Top of Piston

[vej]

So I had an oil leak, and on the advice of some great people here on the forum decided to replace the gaskets with Cometic gaskets. The top end is all apart, the heads were milled .030, deglazed the cyclinders, got new rings... but before I go any further. The tops of the pistons have hard thick muck... not 100% sure if it's carbon or oil burnt... figure I"ll clean it all up with sea foam, but does anyone have an idea of what it is, how to prevent it, or if there is something else I should do/buy? Bike has 64k miles....

 

[heybaylor]

No expert, but as one old sailor to another it looks like burnt oil.
64k is a lot of miles , the new rings should correct it
be sure to do the valve seals, and check the oil return holes in the head

 

[Hirter6Pack]

Carbon. Run some Marvel mystery oil in the gas tank.

 

[05chop]

New Pistons is my advise with 64k the ring lands should be showing there age!

 

[KnotSo]

Over the years I have learned to spend the $$ and do it right the first time

 

[BWG56]

Not to add to your list, but I guess I am, those head bolts should be changed out also.
Burnt oil on the top of the pistons, just clean it off. No worries, you'll be good for another 64K

 

[cdogg556]

So I had an oil leak, and on the advice of some great people here on the forum decided to replace the gaskets with Cometic gaskets. The top end is all apart, the heads were milled .030, deglazed the cyclinders, got new rings... but before I go any further. The tops of the pistons have hard thick muck... not 100% sure if it's carbon or oil burnt... figure I"ll clean it all up with sea foam, but does anyone have an idea of what it is, how to prevent it, or if there is something else I should do/buy? Bike has 64k miles....

View attachment 33811

64,000 miles! Holy crap brudda! On an 08! You love to ride my friend, anyway just like everyone else said, I would most definitely just do a complete top end rebuild while it's apart, about 5,000 miles ago I replaced my base gaskets and the top of my pistons also had a lot of carbon build up, not as much as yours, but I only had 12,000 mi at the time.

 

[vej]

64,000 miles! Holy crap brudda! On an 08! You love to ride my friend, anyway just like everyone else said, I would most definitely just do a complete top end rebuild while it's apart, about 5,000 miles ago I replaced my base gaskets and the top of my pistons also had a lot of carbon build up, not as much as yours, but I only had 12,000 mi at the time.

I'd have almost double that milage if it weren't for the "downtime". Six+ months for a rear pully/spacer issue, six months or so while BD Tampa figured out the clutch slippage, some downtime due to not enough $$ for tires and several other things... Been riding all my life, I'm not a bar-hopper BD owner, I ride anytime I can...

 

[vej]

ANSWER: Baked/Burnt Oil... cleaned up using Oven Cleaner and Sea Foam... the remaining deposits will come off with Sea Foam when I have it all backup and running again. I'll be running it in both the oil and gas for a while... amazing stuff! Thanks for all the input!!!

One more question. The Head Screws (#44 in the service manual) - the manual says to torque down to something like 19flb, that seems really low for head bolts. The gasket instructions say 44flbs... what is the correct torque for the heads? (Manual also says these are stretch bolts and must be replaced every use... which prevented me from putting it completely back together )

 

[RRRUFF]

I would do a complete top end. At least check the piston clearance and ring end gap. If cylinder clearance it is too much then you will have piston slap. If you don't do it right now you'll be back in it too soon.

 

[cdogg556]

ANSWER: Baked/Burnt Oil... cleaned up using Oven Cleaner and Sea Foam... the remaining deposits will come off with Sea Foam when I have it all backup and running again. I'll be running it in both the oil and gas for a while... amazing stuff! Thanks for all the input!!!

One more question. The Head Screws (#44 in the service manual) - the manual says to torque down to something like 19flb, that seems really low for head bolts. The gasket instructions say 44flbs... what is the correct torque for the heads? (Manual also says these are stretch bolts and must be replaced every use... which prevented me from putting it completely back together )

Eric, I did mine and screwed up cause I didn't do the additional 1/4 turn after the torquing proceedure, I can't remember the ft. lbs but I am sure someone will chime in on that, also make sure you get a good digital torque wrench, I made the mistake of using a crappy one that clicks when you hit the torque you want, well sometime it didn't click and once you compress the gaskets too much your screwed! Needless to say I blew a head gasket only after a few hundred miles. Second time around I did much better and it's been good for over 5,000 mile now!

 

[vej]

So after talking to the Cometic peeps, and some others on the forum, it seems that the torque given by Cometic is the torgue to use when you use their gaskets... and it is likely very close to the manual torgue anyway. The manual is very inaccurate with the torgue to 8, then 18, then 90 degrees.... 90 degrees isn't a specific torque, but it is likely very close to 44 ft lbs.

Thanks all!!

 

[john sachs]

So after talking to the Cometic peeps, and some others on the forum, it seems that the torque given by Cometic is the torgue to use when you use their gaskets... and it is likely very close to the manual torgue anyway. The manual is very inaccurate with the torgue to 8, then 18, then 90 degrees.... 90 degrees isn't a specific torque, but it is likely very close to 44 ft lbs.

Thanks all!!

Not close. More like 38 - 39.
John

 

[BadDawg Bill]

I'd just wire brush them and get on with life...