2013 TE511 Grenade

[Dstroyer511]

Love the bike, but went to do my first oil change and this is what I found! It's some sort of aluminum sludge big and little aluminum chips. Anybody seen this before?

I'm gonna open the clutch cover up and see whats going on in there.




Oil plug picked up some ferrous metal as well

 

[Teambowles]

Holy crap...how many miles on it, how frequent were oil changes. That sucks time for a total tear down major failure

 

[rancher1]

Pull the stator cover first.

 

[ghte]

Agree, think its from the stator, The bolts have been known to back out. it certainly does not appear to be gears or bearings. Doesn't look like clutch (don't discount that but as said look on the left side first).
Please keep us posted and good luck

 

[Trenchcoat85]

hmmmm. been having to charge it up lately? 'cause it looks like you lost a rotor screw and it's eating up your crankcase or sidecover maybe.

check this thread for details (read it completely through also):
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/449-511-important-urgent-flywheel-inspection.45218/

[edit: shit- I'm late to the party; looks like rancher1 and ghte had it first. I guess I shouldn't leave posts on the computer for hours before submitting 'em]

 

[Dstroyer511]

i have not pulled the clutch side off, thanks for the heads up on the stator. I will do that first. I was having visions of piston slapping the cylinder sides and complete teardown. I have taken all the plastics and airbox out, next was gonna be the aux tank to get at the timing chain adjuster to make sure it wasn't stuck and somehow the timing chain was eating the case or something. The bike starts fine and runs good which was most surprising considering the oil.

I have a feeling even if this is not a major problem, the oil will need to be flushed 2 or 3 times.

 

[Dstroyer511]

So I pulled the stator off and did not see any loose screws or aluminum chips.

The I pulled the clutch cover and found the culprit. A loose clutch basket screw eating away at my cover. I am relieved to say the least. I will try to get am idea of the amount of material left on the cover, it did take a good slice out of the corner radius, and that is what the clutch pushes against to gain leverage on the springs, so I will most likely replace the cover.

Anybody know if there are any aftermarket options for the clutch cover?

 

[ghte]

Good work. While you are in the stator side torque up the screws as there is the occasional incidents on them backing out. Good luck with the bike Mate.

 

[Trenchcoat85]

Good work. While you are in the stator side torque up the screws as there is the occasional incidents on them backing out. Good luck with the bike Mate.

I dunno.... DangerMouse was aware early of the problem and a strong advocate of fixing it- and he STILL had it happen to him with the stock screws years later. I believe that replacing the screws ($5) with the higher grade (12.9 IIRC) ASAP is the course of action he now recommends; that sounds totally smart to me if you wanna save $400. DM?

 

[Trenchcoat85]

So I pulled the stator off and did not see any loose screws or aluminum chips.

The I pulled the clutch cover and found the culprit. A loose clutch basket screw eating away at my cover. I am relieved to say the least. I will try to get am idea of the amount of material left on the cover, it did take a good slice out of the corner radius, and that is what the clutch pushes against to gain leverage on the springs, so I will most likely replace the cover.

Anybody know if there are any aftermarket options for the clutch cover?

let's see a pic of your oil filter! (I'm hoping you didn't have an oil starvation issue. probably not)

btw, I'd be flushing that thing with kerosene or diesel a lot. I know that it is aluminum "dust" and the damage potential is less than harder metals, but... I don't think 2 flushes is gonna do it. I think I might try a recirculating flush with kerosene somehow- with flooded cases. wash the thrust bearing.

I hate be Captain Obvious and say this, but: get a new bolt. Oh, you already got one? My bad- never mind.

I don't think a beemer sidecover will work (cable actuated clutch). If that hole/threads is not too wallowed out (chase the threads gently), you might be able to button it back up and ride while you wait for the new side cover to arrive (months?). the clutch activation might put too much thrust on the sidecover- but, really, I doubt it (depending on how deep that groove is)

good luck.

 

[Trenchcoat85]

BTW, Dstroyer511 (hey, you almost earned that name. whew.) on your kickstand, you can cut off the knob on the pivot bolt and lose the saftey-crat mandated auto-retraction "feature" ...if you want.

 

[Dstroyer511]

Yeah, a huge flush is in order! I still don't know how I will do it, any pointers would be appreciated. I have a 12 volt fuel pump, so I could put an inline filter and a bucket full of kerosene to draw from, hopefully the heavier metals drop to the bottom and the filter catches the small particulates.

The screens really did their job though! I'm very impressed with that part of the motor design.

I just ordered a new screw, cover and gasket for a surprisingly low total of $140 at the local dealer. Now just have to wait and see if one is actually available.

Are they still having problems with parts?

 

[Dstroyer511]

BTW, Dstroyer511 (hey, you almost earned that name. whew.) on your kickstand, you can cut off the knob on the pivot bolt and lose the saftey-crat mandated auto-retraction "feature" ...if you want.

Not sure what you are talking about, I'm just happy to have a kickstand at all!

 

[Dangermouse449]

Dude, sorry to see that material inside the engine.
Whatever it is won't last forever....
If you can't see what it is via the side cases, sad to say, but it's going to have to be opened up.

 

[Dstroyer511]

Update,

After about 7 or so oil changes with about 1-2 minute run times, I was confident enough to take the beast out for a local loop. Seemed to work flawless with no loss of power. The oil was quite grey with aluminum particulates and some decent sized chunks in the screens. Next, I took the TE511 out to Hungary Valley OHV and had a good day, albeit was riding with beginners and had many stop-wait for group-restarts. Second day same thing but was progressively getting harder to start, until finally it just wouldn't start. Dragged it back to camp with tow strap (a harrowing experience, luckily only about 2 miles from camp).

Well, I finally had time to explore possible causes for the non-start, hoping for the best. I took the spark plug out and tested for spark against a bolt with good spark. Bad news, I was hoping for an ignition problem considering the bikes history, and repairs had been done to the wiring on the coil. I have a Harbor Freight Compression tester that will not thread into the spark plug hole. The threads match up, but it only turns about 1 1/2 turns and then stops before the o ring is sealing.

OK, I'm itching to ride and almost done with this bike. There is absolutely no used parts available for these bikes, I don't have a lot of money to sink into the beast, so I'm thinking of selling as is. One option is there is one local that is not street plated with low hours, I think I could get for $2500. My plan would be to swap the engine out and then sell the other for parts or whole at a loss. I would rather not get into the engine, and certainly do't want to know how much it would cost to have the dealer do it.

Any better suggestions out there? How much do you think I could get for the bike as is?