FZR 250 Engine Swap Saga (with pictures) - advice welcome!

Hi Everyone, some of you will remember my posts as I was trying to figure out a solution to my ruined 3ln-3 engine. I decided to swap in a running motor from a full parts bike (RED) that I bought for $1500.


So far I have removed the broken motor from my bike and I am currently trying to learn how to do a valve adjustment using the broken engine, so I can confidently do it on the working engine.
Bike with engine removed

Broken engine on my table


I have been following the Valve Adjustment thread (http://fzr250.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1597) and using the FZR 400 manual and have a few questions.
First of all, the write up instructs,

Well I fount the timing mark on the magneto, assuming it is the T with a line, but i could not find a mark to line it up to on the crankcase.

If someone could point out on this picture where that mark is that would be a great help.

Secondly, according to the write up,

As you can see from the following picture, the indents do not line up with the markings on the cam bearing journal. Note that the cam lobes are pointing away from each other. I suppose my timing may have slipped due to my engine's failure?


Lastly for now, the writeup says that the crank should be rotated clockwise, where the FZR400 manual suggests anti-clockwise. Does it make any difference?

 

For anyone who is interested in removing or swapping an engine, here is how the motor is bolted to the body.

]

Both 1 and 2 have the same set up on the other side of the bike.

3 is a long bolt that passes through to the other side of the bike, ith an allen head hole at the other end. From memory this one had a cylindrical metal spacer in the middle.

4 Went through to a nut on the other side, but not all the way, you'll need someone to hold a wrench or their finger on the nut to stop it from just turning.

 

Cheers Dave, Ill try again for that timing mark tomorow. The discrepency in the marking on the cams I will put down to the damage that the engine has suffered, throwing them out of whack. Ill go ahead and pull it apart a little so i know what to expect from the valve adjustment on the good engine - don't forget this is just a practice run.

 

From looking at the Japanese manual, I found the timing mark to be a sharp point that lines up with the T mark. Today I cleaned the carburettor from the RED bike, freed up the idle speed adjuster (set too low and would stall), Put the fresh fuel tank on, added a little oil and fired the bad boy up. Ran smoothly after I set the idle speed.
Check out how dirty the carbs were!


Unfortunatly, I found there is a weep of oil leaking from the valve cover gasket. It's only slow but I want to make sure this engine is treated well.
The way I see it I have two choices,
1. Use the valve cover from the broken motor (never leaked but looks a bit tired)
2. Replace the gasket and never worry about it again - Im leaning towards this. The only drawback I could see is the wait to recieve the part form japan and the cost.

 

Hi guys, I've been following the Valve adjustment, and I seem to be stuck in the dissassembly stage. Ive removed the cam chain tensioner, cam bearing journals and front + top cam chain guides. I seem to be stuck at this step:

Cam shafts and chain don't seem to want to move any which way. Seems like the chain is quite tight considering the tensioner is off. Here is a pic of where I am up to-(note that the front guide is gone now too). Thanks all!

 

Well after turning the motor around a bit I finally got the camshafts out and had a play with the buckets and shims - not so daunting now!
Cylinder 3 ( the one with shaved metal in manifolds) had a few surprises for me.
First of all, the two intake valves were sunk about 1 or 2 millimetres below where all the others are! One of the exhaust valves seemed normal, but on removing the camshaft, the other sprang up about 3mm under spring tension!

It is a little hard to see from the picture but have a look at how far that valve bucket has jumped out!

This explains difficulty in manouvering camshafts and why I'm replacing the engine! <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->

 

So the only part of the valve adjustment im not 100% clear on now is re-installing everything. Is the idea that the timing mark should not move, and you re install everything so that cylinder 1 is on TDC with cam lobes pointing away and the marks and indents line up?
Cheers Dave.

Oh and since i've moved motor off TDC, can I turn the motor over without the cam shafts installed, ie: holding the chain?

 

Hi there, glad to know this thread will be usefull to some. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s -->
My plan is to swap the running engine over to my registered frame, after doing a valve adjustment while it's out.
I'll make a separate thread and include lots of pictures of the wrecked engine so hopefully that will help you. Be carefull with that rattly engine because mine had bad rattles before it went. Have you checked the cam chain tensioner to see if the chain needs replacing?

 

Ok cool, but what is meant by

?

Don't the cam shafts and sprockets need to come out to do the adjustment?
Thanks man <!-- s:biker4: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/th_Biker_4.gif" alt=":biker4:" title="Biker 4" /><!-- s:biker4: -->

 

Haha yeah makes sense now. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="" title="Cool" /><!-- s -->

 

Hi Bob, when you say timing marks indicated in two positions, do you mean there is the timing mark on the flywheel and also the indents that line up from the camshafts?

Or do you mean that is one way to align them, with cylinder 1 and 4 at the top, and there is a second to have 2 and 3 at the top. Thanks. Sorry to be annoying but I just want to make sure it goes perfect.