Shee smoking right side - new seals now still smoking

[linus186]

Hey, I bought a shee that needed a top end. Did the top end and ran good but right side was smoking more than left. Figured it needed crank seals so just got done splitting cases, etc. to put them in. Well, it's still smoking more on the right side. Switched the carbs - right side still smokes more. Switched the reeds - same thing. Drained trans oil and started briefly to see what it would do with no trans oil to suck in - still smoked. I don't think it's the seal.

 

I'm starting to think it might be coolant - how should I check that out? Any other ideas?

[bansheesandrider]

Hey, I bought a shee that needed a top end. Did the top end and ran good but right side was smoking more than left. Figured it needed crank seals so just got done splitting cases, etc. to put them in. Well, it's still smoking more on the right side. Switched the carbs - right side still smokes more. Switched the reeds - same thing. Drained trans oil and started briefly to see what it would do with no trans oil to suck in - still smoked. I don't think it's the seal.

 

I'm starting to think it might be coolant - how should I check that out? Any other ideas?

What color is the smoke, white, blue,or black? If it is black it is a fuel problem. If it is blue it is a fuel problem. And if it is white it is a coolant problem. You can do a leakdown test on the motor, it should hold 6psi for 6 minutes. If it doesn't you will need to see if you can figure out where the air is leaking out- you can spray a soapy water solution on ALL possible leakage pionts and look for bubbles. You can also pressure check the cooling system to see if a head gasket or something else is leaking.

[shakar]

Hey, I bought a shee that needed a top end. Did the top end and ran good but right side was smoking more than left. Figured it needed crank seals so just got done splitting cases, etc. to put them in. Well, it's still smoking more on the right side. Switched the carbs - right side still smokes more. Switched the reeds - same thing. Drained trans oil and started briefly to see what it would do with no trans oil to suck in - still smoked. I don't think it's the seal.

 

I'm starting to think it might be coolant - how should I check that out? Any other ideas?

i think u could run it and see if the coolant level drops or see if theres bubles in ur radiater when she's running or just do the water pump seal might as well do the bearing and grab a bullet wp well u at it if money not to tight goodluck

[sheefreak]

Did you dump the oil out of your headpipe from the crank seal leak before you put it back on?

[Larry's Shee]

Good call sheefreak !! Residual oil build up in the pipe hasn't burned off.

[linus186]

Did you dump the oil out of your headpipe from the crank seal leak before you put it back on?

 

Thanks for the replies. The smoke looks either light bluish or white - not exactly sure what color it should be but it's not black. No, we didn't clean out the pipe - that's a great idea - I hope that's it! How should I clean it? I believe they are FMF fatty's and FMF silencers. Thanks!

[linus186]

One more thing, the smoke was never black - it looked either bluish or almost white. I just figured since it was right side only that it must have been the crank seal since I bought it used and expected the worst.

 

How would I test the cooling system for leaks? Would a compression test find a leaky head gasket - that's the only place coolant could get in, correct? The leak down test would check the bottom end and crank seals only, correct? Sorry, new to these things. Most of my other quads are 4 strokes that I haven't had to take apart. Thanks!

[Jereme6655]

One more thing, the smoke was never black - it looked either bluish or almost white. I just figured since it was right side only that it must have been the crank seal since I bought it used and expected the worst.

 

How would I test the cooling system for leaks? Would a compression test find a leaky head gasket - that's the only place coolant could get in, correct? The leak down test would check the bottom end and crank seals only, correct? Sorry, new to these things. Most of my other quads are 4 strokes that I haven't had to take apart. Thanks!

 

it could also be that you need to sync your carbs.....one carb might be dumping in more fuel/oil mix while the other isn't....could be the residule burn off. along with what sheefreak said i would take the few minutes and make sure the carbs are sync'ed

[sheefreak]

If you are seeing white smoke, I would more be thinking coolant leak. What kind of head do you have? It was mentioned earlier in the post, but start it up(from cold so you don't burn yourself LOL) and take the radiator cap off. Take a look down in the radiator and see if you can see bubbles. A leakdown test would be best to find a head leak or any other leak for that matter.

 

I wouldn't 100% dismiss the possibility that you had a crank seal leak either though. When you took it apart to replace the seal, did you dump the pipe out to see if any fluid was in it?

[linus186]

If you are seeing white smoke, I would more be thinking coolant leak. What kind of head do you have? It was mentioned earlier in the post, but start it up(from cold so you don't burn yourself LOL) and take the radiator cap off. Take a look down in the radiator and see if you can see bubbles. A leakdown test would be best to find a head leak or any other leak for that matter.

 

I wouldn't 100% dismiss the possibility that you had a crank seal leak either though. When you took it apart to replace the seal, did you dump the pipe out to see if any fluid was in it?

 

 

I thought a leak down test was to check the bottom end - will it test the top end (head gasket) too? I didn't even think to check the pipe so no I didn't dump it out. I sort of doubt its the crank seal as I stated earlier the smoke is the same color and i briefly starte it without trans oil and nothing changed.

 

Also, for syncing the carbs, I switched the carbs and the extra smoke stayed on right side so that rules out the carb.

[sheefreak]

A leakdown tests the entire front crank/cylinder cavity. Will check for leaks at crank seals, case mating surface, base gasket, reed/intake areas, and head and spark plug seal as well(I have had a spark plug I thought was tight leak on a leakdown before). If it is a cool head it could be tough to find because the leak may just be into the inner cavity of the cool head and sealed perfectly fine to the outside. But if it is not holding the 6 lbs and you can't find it leaking anywhere else, most likely that is your problem.

 

On the pipe subject, I think it is the head gasket, but you are going to have the pipe off anyway to plug your exhaust ports. See if anything dumps out of it. Even if it was a crank seal, and you fixed it and never dumped the pipe out, it is gonna still smoke till it burns most of that oil out of there...

[linus186]

A leakdown tests the entire front crank/cylinder cavity. Will check for leaks at crank seals, case mating surface, base gasket, reed/intake areas, and head and spark plug seal as well(I have had a spark plug I thought was tight leak on a leakdown before). If it is a cool head it could be tough to find because the leak may just be into the inner cavity of the cool head and sealed perfectly fine to the outside. But if it is not holding the 6 lbs and you can't find it leaking anywhere else, most likely that is your problem.

 

On the pipe subject, I think it is the head gasket, but you are going to have the pipe off anyway to plug your exhaust ports. See if anything dumps out of it. Even if it was a crank seal, and you fixed it and never dumped the pipe out, it is gonna still smoke till it burns most of that oil out of there...

 

Thanks for the help so far. So last night I checked the head for square and it was off so I resurfaced it according to my clymer manual. Now the smoke from the right cylinder is definitely darker than before so I'm assuming there was a coolant leak. It's still smoking more on the right side and now it's shooting an oil spray out when you rev it up. I took the pipe and silencer off and tipped them up and quite a bit of oil poured out so I left them hang to clear out. It did not shoot oil out like this before. Could the potential coolant leak have knocked the compression down enough that it couldn't force the oil out of the pipe? Now that the head seems to be better sealed, does it make sense that the oil is coming out of the right pipe now? What's the next step - drain the pipe and run it and see if it clears up? Thanks.

[streakx]

Thanks for the help so far. So last night I checked the head for square and it was off so I resurfaced it according to my clymer manual. Now the smoke from the right cylinder is definitely darker than before so I'm assuming there was a coolant leak. It's still smoking more on the right side and now it's shooting an oil spray out when you rev it up. I took the pipe and silencer off and tipped them up and quite a bit of oil poured out so I left them hang to clear out. It did not shoot oil out like this before. Could the potential coolant leak have knocked the compression down enough that it couldn't force the oil out of the pipe? Now that the head seems to be better sealed, does it make sense that the oil is coming out of the right pipe now? What's the next step - drain the pipe and run it and see if it clears up? Thanks.

An air lean would lean your a/f mixture (almost no smoke at all) so forget this theory ... your best bet right now is to sync your carbs correctly (reset all settings on both carbs and tune equaly) .. also if check your main jets + your pilots are the same size (i've seen this before).

 

Chris

[Larry's Shee]

maybe use some mineral spirits (or straight gas, BE CAREFUL) in pipe, slosh it around to clean excess oil.

[bebetekbanshee358]

do u have a parts washing bin? leave the pipe in thetre or spray a shit load of brake cleaner.. u can evebn dip it in gas but ull ruin the gas ur gonna dip it in...... i had somewhat a problem like dat when i re did my top end.. and it was all the fucking oil in the pipes that had my shit smoking badly.. rememeber that in ur 2 stroke there is a reversion in the exhaust. in other werds. when ur shee gets on the pipe it sucks the exhaust back in the out........ so its harder to get the oil out while its running.... just take the pipes off and clean em good.. water soap it doesnt matter..