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Got the fluids in (coolant and oil) - after much deliberation with those that know about these kinds of things I went with Rotella T4. Coolant pissed all over the garage floor but was half expecting that - the drainage hose from the reservoir is ludicrously close to the exhaust header and is known to melt. I tried to jerry rig the hose onto the melted spout but clearly to no avail. A job for the to-do list.
With oil in the engine I installed the battery (lights indicators horn - all the usual suspects seem to work ok so my wiring so far seems up to snuff), removed the spark plug and cranked the engine for about 15 seconds - plan being to move oil up to the valves and overhead cams and, well, all through the engine.
Think 15 seconds is long enough to get oil to everywhere it needs to be? Just want to make sure everything is properly lubricated before firing up the oil girl for the first time with her spiffy new piston and rings.
You think that's questionable you should've seen how I got the bike off my seized jack this afternoon, whoa nelly.
It's all good my man, really just wanted to know how long it takes to circulate oil through the top end of an engine simply by cranking it. For all I knew could've taken seconds, could've taken hours. Now I know.
Got a bunch of stuff dismantled and then got the valve cover off, got some more oil in there (and carefully down the spark plug hole) - when I fire this thing up I’ll know things are oiled up and ready to rumble.
Enough faffing - got some gas in the tank, hit the start button and damn if it didn't fire right up the first time - El Verdito is alive. Dialled in the idle screw, adjusted the throttle cables, the new pipe sounds excellent and the thing is thumping away with no small gusto. Terrific - first time I've rebuilt an engine to this degree so really I could not be happier. Of course I'm yet to go for a ride so managing my expectations.
Then the fucking petcock starts leaking again so, well, balls.
One of the captive nuts inside the tank that the petcock bolts into is stripped. No bueno. Made a few adjustments, added some plastic washers and now have the tank filled with gas sitting over an oil pan to see if the fix is gonna hold up.
Happy Easter one and all. The tank fix seems to have worked, at least for now. Might benefit from some gas-resistant gasket sealant but for now it's holding. The coolant reservoir however, not so much. Managed to get hold of another tank from another model KLR, and with a bit of modification got the thing installed. The problem with the original one was the lower outlet had melted due to its daft proximity to the exhaust header. Decided to make a heat shield to prevent the same thing from invariably happening again -
Think that should do it -
Slung the saddle on the bike and went to take it down the back alley, but as soon as I put it in gear it stalls. Think it's got something to do with a clutch safety switch - either in the clutch lever assembly itself or in the wiring harness somewhere. In the hope that someone may be familiar with this problem, here's what I disassembled from the clutch lever housing -
I did take the lever off to sand it, in doing so there's every possibility that something fell out that is causing the problem, but the above photo shows what I took out. A plate with copper rails, a small plastic post with a copper top and the housing. Should there also be a spring or something? Beats me.
That's the plan Nick if the tank starts leaking again. So far it's holding up but I'm keeping an eye on it. Right now there are 6mm bolts in there - ideally I'd tap to 7mm but apparently 7mm bolts don't exist in Canada. Not readily anyway, so not sure if there's a 7mm tap. If not I'll have to go standard and get the next size up.
Thanks fella, I'm a member of that forum too so hopefully I can get to the bottom of it. There are a bunch of safety kill switches on the KLR - one for the kickstand and one for the clutch - so I'll have to revisit the wiring and see what gives.
I say that like I know what I'm doing, which is funny.
That's the plan Nick if the tank starts leaking again. So far it's holding up but I'm keeping an eye on it. Right now there are 6mm bolts in there - ideally I'd tap to 7mm but apparently 7mm bolts don't exist in Canada. Not readily anyway, so not sure if there's a 7mm tap. If not I'll have to go standard and get the next size up.
So looking at your wiring diagram your neutral switch, sidestand switch and clutch switch are all linked so anyone of those not working or connected right will give you grief.
So looking at your wiring diagram your neutral switch, sidestand switch and clutch switch are all linked so anyone of those not working or connected right will give you grief.
Pretty sure you just nailed it. There was some kind of switch set-up above the kick stand which I removed, thinking doing so would then bypass the kick stand safety switch. Not thinking that removing it entirely would break a circuit. I'll reinstall the switch and plug the thing back in, see what gives. Thanks for the insight as always 8)
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