil, it's likely just a valve stem seal gone bad.

 

Ok, sorry to go defcon 5 on everyone there. I thought plugs right after I posted this, and went out and got a new set. Threw them in a couple minutes ago and ripped out to the corner and back, runs like a top again! Thanks again for all the help guys!

Now for my secondary problem, I think I blew out the valve on my compression tester (the one that holds the needle after the reading is taken) when the oil got pumped into it. Any thoughts on whether I can replace just the valve, or even clean it out and get it back in working condition?

Thanks again!

 

If you just bought it, flush it out, take it back and insist it never worked from day one; and make them give you a new one.

Or try flushing it out carefully with brake/contact cleaner; it might not work so well saturated with oil either.

Now about that compression test:

-engine warmed up, not HOT.
-TCI disconnected.
-all plugs out and leave 'em out until you're done.
-throttle blocked wide open.
-fully charged battery.
-5~6 cranks oughta do it.

Do each cylinder, record results. REPEAT, record those results.

Then if any of them come back as "unhealthy" (more than 10% different from the others or less than the specified minimum for your bike, 100psi) you would do a "wet" test.

For the 550, you're looking for 100psi minimum, 121psi "normal" and 135psi maximum; with less than 14psi difference.

 

Thanks Fitz! I'll get this sorted out yet, hopefully before the weather gets too nice to work on the bike anymore.