Rotella oil

[buggrin]

Hi Octane = no joy

Was 80 degF here today, so some hiway miles were in order. Tank filled with 93 octane hi dollar stuff had no impact on the phantom noise. An hour at 75 mph was dead smooth & quiet, but noise was baaaack at 50 mph. My best swag is exhaust noise sounds different thru these headers. Next step is to change the oil to new 20W50 to see if that makes it go away.

[scalded dog]

"COMBUSTION CHAMBER CLEANER" Never heard of that, where can I get some? Later 'Dog

[mitch]

cleaner

Should be able to get it where you get your carb cleaner or any good auto parts store ie: pep boys etc.......MITCH

[scalded dog]

Thanks Mitch, I don't like to do invasive surgery unless I just have to. LOL. Later 'Dog

[jacuff1]

If all else fails, go to your nearest Chrysler dealer. The parts department should have it on the shelf. When I had my Talon, I read about this stuff on the Talon.org list, and the guys there talked about getting it at the Chrysler dealer. But you should be able to get a generic version at the local Pep Boys, Autozone, NAPA, etc. And I'm sure it would be cheaper there!

John

[mixelpix]

Compression Chamber Cleaner - a fuel additive? or something you actually put in the cylinders? Does it really work on coked up chambers? How about in versus manually de-coking? ease of pouring vs. pain in ass... I use RedLine fuel additive which does a pretty good job, but I've also been told all fuel additives are basically the same jet fuel leftovers or somthing?

Rotella - so what is it about this stuff that is so good? I found some at a local Kragen (an otherwise awful store, but close...) and used it for my last oil change and there was a noticeable improvement in the idle/cold starts and shifting. I also rode it a good solid 1000 miles the day I bought it... Go figure.

Thanks! -pdk

[Jerry]

Books have been written about oil...you'll get several opinions!. Generally speaking, oils are formulated for different service conditions. Rotella, as well as other major brands like Mobile's Delvac or Castrol, use higher quality base stocks that change viscosity less over time than chaper oil brands. To this they add a blend of additives to help lubricate, resist oxidation, and other desireable characteristics.

Trouble is that our engines are 23 - 27 years old, and oil technology has changed a bunch. The newer oil blends are made for different engine conditions. Rotella and other oils are "diesel rated" which generally means they are closer to the original XS/XJ 1100 oil specs. Fewer additives means fewer problems with our 'wet bath' clutches; many people have reported clutch/starter problems when switching to synthetics, for example.

Its not that Rotella is a superior oil to others out there, its just that it comes very close to the original design parameters Yamaha formulated back in the late '70s. Honda oil, and other motorcycle-specific oils, share similar characteristics.

Your choices are to go with a diesel rated oil or pay the higher price of the Honda/Yamaha engine oils.

As mentioned before, changing the oil and filter on a regular basis is probably more important than the brand you use. Still, I would go with Rotella, Delvac, Castrol, or other brand-name oil because they generally use higher-quaility materials than your local 7-11 store brand.

There are quite a few "difference in oils" web pages out there if you want to read up on the 3-ball test, foaming, and other technicalities of testing oils. A good collection of articles is at:

http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/BaseOils/articles.shtml

Read and learn!

[mixelpix]

gotcha, thanks! how about the compression chamber cleaner, is that hogwash?

(And I don't mean body soap for HD owners)

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Mixelpix,

I remember reading about various techniques for removing caked on carbon from inside the combustion chamber, from just running the engine up to normal temps and then spraying in a MIST of cold water into the chamber, which causes the carbon to crystalize/fracture and flake off and get blown out the exhaust.

Hey Buggrin,
You mentioned you put on NEW 4-2 pipes vs. the OEM's. ANY aftermarket pipes are going to breath better than the OEM's, therefore, I think you may have leaned out things a bit!? What did your plugs look like after your 75mile trip with the high octane gas?? If they look more white than usual, then you will want to make adjustments to richen things up, whether it's your float level, needle setting, or rejetting?? I'm no carb guru, just trying to brainstorm!

[DiverRay]

for the cleaner, I use B12 Chemtool. Just one brand, it is called a "carb cleaner", but will take carbon off of anything. It can be in pint cans or spray cans.
It does sound as if the oil is part of the equation in your problem. I do use Mobil One in all my vehicles, and will use it in this bike as well. I didn't have any problems with synthetic in my 78 back in 1978. The clutch, and the engine, lasted for 34K miles with me adjusting only three valves.

[Materi]

Originally posted by Jerry
Books have been written about oil...you'll get several opinions!.


Still, I would go with Rotella, Delvac, Castrol, or other brand-name oil because they generally use higher-quaility materials http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/BaseOils/articles.shtml

Read and learn!

This summer I switched to Mobile 1 Full Synthetic 20w50. I had not noticed an oil consumption problem before, but this stuff blew right through the bike! I also noticed some occasional "slipping" action in the clutch. An old mechanic told me not to use the synthetic in an older motor like this because it will clean it out "too well". What say you cats to this??

Thanks,

Keith

[Pat Kelly]

Re: Hi Octane = no joy

Originally posted by buggrin
An hour at 75 mph was dead smooth & quiet, but noise was baaaack at 50 mph.

So never ride slower than 70

[xs1100virgin]

you said it would knock when cold and kinda go away after it got warmed up originally i thought. this sounded like piston slap to me. if you had a hunch that it might be a rod just let it idle and pull a plug wire off one at a time and see if it goes away. plug not firing takes load off bearing, no knock. works on cars just thought i would mention it.

[planedick]

Bottom end knock

I know from past experience, (That's another story) that a loose rod will be the loudest at no load. Just run it up to about 2000 in neutral and if it's a loose rod you WILL hear it.