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s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, cause? (Read 653 times)
BlakeEM
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s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, cause?
06/27/20 at 14:49:42
 
My wife's little 2006 Suzuki s40 was making a "tapping" sound when exiting the freeway and then the balancer shot out the front of the engine onto the road.  Shocked

At first I thought it was the cam chain tensioner failing but this was fine. It still has compression, shifts through all the gears, nothing blue/golden from heat, and everything has plenty of oil.

The bearings seem perfectly fine and turn smoothly on the balancer. It appears that it was contacting the front of the case based on the scoring on the end of the balancer weight that you see in the photos along with the chip missing from the inside front of the case.

Anyone have any idea how this could have happened? Cam chain and guides were replaced a year ago and look in great shape.


https://imgur.com/MwrJ43F

https://imgur.com/m0KCLt7

https://imgur.com/tqU15gA

https://imgur.com/K7IIbHg

I'm thinking of getting a new case and swap everything over, however I first need to figure out how this could have happened so I can make sure it doesn't happen again, for that I need your help because I'm stumped!

Thanks!
-Blake
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« Last Edit: 06/27/20 at 19:13:02 by BlakeEM »  
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justin_o_guy2
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #1 - 06/27/20 at 16:07:52
 
Thats the second one Ive seen in 15 years of being here. I wanna say it was Verslagen, but it coulda been another of the local bike geniuses.. I dont have the experience to gut a case and put all the goodies in another one.. Im pretty sure its above my paygrade. I would think gettin a used motor and stabbin it in there and riding would be a lot easier. Maybe even close on costs,,No gaskets, just slap it in,, well,, check the tensioner,, maybe a gasket gets dead there
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #2 - 06/27/20 at 16:50:22
 
there has been 1 or 2 that have puked out the balancer, but not me.
mine crapped out a bearing, made a lot of noise, then I replaced the bearings.
the bearing cage gave up.
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #3 - 06/27/20 at 16:50:29
 
That s.. next level failure , catastrophic ! Never seen that before. If I had to guess something passed inbetween the balancer and crank causing the blow out. You will have to be the detective on this one whatever it was may have been spit out on the road.  When disassembling engine look for missing parts and fully inspect the gears that drive the balancer. I noticed a mark on the balancer like it hit something , a major clue !
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #4 - 06/27/20 at 17:12:12
 
I was going to remove the balancer on my next engine .  Now I will be rethinking this idea.
That's one big hole.
I would just buy another engine after you find out what caused the failure.
Cheaper and quicker to get it back on the road.
Thanks for sharing your story & pictures.
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #5 - 06/27/20 at 18:20:35
 
It sounds like a replacement engine is the way to go. I'll finish disassembling the lower end tomorrow and see if I find anything that came loose. I didn't notice anything missing in the top end and the oil/filter didn't have metal in it.

Time isn't an issue since she is working remote for a couple more months (this was her daily) so money is her main concern.

-Blake
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justin_o_guy2
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #6 - 06/27/20 at 18:38:11
 
Ohh,, I would Definitely autopsy that thing,, If the head and cylinder took no damage, you could stick an engine in the bike, and have the top end you have layin around modded, swap them in,,if shes into that kinda stuff,, or sell them to someone who wants to mod their bike without downing it for long,,
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #7 - 06/27/20 at 21:43:46
 
If by chance the timing between crank & balancer goes bad , the balancer weight will contact the connecting rod and that's how you get a crater in your main case. That explains  any ticking or clunking sound prior to the eruption of internal engine parts onto the highway.
Sorry for all that but it is a epic story of a epic failure !
Glad she didn't get hurt.
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #8 - 06/28/20 at 02:32:37
 
y chance the timing between crank & balancer goes bad , the balancer weight will contact the connecting rod and that's how you get a crater in your main case.

But how does that timing change?
The marks inside the case?

What's the mileage on it?
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #9 - 06/28/20 at 03:50:16
 
Blake:

Wow.....that is a hard core engine esplosion! Shocked

That scuff mark on the balance shaft looks like it is in the right place for the lower end of the connecting rod to have smacked it......look for a similar scuff on the connecting rod or crankshaft.

The engine is 14 years old - the rubber parts are going to be aged even on a low mileage bike.  When I rebuild and engine of this age I tend to replace all the seals and gaskets........you will probably spend a couple hundred dollars on those parts.  There is also a problem right now with getting parts from suppliers - I waited 2 months for a set of fork protectors from Suzuki and finally gave up and cancelled the order.......evidently Covid19 has affected the shipping routes.

Since you have a good top end, maybe you could get by with finding a good bottom end.  It does seem a shame when folks tear apart a healthy engine to sell for parts - but eBay sellers make more money selling an engine in parts than they do selling a complete engine.  Parts are also far easier/cheaper to ship - a complete engine is large and heavy and expensive to ship.

Where do you live?  
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #10 - 06/28/20 at 07:38:03
 
What could cause the timing to go off or would it have had to happen during assembly? It does sound like that could be the issue. The timing chain, tensioner, and gears all looked fine. I wasn't the one who replaced the timing chain and it ran fine for a year before this happened.

The engine has 28k miles on it.

I'll look for a mark on the connecting rod/crankshaft.
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #11 - 06/28/20 at 08:15:15
 
Shipping on an engine would get expensive,, BUT,, If you can find an engine in a direction ya mite wanna go spend a weekend, take a trip, you and the girl, and bring a motor home? Maybe?
Sure ,, thats gonna cost more than shipping,,but, ya Get more than a lump carried by someone else..
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #12 - 06/28/20 at 08:56:00
 
I don't believe the timing can change - the gears are pressed onto the crank and counterbalance shafts.

The only way I believe contact can occur in the location shown is if the bearings fail and allow movement of the rod, crank or counterbalance shaft.

The photos seem to show the rod hit the counterbalancer - and that pushed the counterbalancer hard enough to break the case at the bearings and shove everything out the front of the engine.
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #13 - 06/28/20 at 09:02:50
 
BlakeEM wrote on 06/27/20 at 14:49:42:
My wife's little 2006 Suzuki s40 was making a "tapping" sound when exiting the freeway and then the balancer shot out the front of the engine onto the road.  Shocked

At first I thought it was the cam chain tensioner failing but this was fine. It still has compression, shifts through all the gears, nothing blue/golden from heat, and everything has plenty of oil.

The bearings seem perfectly fine and turn smoothly on the balancer. It appears that it was contacting the front of the case based on the scoring on the end of the balancer weight that you see in the photos along with the chip missing from the inside front of the case.

Anyone have any idea how this could have happened? Cam chain and guides were replaced a year ago and look in great shape.


https://imgur.com/MwrJ43F

https://imgur.com/m0KCLt7

https://imgur.com/tqU15gA

https://imgur.com/K7IIbHg

I'm thinking of getting a new case and swap everything over, however I first need to figure out how this could have happened so I can make sure it doesn't happen again, for that I need your help because I'm stumped!

Thanks!
-Blake



That'll buff right out.

Shhhhheeeeesssshhhh I've seen chit like this on a GS500 - a bike that was about as well put together as a ball point pen …

Cool.
Srinath.
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BlakeEM
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Re: s40 major failure, balancer hitting case, caus
Reply #14 - 06/28/20 at 09:37:59
 
Was definitely timing, just spun the crank and it was obvious.

How the hell did we not notice this? I'm going to have a good long talk with the shop.

https://imgur.com/vgNFuh4

https://imgur.com/nC3nvCT

Crazy!  Sad
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