White smoke

[flyinghigh001]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for reading this and I will thank you even more if we can get to the bottom of my white smoke issue.

The problem began one sunny day and I was coming home after a long ride my baby started to run on one cylinder which got me home, thinking it was an electrical
problem with the igniter's system I changed the plugs , no change, the CDI, no change and the right coil started to smoke so I changed the coil and rectifier which cured the
electrical problem, that didn't change it running on one cylinder and it started to smoke from the exhaust on no two cylinder, I did a PSI check and didn't find anything wrong
with the bore pressure, maybe its the head gasket, well I changed that and it and the valve seals, checked the bore limits with an accurate three decimal point internal ball gauge it had a little wear so changed the barrels pistons, when I stripped the engine I noticed a abnormal amount of engine oil in the combustion chamber Ah! I thought, maybe it has a blocked breather or the oil port may be blocked or the RV has stuck, stripped cleaned and decided to check the viscosity of the oil all checked changed, started her up running on two but still blowing white smoke, no sump pressure removed the oil plug on the side oil running out normally Mmm! maybe the head has a fault in the cast after reading an enthusiast saying they have know a cylinder head being compromised after having the cam journals over tightened, got a low mileage cylinder head checked for valve seat leaks and stem seal wear, put he back together fired her up, white smoke again still running on two revs up ok. I have cleaned the sump, strainer, filter, blown compressed air up every orifice renewed orings on the ports with orings, the pump has been stripped looks perfect. P.S. it had been running perfectly but the previous owner did say he had to change the barrels that's it. What do you think, has anyone got some guidance to give regarding this, the head gasket is an expensive one however, it has a silver coating not the normal black plastic covering or am I clutching at straws?

Update! My TRX still has white smoke even after checking the co2 at the garage where a sniffer checked the content, taken the air filter off and checked ingress, ran her for three fan starts and cooling checked the cooling pipe at the bottom of the barrels and the O'ring re-sealed filled her back up with red five year coolant runs on both thumpers but is still receiving some oil or coolant somewhere in the system. I am not going to give up ever!! Whats that chemical you can put in the water to test for coolant leaks?? I have thought of putting 5/30w viscosity using low revvs to see if calms down what do you think ? TC

For anyone who's interested an update from my white smoke issue. Are you ready?? ... I had put some really expensive spark plugs in which were purchased from my Local Foley Motorcycles shop, Gazza looked in the spark plug ref book and these iridium ones came up, so thinking these have got to give her more grunt I stuffed them in and after a few runs guess what happened all the above, to say I am embarrassed is an understatement, some the issues mentioned cant have helped but now she is getting to operating temp a lot quicker and sounds like her old self and now its getting rough out there I must give her a few runs out to Matlock etc \let me know what you think?? Now to get my other Yams on the road Yay

[Silver]

It looks like you have been really thorough, but what oil are you using? Maybe search and see if anyone else uses same brand and grade?
I use Motul 5100, and always have done.
Maybe check air filter for oil ingress?

[phuk72]

Have you warmed the bike up and let it run hot for any time? If not, run it through 3 or 4 full heat cycles (leave it running until the fan kicks in, turn off and leave to cool completely and repeat). If after that, it still does it when the biek is warm, you have a problem.

White smoke usually points to coolant / water leaks.

BTW, if you have run the bike for any prolonged period of time on one cyclinder, you are likely to have washed the bores with petrol and this could have diluted the oil and caused bottom end damage.

And one final question, how much oil have you put into the bike? Presume you have drained the engine (both drains) and observed filling procedure for a dry sump engine. You sound like you know your way around a motor but many experienced mechanic has overfilled a TRX with oil

[flyinghigh001]

It looks like you have been really thorough, but what oil are you using? Maybe search and see if anyone else uses same brand and grade?
I use Motul 5100, and always have done.
Maybe check air filter for oil ingress?

Thanks for your info, I have tried a number of grades as the service manual states, drained as usual re-filled without over filling, run in the oil prior to revving still white
smoke, looking at air filter and running time after a re-build thanks again TC

[flyinghigh001]

Have you warmed the bike up and let it run hot for any time? If not, run it through 3 or 4 full heat cycles (leave it running until the fan kicks in, turn off and leave to cool completely and repeat). If after that, it still does it when the biek is warm, you have a problem.

White smoke usually points to coolant / water leaks.

BTW, if you have run the bike for any prolonged period of time on one cyclinder, you are likely to have washed the bores with petrol and this could have diluted the oil and caused bottom end damage.

And one final question, how much oil have you put into the bike? Presume you have drained the engine (both drains) and observed filling procedure for a dry sump engine. You sound like you know your way around a motor but many experienced mechanic has overfilled a TRX with oil

Yeah drained both draining points and cant you tell the difference with quantity, although there is no oil (trying to teach how to suck eggs sorry) light we can crack open the oil gallery port on the head to see if it is pumping correctly, I have been bitten by over filling cars so your right to be asking that question however the oil is just touching the bottom line, I have run my little beast up to the fan kicking in last night smoked like a steam train checked fluid level and all was fine, anyway I fired it up again tonight and ran her a while and although its night time it seems the smoke is abating maybe, I shall think of my neighbours tonight and I will give her some extra running in time tommoz and see if we are on to something looks like I may owe someone some respect. if you think of anything else let me know. P.S I changed the exhausts to the original ones as it had some Venom ones on just in case, I can usually smell a coolant leak from a mile away. TC

[dandywarhol]

If you think it's steam rather than oil you could use either a dye test on the radiator steam or let a MOT test analyser sniff for CO2 - that will indicate combustion gases in the coolant - head/head gasket/block problem

[phuk72]

[however the oil is just touching the bottom line,

Does it stay at that level when the bike is upright and running?

[CASS]

could be a new pope

[flyinghigh001]

[however the oil is just touching the bottom line,

Does it stay at that level when the bike is upright and running?

It tends to disappear when it runs but ends up back on the line when stopped. It has ran a good while and its still fuming white smoke, it doesn't smell like coolant.

[dandywarhol]

If you're certain there's no bore damage/valve guide/seal problems and it doesn't smell like coolant, I'd be looking into a breather problem causing excessive crankcase pressure to blow past the rings and burn.
Try running the engine with the breather pipe disconnected from the camcover, does it still smoke?

[misterdimwiddy]

If you're certain there's no bore damage/valve guide/seal problems and it doesn't smell like coolant, I'd be looking into a breather problem causing excessive crankcase pressure to blow past the rings and burn.
Try running the engine with the breather pipe disconnected from the camcover, does it still smoke?

I am with you there but am puzzled because it sounds as though it only smokes on one cylinder??? Pressure would affect both pots I feel.

Also wondering why it would have had a cooked RH coil early on?

Changing head, barrels etc eliminates most things that would lead to smoking. Were the valves and pistons changed with these items? Even a cracked piston would have shown during compression testing.

Why did it drop onto one pot initially and then come back to two. Seems unlikely but could it be inlet related? Even if it was rich as anything due to a carb problem would it smoke? It would be rough if it was rich enough to smoke through poor mixture.

I am intrigued but unable to suggest much.

[flyinghigh001]

If you're certain there's no bore damage/valve guide/seal problems and it doesn't smell like coolant, I'd be looking into a breather problem causing excessive crankcase pressure to blow past the rings and burn.
Try running the engine with the breather pipe disconnected from the camcover, does it still smoke?

I am with you there but am puzzled because it sounds as though it only smokes on one cylinder??? Pressure would affect both pots I feel.

Also wondering why it would have had a cooked RH coil early on?

Changing head, barrels etc eliminates most things that would lead to smoking. Were the valves and pistons changed with these items? Even a cracked piston would have shown during compression testing.

Why did it drop onto one pot initially and then come back to two. Seems unlikely but could it be inlet related? Even if it was rich as anything due to a carb problem would it smoke? It would be rough if it was rich enough to smoke through poor mixture.

I am intrigued but unable to suggest much.

Thank you for even thinking about different issues regarding my TRX, it is a little baffling at the moment, initially it stopped running on number one LHS looking down from the seat, there was no white smoke at that time, then after checking the wear I changed the barrel and pistons then after that didn't work, I got a low mileage cylinder head, I changed the stem seals then I did a leak test on all valves not a sign of a leak. I believe the HT burn out was just a coincidence which was the result of a bad rectifier, changed them both and sparks are fine now. After doing the head and barrel it is firing on both and smoking from both, I have taken the breather off, let it run a while still white smoke, its the most frustrating fault I have had from any of my bikes. It doesn't seem petrol related. Well the next trial I have is to run without a filter, then I may just drain the coolant and run for a couple of mins to see if she clears up a little Then back to basics again and start it over just in case I missed anything. I haven't de-glazed the new barrel do you think it would cause it smoking if it was glazed over??

[ekoja]

Get a small container, fill it with fresh fuel, connect it up to the fuel lines somehow, and then run the motor. check for white smoke after the fresh fuel has run through the system.
If the white smoke continues, empty the rest of the fuel onto the ground under the bike then stand back and ignite .
Have you run it without the exhaust cans on?
Where do you get your fuel from ?.
Maybe thats where the problem lies.
Acually I got nothing.

[BigAl-TC]

May be the carby water cooling(heating)??? Clutching at straws but the tubes are easy to disconnect and check.

[flyinghigh001]

May be the carby water cooling(heating)??? Clutching at straws but the tubes are easy to disconnect and check.

Thanks it all helps I shall give it a whirl