0 compression?!

Hmm...so I've removed the camshaft sprocket and removed the cam chain tensioner. Is the point of manually adjusting the tension just so that it can take up slack automatically again? That's what re-installing it is suppose to do.

Anyways, so I took the opportunity to measure free length of the chain tensioner spring. It's currently exceeded the service limit by 2mm, measuring 70.2 rather than 68.2mm. How important is this? Is it worth replacing immediately? Part number is 92081-1105.

My tensioner is also missing a flat washer. From the below diagram, it appears that its thickness is important in controlling the movement of the push rod. Is it possible for me to replace this just by measuring the groove pictured, or should I be ordering the specific part, 92022-077. These are being used on Kawasakis built today - would anyone have a bike which uses it and be able to measure it?

c0d85cc3.jpg


My question relating to the urgency of replacing these parts is in relation to its impact upon the compression of the engine and its ability to start, rather than doubting the relevance of the manual.

Thanks.
 
Hmm and another thing - it looks like gaskets have been used in lots of random places (between the carb boots and engine etc). The latest one has been between the cam chain tensioner and the engine block.

Below is an image of it:

fe857693.jpg


Signs of bigger issues?
 
That design of cam chain tensioner is simple to adjust as long as the plunger can move freely. Sometimes they have a burr where the lock bolt tightens and that can make it hard to teh plunger to move freely.

The manual should tell you to rotate the engine to a particular point - probably TDC on one stroke or the other. It has to be adjusted when the cam is not trying to rotate the engine because it takes up all the slack in that position in the cycle. remember when you rotated the motor and at some points it was harder to turn and at other points, it rotated on its own for a few degrees? That's a valve closing and teh cam is pulling the crank. There's no slack in the chain at that instant.

With the motor at the right position on the right rotation, loosen the lock bolt and that spring will move the plunger forward so that it takes up all the slack. Then lock the lock bolt to hold the plunger in place and you're done. Hope that all makes sense.

If Kawasaki used gaskets, you should probably replace them if they are torn or damaged.
 
I don't like that design, it wasn't very good on the 500/550 and would frequently loosen off.
It was designed to be fully automatic but didn't work too good even when new
Use it as semi-automatic, you may have to fit a longer bolt and lock-nut
The bolt bottoms out under head before it contacts tensioner rod (may have already had bolt changed?)
The washer (#3) is steel to prevent head of bolt chewing up adjuster, some tensioners use alloy washer to seal things
I like to tension those with socket and breaker bar on crank end, turn until you feel motor trying to turn backwards, that way you will have max tension on 'tight side of chain (exhaust valve will be just starting to open, remove adjuster cap to watch it)
The washer may have been removed to allow bolt to contact plunger?
 
Ah maybe. I might find a steel one and just see if using it means the bolt can't reach the push rod.

The manual didn't actually say anything about rotating the engine at any point - from the sounds of it, it takes up the slack just by loosening and then tightening the bolt - when the bolt is loose, the spring can extend and take up the slack as you say. That makes sense, and thinking about it, then I don't think the excess 2mm length I'm getting on the spring is that essential at this stage? It would be more of an issue if it was too short?

I don't believe Kawasaki used gaskets - the remnants of them which I have found thus far don't seem to show up in any of the images of microfiches. Perhaps the PO put them in the hopes fixing the compression?

...so now all there's to do is wait for the torque wrenches so I can adjust these valve clearances and hope aye? Definitely a lot to work through in the maintenance chapter after this.

Thanks.
 
Wow - so just did a dry compression test after an oil change and having readjusted the valve clearance.

92dceb06.jpg


105 PSI!

So I'm 15 PSI off the minimum, but I'm pretty optimistic.

Question - if my battery is dipping under 50% a couple hours after a charge (reading approx 12.15V), is this likely to be a factor in my engine compression?

I am planning to do a wet test tomorrow to see if the numbers will go up.

What do you guys think? Nearly there?
 
Yep, motor should be spinning pretty good to get accurate compression reading
Put voltmeter on battery then turn on all the lights, flashers, brake light, etc and see where it drops after 15~20 seconds
 
Hmmm...so I guess bad news.
After turning all the lights and indicators on, the battery was dropping to 11.6V

I tried doing a wet compression test after that, putting a little engine oil down the spark plug, but the motor could barely turn over and as a result I got less than 30 PSI.

I measured the battery after that and got a reading of 11.96V, which according to the tables, means its pretty much now discharged...

Putting it back on the charger tonight.

Conclusion - so close yet no cigar. Assuming that tonight's compression test was ruined by the battery (and not some new issue) and that I should be able to get the bike started with a fresh battery (or just a running one)? Correct assumptions? Might try to borrow a car battery or something over the weekend - don't really want to spend on another new battery if I can't guarantee it will run. This current battery has seen 0 action.
 
Sounds like battery issue.
Is it stock size and amp/hr?
Has it been sitting for extended periods?
 
I'd use your car battery and a set of jumper leads to spin it over nice and fast. If that new battery sat for long enough it may be dead.
 
Yeh its been sitting for the whole 9 months. I try to charge it every once in a while to maintain it, but I left it on the charger a bit too long the other day. Plus it was slowly dying anyways.

Only been using it to test for spark and compression etc.
 
Hmmmmmmmmm....................................................
Guess you found the problem? :-[
Battery will start to sulphate if left discharged for a month or more, doesn't need to be completely 'dead', 8 volts is plenty low enough to cause problems
It will take a 'surface' charge but voltage drops really quickly under load
 
It's actually never been that low. I try to charge it when it's around 12.2 or so, but yeh I think it is a battery problem too. I only have a cheap ass charger - haven't invested in a three phase yet.

So yeh hopefully it's just the battery then. Will somehow get my hands in a battery as will see if it will run :)

Thanks guys.

Hopefully a video soon.
 
Ha, and I thought I was so close.

So revisiting this issue seeing as I've got nowhere since then...

It doesn't seem to be a battery issue anymore, now that I'm running a freshly charged (and holding charge) battery. I tried doing the wet compression test again and once again got the woeful 30 PSI and sporadic (and poor) starter motor turning. Add into this the smell of burning something and a hot key (though no sparks this time).

My guess for a culprit went to the rectifier. I tried running the resistance test between the red/white to yellow (2), and black to yellow (2) as specified in the manual. Not really understanding what it meant by testing both directions, I took a guess and performed the test first with the (+) tester lead on the red/white, going to each of the yellow wires, and then again with the (-) tester lead, and repeating for the black wire...

I did these tests focusing on the red/white and black wires coming out from the rectifier.

The results were suppose to be show one "direction" being 3x more than the other, but I didn't get that. In fact, I got no readings when I tested the yellow wires from the main wiring harness, regardless of whether it was with the red/white or black wire.

This leads me to believe I may have a defective rectifier, though I'm not sure if the 0 reaction to the rest of the wiring harness suggests that the issue may be elsewhere as well.

Next I tested the the resistance in the CDI - this yielded results totally different to that published in the manual. It was difficult to see what relation my figures had with the chart, if any.

Any tips?

Does my previous issues of sparking at the key, burning smell and sudden failure after testing 103 PSI help point to an issue with the rectifier, or could it be anything at all.

Thanks.
 
You lost me there Sham. If teh starter motor is not turning the thing over fast enough,it needs to be fixed.

Forget about teh charging system for now as it has no effect on the starter (unless it bleeds the battery flat). Q. Why does the starter not spin the motor fast enough? is there a problem with the starter or just poor contacts through the various switches.

Take a pair of jumper leads and connect a car battery - one side(-) to ground and the other (+) to the big fat lead to the starter. It should spin the engine over easily. If it doesn't, the starter motor needs to be repaired or replaced.
 
Hey teazer, sorry it was a bit confusing, but it's ok now. Got the starter motor running well with no burning smell. Turned out to be a loose ground cable from the battery.

120 PSI now so I'll put in some fuel tomorrow and see if it will finally start.
 
Good. That's much better than zero. Not perfect but should be enough to run.

This one is a good lesson in problem solving. Identify what isn't working, one step at a time and try not to get distracted.

Now you are headed in the right direction.
 
Agreed. And thanks for all the help and suggestions to get me this far.

Bike "started" today for the first time. Engine came to life for about a second before it died again just as I was giving it some throttle.

Fuel was pissing out from the overflow tube from the carb.

From that, I'm assuming that I need to look at the float level and readjust. Hopefully that's all it is? Are there other issues that seems likely?
 
Could be high float level or just a spec of dirt in the float valve. Might be a cracked overflow tube, so check that as well.
 
I'm checking the floats as I think that's the culprit - no visible dirt in the valve. I remember when I was trying to adjust float heights a while back, someone mentioned that I should check that both floats are the same height...

I've discovered that they are off by .35mm. Is this worth replacing?

Also found the spring in the old fuel inlet needle was a bit soft compared to the new one from the rebuild kit, so even though the tips not worn I'm replacing it.
 
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