Metal in oil

This is not a KZ issue but I hope someone here can help. I have an old Honda XR500R dirtbike and on it's last oil change I found aluminum particles in the oil. I tore the engine down, split the cases, cleaned everything up and found what I thought was the source of the metal. The previous owner had allowed the cam chain to get loose and it had been rubbing on the side of the case. Well I cleaned everything up and put it back to together. I am still getting and lot of metal in the oil. I tore it down again and I cannot find where the engine is making the metal.
Anyone have any ideas.

Are you talking chunks or bitts or silver oil?a silver color to the oil could be clutch plate??

It's entirely possible that you got the source, but residual metal was missed in your cleaning - there weren't a lot of details about how you went about that. Powdered aluminum is pesky stuff - it'll hang up in odd spots and not come out all at once.

Might be worth getting a couple of filters and a couple change's worth of cheep-o oil, do a change, run it awhile, do another change and see if the quantity of metal in the oil tails off...

I second that! residual metal is still in the engine, so i reccomend some engine flushes. I gave my bike 2 oil changes in the 3 months i got it, after I rebuilt the engine to be sure it got its memories of the previous owner out of its cylinders.

I thought the same thing regarding the residual metal so I split the cases and cleaned everything. I even took all the gears off ther shafts and cleaned everything. It was spotless when I put is all back together.
I also thought it might be the clutch plates but I have seen a lot of oil contaminated by clutch plate residue and this aint it. I am getting very small slivers of aluminum. You can see it floating around in the oil and it settles on the bottom of the container. This bike does not have an oil filter, I wish it did it would make finding the source easier. Honda simply put in a small screen right before the oil pump pickup
Now what has me really confused is the amount of metal. After the first rebuild, yes I have taken this thing apart four times in the last month I fired up the engine and ran it for about 30 seconds. I drained the oild and there was a laot of metal in just 30 seconds of running. You would think that the source would be pretty easy to spot with the amount of metal it was making but so far I can't find it. I have been rebuilding all types of motorcycle engines for a long time and this one has me stumped.

Post edited by: baldy110, at: 2006/11/10 20:58

Post edited by: baldy110, at: 2006/11/10 20:58

Post edited by: baldy110, at: 2006/11/10 20:59

To me slivers indicate a shearing action, so I would take a look at rotating parts that are close to aluminum, like gears and crank.

do u have a oil cooler it could be in there.
just slowly working its way out.

No oil cooler either.

baldy110 wrote:

...Now what has me really confused is the amount of metal. After the first rebuild, yes I have taken this thing apart four times in the last month I fired up the engine and ran it for about 30 seconds. I drained the oild and there was a laot of metal in just 30 seconds of running. You would think that the source would be pretty easy to spot with the amount of metal it was making but so far I can't find it. I have been rebuilding all types of motorcycle engines for a long time and this one has me stumped.

Yowza.

(Noted the lack of oil filter and clutch residue...)

You'd think that amount of metal - and the type - shavings and such - *especially* in a 30 second-run time frame - that the motor would have sounded like a coffee grinder chewing on a coconut.

Gotta go with Steell - *something* ain't right in there.

Even the most experienced screw up from time to time - saw a wrench left in an oil pan one time by a guy I'da swore would never have done it.

Best advice I can come up with at this stage is to tear her down again and look for fresh marks in the innards - if it's eating itself from the inside out like that, there's gonna be clues somewhere...

im with Pterosaur.maybee you coul post pics of the tare down and let everyone see.moooore eyes may help.:woohoo:

Yes. If you are still getting metal check your camshaft. I have an FT500 ad it's pretty much the same engine. The camshaft journals are cut into the head. There are no bearings inserts. Much like the Suzuki GS1000. There is a large channel for oil. Lose oil pressure in the head, even for a little while, and you'll gall the beejezus out of the journals. A good used head rus abotu $200. If your rockers(no loger available) and the rest of the head are good, you can get a roller bearing kit put in for about the same $ and know what you've got. Better than a used unless you ca see before you buy.

BTW, I need a good cylinder head but only have $100 for it

Not the cam journals either. That was the first thing I suspected. Cam and journals are in great shape. I cannot find any place in the engine the looks like rubbing except for the cam chain tunnel and I know I fixed that problem.