change valve stem oil seal and cleaning piston carbon deposit ?

[rollerfish01]

Hi all, I find my engine with the following signs:

1) The pressure of cylinder no.2 (approx 70psi) is significantly lower then the other 3 cylinders (approx 175psi). As learn from internet, I tried to pour a spoon of engine oil in the cylinder, it came up slightly around 80psi. So I guess it was mainly not the piston ring worn out, more likely is leakage from the intake or exhaust valves ?

2) (Occasionally) When start up the engine or more common is when the engine heat up, some white smoke came out from the exhaust muffler when I close the throttle. When turn on the throttle, there is no smoke. I guess this is cause by some leak valve stem oil seal ?

If these guessing are correct,  I am planning to remove the cylinder head to change the valve stem oil seal and also do some cleaning as well.
Also is it possible to clean the carbon deposit on the pistons without removing the cylinder block ? (I am afraid the dirty deposits/cleaning liquid will run into the cylinder block)

Welcome for all suggestions and comments  !

[KiwiCol]

Hi, sorry to read about your engine issues. It's not something we get as a rule.  I'd be surprised if your issues were caused by just a stem seal leak / broken, as that's a big drop in pressure  Sounds more like a burnt valve or blown head gasket.
Once you get the head off, you can clean anything on that without a care, for piston tops, I wouldn't think there'll be too much to worry about, but if you did want to clean them, maybe use a dremell with a 'straight' wire brush & a vacuum cleaner nozzle inside each cyl as you do it.

I'd be checking for head gasket leak myself. The chances of 1 cyl burning out a valve or having 1 cyl with a naf stem seal would be pretty remote, unless the engine has been 'tinkered' with by PO's in the past & not been assembled correctly or left something in there that has blocked the oil gallery.

Lawrie  Sweaty Hoolie etc would be able to help

[Andre]

This isn't the first time you had some engine problems. What did you find  with the oil-filled PAIR system?

[Sweaty]

Lawrie  Sweaty Hoolie etc would be able to help
[/quote]

Col, I hope you miss typed my name, otherwise, you have me mistaken. I'm the last person you want mechanical advise from  I know nothing.
I'm only good for the basic easy stuff & smart arse comments etc 

[KiwiCol]

Yep, sorry bro, should be Snapey.

[grog]

Rollerfish, 75 psi is not good. The oil trick proved not a ring prob. Can only be valves, head gskt or cracked head. Valve clearance ok? Next step is a cylinder leakage test. Put no. 2 on tdc, put bike in gear to stop piston moving. Need a spark plug adapter to connect compressed air. Then just listen to find where its leaking out. Airbox is inlet valve, exhaust is exhaust valve. Anywhere else is not good. Will answer question where prob is.

[Sweaty]

Yep, sorry bro, should be Snapey.

Now that makes sense, he knows a couple of things that I don't about the 14 

[rollerfish01]

Thanks all replies to my questions ! 

@Andre , I think when I bought the bike (2nd hand) some problems already there (just as KiwiCol said 'unless...'). It just take time for me to discover ... . PAIR system spare parts are ready but I want to fix it with the oil seal and valve problems at once. So still waiting more parts, tools and holidays to open the cylinder head.

@KiwiCol , "Once you get the head off, you can clean anything on that without a care" that makes me feel more easy and confidence to do that !   

@grog , Big Thanks for your analysis and checking procedures suggestion !      (What is the meaning of "cracked head" ? cylinder head/ piston ?)
Actually if can confine the problems as you said, I'm thinking to prepare all the necessary spare parts and open the cylinder to find out what's the problems then fix it.

Although some "little problems" appear, the GSX14 is still very capable for everyday commuting for me !   

the photos took several months ago:

[KiwiCol]

Looks like the valve seat is buggered in those pics.   I'll leave it to the experts on here though.

[Andre]

Superb tip by @grog  Would definitely do that first!

By chance that weak compression cylinder number 3 or 4 (where you have the PAIR problem)?  Can't think of any reason but a gut feeling is there that this might be related. Name of the pics do suggest though that cylinder number 2 has the problem.

Nice pics. Not qualified to judge but doesn't look right to me as the 2 exhaust valves look very different. Would love to have an endoscope just for kicks. Maybe I find a herd of elephants in there. Wouldn't be surprised

[rollerfish01]

If judge by cylinder pressure, only cylinder No. 2 has problem, others are fine. The PAIR at the cylinder 3 & 4 now have little carbon deposit, no oil flooding yet 

[Andre]

No oil yet  is great. Maybe PO just dumped some oil in there by accident. Who knows

Carbon deposit there is normal.

[rollerfish01]

these cylinders have normal pressure reading, but I definitely want to clean them... 

[Andre]

Good to see what the good ones look like. Looks to me like cylinder 2 received a much leaner air/fuel mix. If so then that may be the cause of the problem. I would check for that, might be the  injector #2.

Check out this thread http://gsx1400owners.org/forum_test/index.php?topic=95.0 for a company that inspects and cleans injectors well and for a great price.

Check the connectors and wiring for the injector(s). Maybe a wire is broken or the connecting contacts are corroded.

[grog]

amazing photos mate. never tried, how do you do them. camera down the plug hole im guessing. only way possible. hard to tell if its just the light but certainly look to me like its been running lean. head off and fix valves, then need to get it setting correct air/fuel ratio. injector clean is a good thing. necessary. even after that , maybe a power commander and dyno set. dont want it to happen again. as to how its been that lean, not sure. to my way of thinking, to be that lean it shouldve showed up in general engine performance. most modern day valves can take a flogging and still work. either had its arse flogged with bad fuel, open exhaust, lean mixture or just no fuel getting there, blocked injectors or filters. would surely have ran badly. bit of a mystery.