Leak down tester

[KB]

Does anyone have one of these in their posession that I could borrow for a deposit of the price of the said tester?

I need to do a Leakdown test on the Hawk.

Anyone?

Thanks,
KB

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by rmbbikes
Does anyone have one of these in their posession that I could borrow for a deposit of the price of the said tester?

I need to do a Leakdown test on the Hawk.

Anyone?

Thanks,
KB

I've got a piece of hose with sparkplug threads on one end and a 3/8" male npt quick connect on the other (actually it's part of my compression tester). To do a leakdown I just thread one end into the sparkplug, attach the other to a compressor, and slowly crank up the compressor regulator until I hear air moving.

[KB]

I have been looking round on that there inter-net thing and found just what you mentioned.

I have a guauge on my compressor that is the same as what you describe. I also have the hose from my compression tester. Sounds like I have my very own leak down tester. Hook the hose from the compressor to the compression tester thread it in to the cylinder and wallah.

Sounds like I will have to pull the tank and open and the air box to get to the carbs to see if it's an intake valve.

If it's an exhaust valve I will hear it out the pipes.

But if it's rings do I then listen in the oil filler hole?

Thanks Daryl!!!

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by rmbbikes
But if it's rings do I then listen in the oil filler hole?

Thanks Daryl!!!

Yeah that's what I did, the other thing you might look for is bubbling in your oil sight glass. I decided to remove the oil filler cap because I wasn't sure if there might be negative effects from pressurizing my crankcase. Turns out it was an exhaust valve tho, and yeah, you can hear air rushing right out the exhaust if it's a bad enough leak.

No problem man, you losing compression on one of your cylinders?

[hohum]

Yup, precisely. Ditto on listening to the oil filler hole. You def want to remove the filler cap... bubbling oil is pretty loud, and it takes pretty significant blow by to cause it to seriously bubble if its cold. I usually run the bike up to operating temp briefly before doing the leakdown test, makes the oil a little more viscous and easier to bubble up. You can also hold your thumb over the filler hole and you will feel the buildup of pressure if there is any blow by.

Cheers,
Chris

[KB]

I am not sure what the deal is.

I think I have bad rings. Probably in my front cyclinder. Probably from doing mile long stand up wheelies on the highway in 3rd gear

Either way it's and my own fault.

Plus she has 40,000 on her and they haven't been the easiest 30,000 that I have owned her for. I also don't know the break in that was done either. After reading randy's breakin article it got me thinking that the guy who owned it rode like a girl.

I'll report back my finding tomorrow. Maybe I will be doing rings and a cylinder hone this weekend????

KB

[SSearchVT]

A compression test will also tell you if the rings or valves are toast. When you do the pressure test on the engine make sure it is in neutral, and that the piston is at TDC. Slowly turn up the pressure, you shouldn't have to go much past 70 psi on a warm engine to get results. I have seen the air pressure spin the engine over before. Good Luck...