91 Gs up Hose down?

[b4cruz]

Hi all,

I'm doing my valve job. Noticed Green fluid and strong hoses, but I don't know the exact age of them.
There was a bit of that brownish corrosion dust under the end hose lips and connection points only.
No lingering brown sludge in the pipes or inner linings of the hoses.
Since the bike is used and seemed never really cared that much for by previous owners I might well
assume they are as old as 1991.

Should I just break down and spend
15:       HOSE,RAD JOINT,                     486380-001        $16.47
16:       HOSE,RDTR JOINT                   486392-001        $11.99
12   HOSE, RADIATOR INLET            17851-10D00     1   $12.82
13   HOSE, RADIATOR OUTLET NO.1  17852-10D00    1   $18.27
16:       HOSE,WATER PUMP           486410-001        $20.47

Say 100 with shipping or tax yuck!

Half of me says its a lots of money to waste on hose, but then again how much longer will these engine parts be
available for this motor anyway. The prices will only go up. I'm such a cheap bastard though...
If these hoses will stay easily available I really wouldn't mind running them till they burst, since its actually
a pretty easy job to replace them. Patching a hose with nylons and ducktape to get it home ain't a big deal either.

Is it OK not spend money on the hose?

-c
now back to planning my attack on how to lift that valve cover without dropping any dowels.

[tomacGTi]

There are no dowels that hold the VC. You'll just lift it off and then pivot it through the frame to get it out entirely. You'll see what I mean when you do it.

However if the cover has never been off, order yourself the gaskets for the bolts now as they will leak, those are at least cheap. The VC gasket is generally pretty resilient and you should be able to get away without replacement. Just a little schmutz in the corners per the manual with RTV should do the trick.

Be VERY careful retorquing the cover back on after you're done as even Rob has accidentally stripped one of the cam caps in the past.

I've only ever replaced the hoses that go from the Tstat housing to the top of the head myself. One of the ends had literally crumbled and was leaking coolant. Everything else looked ok, no dry rot or swelling so I let them fly. Mine is a 91 as well so I can only assume the hoses are just as old.

Is it a good idea to replace them all? Sure it is but it is expensive. I wished someone had a silicone option for that much money but alas, it isn't the case.

[Chris H]

Just run the hose till its bad, even if replacements run out you can always custom build using samco kit. I just gently wash the cam gasket in a little soapy water and am still running the original from 91 on my VVC motor.

[b4cruz]

http://www.yoyodyneti.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=3055

It will be tight and require forced bending, but it works out to
be the same price for all the b400 hoses. That is, if the forced
bending/shaping actually works.

22mm Straight Hose (7/8) x 1m = $46.67
19mm Straight Hose (3/4) x 1m  = $46.19

thanks for the tips

[tomacGTi]

There's a reason why hoses are molded the way they are: when you bend them, they stand a chance of kinking. I would get the right one before trying to make something work.

The only factory ones I would even try to cheat are the ones running along the LH side of the bike. Everything else has a tight enough turn that I wouldn't risk it.

[PitterB4]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I have a pretty vivid recollection that there ARE alignment dowels on the VC. 

[r_outsider]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I have a pretty vivid recollection that there ARE alignment dowels on the VC. 

There are! Unless you're like Jay and ditch them!

[gsxr400 racer]

lol i hope your not talking about me I have mine in. These usually end up getting eaten by the motor do to a unsuspecting mechanic or brake a rocker or valve...

[b4cruz]

yup the diagram of the infamous dowels can be found page3 in this thread
http://forums.banditalley.net/index.php?topic=2169.30

After reading about all the horror stories about these little buggers
I have prepared myself for the worst.

As long as I can get that cover off and back on without issue I'll
be using my same old hose till they crack and pop.

[tomacGTi]

I'll be the first to admit when I've forgotten.

I've taken that cover off so many damn times I can't remember. That's depressing.

[gsxr400 racer]

Depressing i will tell you what is depressing, running a small business with limited funds, looking at a $10,000+ dollar bike in pieces for two + years. NO MONEY or time to fix, well i have all the parts to fix it just no time and then when i do fix it some more depression watching the tires rot off it do to no money to race. Guess its a good thing i wake up every morning at least.

[b4cruz]

Depressing is oil on my plugs. I'm gonna check all the gaskets on the cover and replace them, then
do a compression test. Besides doing the valves & gaskets is there anything else I can do up top at this stage that would stop oil gettting on my plugs? If it still leaks a little could I raise the plugs up higher with adapters? I'm never gonna race this bike anyways. The plugs look like they can be cleaned and the gap looks fine. And how do I flush the oil out of the chambers for a clean compression test now?

No worries on the dowels confusion. I get so much from this site either way so everyone's response always helps. All tomacGTi's warnings on the re-torqueing will really help me out too.

[tomacGTi]

I take it you're getting oil on your plugs on the combustion side? You sure it's oil and it's not running pig rich? Sure you didn't overfill the oil?

You have to determine if it's the rings or the valve guides/seals. If it smokes on startup and heavier deceleration it's the valve stem seals. If it smokes under hard acceleration, it's the rings. Vacuum draws oil past the stem seals on decel and drips down the stems and collects when you shut off (always worse on the exhaust side). Other way to check is to pull the header off and look into the exhaust ports. If its wet, there's your problem. Blowby past the rings is indicated by smoke on acceleration.

Compression test will tell you if your rings aren't sealing and if you put oil into the chamber (sealing the rings), if the valves are leaking.

Good news if you need to do stem seals is you can do it on the bike. Look for my exhaust cam debacle and it'll show how to make a valve spring compressor and where to get stem seals. Teardown is the only way to do rings. I have no cheat for that.

[b4cruz]

I still have to do more checking. I know my engine eats oil. The level always falls
1/8 qt every 4 tanks or so. The plugs were dirty not with ash or gas but it felt
like oil. The bike doesn't have power issues. Maybe once a year it backfires, but
it never smokes. I've never been able to smell the exhaust and tell if it
runs rich or lean, but I know I get the average MPG even as old as it is.

I hope to check all I can before I put the new gasket and cover back on.

[tomacGTi]

It's normal to use a bit of oil. Unless your bike is doing any of the telltales above, I wouldn't sweat it.