SuzukiSavage.com - Oil Price Up, Not Down

fawman

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Oil Price Up, Not Down
11/22/08 at 13:48:14

My 96' LS 650 succumbed to the infamous oil leak. It appears to be coming from the head seal cap. Thought I could live with it, but it seems to be getting worse. The local dealer said the engine has to be pulled on the 96s, and wants $600.00 for 5.5 hours of labor and parts. Sounds like a hose job (paid $2K for it in May). Was willing to attempt in-frame repair myself.
Any thoughts?

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down Reply #1 - 11/22/08 at 13:58:01 The engine & frame havent changed dimensionally in YEARS. He is so full of crap that if he gets cut its gonna smell bad. Run away, run away. Do it yourself, take the difference in what you would pay to have it done & what it costs you to do it yourself & buy the tools. Youll still have $$$ left over for a road trip.
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skrapiron -FSO

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #2 - 11/22/08 at 14:17:40

You can pull the head without removing the engine from the frame, but you have to remove the engine support bolts from the front to tip it forward enough to gain clearance.

If you read the book, you should remove the engine and do the repair on a bench. They're quoting the work based on the 'accepted' way of doing it....

Just be sure to replace all of the fasteners once you remove them. The steel Suzuki uses for the bolts is soft and brittle. If you try to retorque the same bolts, you run the risk of snapping them off in the cylinder head. (It has happened to us all. New bolts are a far cry cheaper than having to get the head drilled and helicoiled......)

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Tincanman Serious Thumper Offline O~`o Posts: 566 Omaha, NE Gender:	Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down Reply #3 - 11/22/08 at 14:52:53 Quote: New bolts are a far cry cheaper than having to get the head drilled and helicoiled......) AMEN you can buy much better harder bolts for any thing on the entire bike.
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Yonuh Adisi FSO Serious Thumper Offline Savage Jedi (Knight) Posts: 3622 Pilot Valley NV, aka Tatooine Gender:	Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down Reply #4 - 11/22/08 at 15:32:53 Remove the bolts that go through the control plates, the top engine mount, and there is a motor mount that is kind of hidden underneath that goes through the frame. Remove those and the engine will tilt forward to give the clearance needed to remove the head in frame.
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mick

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #5 - 11/22/08 at 16:06:58

Yonuh Adisi FSO wrote on 11/22/08 at 15:32:53:

Remove the bolts that go through the control plates, the top engine mount, and there is a motor mount that is kind of hidden underneath that goes through the frame. Remove those and the engine will tilt forward to give the clearance needed to remove the head in frame.

This is true, also don't forget to slack off the drive belt.
I just put mine back together yesterday after doing the head plug,I did not replace the bolts,I didn't know you were suposed to, (thanks guys )
Take note of the head cover bolts they are all diferent sizes ,I took lancers advice and used a shoe box with a diagram of the head cover ,and made holes in it to put the bolts in, there is a bolt that sits almost dead center ,you must put that in the head cover before you put it back on ,the frame is in the way otherwise,do you have the clymer manual? because there is a bolt that should not be removed ,mine had a phillips hex head , If you need any more help let me know because it is all fresh in my mind, pm me is fine,I'm on line more than most.

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Toymaker Serious Thumper Offline Dragon Rider Posts: 1534 Granite Falls, NC Gender:	Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down Reply #6 - 11/22/08 at 17:15:29 While you are at ti, adjust the valves too.
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verslagen1

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #7 - 11/22/08 at 18:00:50

fawman wrote on 11/22/08 at 13:48:14:

My 96' LS 650 succumbed to the infamous oil leak. It appears to be coming from the head seal cap. Thought I could live with it, but it seems to be getting worse. The local dealer said the engine has to be pulled on the 96s, and wants $600.00 for 5.5 hours of labor and parts. Sounds like a hose job (paid $2K for it in May). Was willing to attempt in-frame repair myself.
Any thoughts?

It's a rip, several here have said it was $2-300 for the 600 mile service, which would have the same amount of work.

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Paladin.

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #8 - 11/22/08 at 19:52:50

fawman wrote on 11/22/08 at 13:48:14:

My 96' LS 650 succumbed to the infamous oil leak. It appears to be coming from the head seal cap. ....willing to attempt in-frame repair myself.
Any thoughts?

I put up with that leak for over a year, after I had the replacement plug on hand! While people note you do not need to pull the engine to pull the head -- you do not need to pull the head to replace that plug, just the head cover. The job is documented in the Tech section, which is what I followed. Greg cites about four hours, if you are good you can probably do it in two, took me three days working on and off (mostly off and including removing the tank a second time to hook up the speedometer.)

The only things that gave me grief were the big slot thingy covering the big nut that rotates the crank, and the philips screws holding the cable for the decompression thingy. Got them off using my impact wrench.

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Bear

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #9 - 11/22/08 at 20:07:04

You do not need to remove the big nut cover that is at the end of the crank to find TDC. Chances are that you will bugger up the slot in the nut cover. Easier just to remove the spark plug and stick a small clean dowel about 10 inches long in the spark plug hole. Put the bike in 5th gear and rock it back and forth until the dowel sticks out the farthest. Bingo, you are at TDC. Check to see if all the valves are loose, if not, rotate the engine another 360 degrees and you will find TDC on compression. That is where you want to be.

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mick

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #10 - 11/22/08 at 20:10:27

Paladin. wrote on 11/22/08 at 19:52:50:

fawman wrote on 11/22/08 at 13:48:14:

My 96' LS 650 succumbed to the infamous oil leak. It appears to be coming from the head seal cap. ....willing to attempt in-frame repair myself.
Any thoughts?

I put up with that leak for over a year, after I had the replacement plug on hand! While people note you do not need to pull the engine to pull the head -- you do not need to pull the head to replace that plug, just the head cover. The job is documented in the Tech section, which is what I followed. Greg cites about four hours, if you are good you can probably do it in two, took me three days working on and off (mostly off and including removing the tank a second time to hook up the speedometer.)

The only things that gave me grief were the big slot thingy covering the big nut that rotates the crank, and the philips screws holding the cable for the decompression thingy. Got them off using my impact wrench.

Yes I think your right Paladin,I forgot you only need take the head cover off to get at the plug,I took my head off to check the valves and piston.
On the big slot thingy, I got a 1 1/2 "chissel that was getting old,I ground off the sharp edge on my bench grinder, then ground a nice easy curve on it until it matched the slot, then you have a nice flat spot to use a cresant wrench to assist in unscrewing the thing.

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Bear

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #11 - 11/22/08 at 20:14:44

The Phillips heads that hold the decompression plate on can be really tight. I left mine alone, backed off the adjustment nuts on the cable and got enough slack to pull the cable to the rear and slide out the knob on the end of the cable, disconnecting the cable. I figured I needed to readjust it anyway, so it was no more trouble.

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mick

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #12 - 11/22/08 at 21:20:22

Bear wrote on 11/22/08 at 20:14:44:

The Phillips heads that hold the decompression plate on can be really tight. I left mine alone, backed off the adjustment nuts on the cable and got enough slack to pull the cable to the rear and slide out the knob on the end of the cable, disconnecting the cable. I figured I needed to readjust it anyway, so it was no more trouble.

good move Bear I wish I had thought of that,however mine was not that tight ,my power driver handled them ok. but I will remember that next time.

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Paladin. Serious Thumper Offline Hamster Posts: 4929 Sunny Southern California Gender:	Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down Reply #13 - 11/22/08 at 22:40:19 I like impact wrench -- moves without stripping things: In the righthand picture I think I used 3/4" x 1/8" barstock
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Educatedredneck

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Re: Oil Price Up, Not Down
Reply #14 - 11/23/08 at 00:01:20

I bought a heavy duty gasket scraper at Pep Boys and did the same thing that Mick did, ground the edge down until it mated with the timing cover slot - cost me $5.00 for the scraper. Works slick.
Thought I had the leak solved, but I'm still leaking a tiny bit of oil. Only 32 degrees today, I'll have to wait for it to warm up before I work on the bike.
BTW, she started right up today, I'm still holding out for one last ride.

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