Cam Bearing Failure

[JonS]

Okay, so i was riding to day and my warrior started knocking. I then shut it off and towed it back home.

this is what i found:

Luckily nothing is chewed up inside the head. The rockers are fine, the valves and springs are fine, and the cam didn't get scarred up.

Here's the issue though, i can't locate any of the little balls that came from the cam bearing. where could they be? i took the stator cover off and the drain plug with no evidence either place.:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:

 

[1999yamahawarrior]

Those balls are probably hiding in the crankcase somewhere. Is that a hot cam?

 

[duneracerweston]

well, i feel your pain! id flush the casses and see if any come out or if they are stuck to the flywheel maybe?

 

[lil red s-10]

take the clutch cover off and look there i dropped a old wrist pin clip down there when i took my old piston off for my weisco and couldnt find it so i said eff it and ran it annyways and just cound in inside the clutch cover redoing my clutch

 

[Gen1Pat]

Damn that sucks balls dude! Good luck finding them all. I'd pull the stator and clutch covers off and get a good birds eye view. Flush like weston said and fish around in there with a flexible magnet wand.

 

[Mathius]

Flush like weston said and fish around in there with a flexible magnet wand.

I 3rd that idea.. Their in there somewhere?? lol

 

[JonS]

What are the chances of finding them anywhere? Wouldnt they fall down the timing chain passage? There are magnets on the flywheel correct? Been a while since I have torn it down.


Can you guys gimme an idea of how many bearings are in a cam bearing? Is it six or seven?

 

[JonS]

Also, how would i go about flushing the cases out and what would I use to do it?

 

[Gen1Pat]

I would look in the head and the crankcase. Removing both the stator and clutch covers will give you a very good view of everything. Best view you'll get without splitting the case. There are magnets on the flywheel, so hopefully most of them are stuck to it.

 

[JonS]

Thats the problem too, I dont have a flywheel puller either. I'll have to give it a gander tomorrow. Thanks

 

[JonS]

Okay so I have managed to find 5 of the little ball bearings so far. I still don't have a flywheel puller though and I still don't know exactly how many balls I need to locate. I did find part of the little cage in there as well.

Does anyone have an old cam bearing laying around that they could look at for me and count the balls?

 

[YAMAHAULER]

I bet they are stuck to the flywheel I would pull stator side cover and tip it on the left side and either balls will drop out or they will be stuck to flywheel
do you know how many you need to find?

 

[war96ior]

My stock cam bearing has 10 balls.. Mike

 

[JonS]

I was trying to find out how many I need to find and now war96ior has chimed in with the magic answer. I have found 5 so far, but I will have to find a puller to get the rest out of it. Still only found a fraction of the bearing cage too so hopfully some of it is on the flywheel too.

 

[JonS]

the news is 95% good boys, fingers crossed the 5% will go after i get the flywheel off lol. i found 4 more ball bearings and a good chunk of the bearing race hiding inside the head around the exhaust valve housing. with any luck the last bearing and anymore of the cage is stuck to the flywheel or already made it's exit through the exh or the oil when i drained it.

everything else is pretty normal i believe. going to get a new cam chain, a new oil drain plug, and that's about it. probably stick it back together with some oem or cometic gaskets. need to work with the jetting as well. the combustion chamber and piston crown is black as tar.

if anyone else has any suggestions about the way that piston looks i am all ears. every opinion and comment is welcome.

 

[duneracerweston]

burning oil i see.

 

[Gen1Pat]

Weston is reading my mind again^^^. lol

 

[JonS]

burning oil. okay, what does that mean exactly? something going on with the rings? i did notice the jug had a bit of wear on the front and a bit of wear on the left side if you're looking in from the front. this could be from getting slightly warm and then rapidly cooling. i like to ride down in the bottom of the local creek when it's low enough. i think that might be that issue.

 

[duneracerweston]

if it didnt smoke on start up, you may want to chech and see if there is amy hash marks in the cylender if not it needs a hone job at least.

 

[JonS]

welp, may or may not need a flywheel side case halve. i think i am going to chance it and also think hard about parting this thing out. i really can't afford to split the cases atm so it's just up in the air right now.

found a piece of the timing chain guide seat broken off and in the oil sump. i guess the chain had gotten bound up in there since i've had it torn apart. i don't think it's a big deal if i run it sitting like that or w/o the secondary guide all together. (lets call the bolt in guide the primary if you will)

can i easily separate that side case without getting into taking the trans apart? i dunno. also, it depends on how much a case halve is going to cost to whether i will repair or not as well.

other than that i found all sheared pieces of cam baering including the last ball bearing i was looking for. also, found that cam seat from the 252 i sheared off lol. been floating in there since december 2010. haha