Eeww that smell. Smoke at cylinder.

[Ashsix50]

I bought a 93 vmax and in the process of ts some wiring issues I noticed my #1 cylinder was not plugged into coil.

Plug it in and start, the #1 cylinder puts off a lot of white smoke. Smells almost like burning rubber.

I don't see anything leaking on the headers. Unplug at coil and it slowly stops smoking.

I suppose my next step is to aquire a leak down tester.
Valve cover gaskets looks to be helped with some red gasket in a tube paste. ( looks like)

Any advice and tips would be much appreciated. Thx.

 

[RempageR1]

Could you take out the ignition plug and post a pic? White normally means coolant and a blown head gasket.

 

[Parminio]

I'm betting RempageR1 is right. If you just bought the bike you got screwed. He pulled the plug so you wouldn't see that it had a blown head gasket (or worse).

The V4 has a way of fooling you when it comes to vibration. It can run on three cylinders pretty well and the inexperienced rider will think it's fine.

I think you've been had.

 

[Ashsix50]

I'm betting RempageR1 is right. If you just bought the bike you got screwed. He pulled the plug so you wouldn't see that it had a blown head gasket (or worse).

The V4 has a way of fooling you when it comes to vibration. It can run on three cylinders pretty well and the inexperienced rider will think it's fine.

I think you've been had.

Yeah, when I noticed it was unplugged I was afraid something was wrong

I'm betting RempageR1 is right. If you just bought the bike you got screwed. He pulled the plug so you wouldn't see that it had a blown head gasket (or worse).

The V4 has a way of fooling you when it comes to vibration. It can run on three cylinders pretty well and the inexperienced rider will think it's fine.

I think you've been had.

I know it. The bikes got about 40,000 miles on it and I knew it would be a project but that pulled coil plug was sneaky as hell. Not much I can do about it now.

Spark plug is brand new and has only maybe 5 minutes of run time on it tops. So not much use there.

I guess where I'm at now, since I have to drop the engine do I buy a used one or attempt a rebuild depending on if it's only a head gasket or cracked block.

I'll know more when the leak down tester comes.
Thx

 

[RempageR1]

The plug might show coolant residue but let`s wait for the leak down results.

 

[MaxMidnight]

First step would be to undertake diagnosis before taking any decisions.
A leak down tester would identify rings or valve issues and a cooling system pressure tester will identify if one of the head gaskets is leaking but not which one.
If you identify a leaking gasket do not turn the engine over as if there is sufficient coolant in the cylinder this may cause a hydraulic lock.
Remove all of the plugs and put a rag over each plug hole before turning the engine over.
Don't stand adjacent to a plug hole because at best you may get wet or at worse coolant at high velocity in your eyes.

 

[one2dmax]

As noted the testing is a good place to start. BUT, I would hook it back up and let it run at least 30 minutes (watching the temp gauge to ensure no overheating) and see if the smoking subsides. They can do that if it's been not firing for any length of time.

 

[DreamV4]

clean spark plug drain holes. You can have some water there, it is boiling. You also need to find source of smoke. Which side of cylinder? Smoke cannot come from every inch of aluminum. Use brake cleaner to clean cylinder, including spark plug well(cleaner should drain thru drain hole!!!), just don't set fire.
You have 2 choices:
diagnose yourself or pay somebody.

 

[DreamV4]

If you just bought the bike you got screwed.

so far I don't see any real problem, maybe it is there, maybe not.
Based on description, valve cover is leaking on exhaust pipe. Somebody tried to fix it with red RTV. We still don't know where smoke comes from.
Ash, are you from FL? If you are, I'll try to scare you, so I can buy your bike dirt cheap!!!

 

[Ashsix50]

As noted the testing is a good place to start. BUT, I would hook it back up and let it run at least 30 minutes (watching the temp gauge to ensure no overheating) and see if the smoking subsides. They can do that if it's been not firing for any length of time.

So far so good. Compression on that #1 was 180. The smoke subsided and it seems to run well. The smoke was coming from behind where the exhaust headers go in. I thought initially that coolant was burning off the headers but could see nothing dripping or spraying on them. Still couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was coming from.

35 miles driving it. Does not look like any coolant in the oil. Doesn't smoke but occasionally get a whiff of what smells like burning coolant. Perhaps I over reacted a bit. I'm watching my oil close.
Plugs show maybe a touch lean.
Little white.


Think maybe when the prev. Owner replaced the battery he just didn't plug that cylinder in.
Thank you very much.

 

[desert_max]

Good for you!

Leaking valve cover gaskets are very common. If a bike hasn't been run for a while, it'll smoke like stink when you first start it up.

 

[MaxMidnight]

...but occasionally get a whiff of what smells like burning coolant. Perhaps I over reacted a bit. I'm watching my oil close.
Plugs show maybe a touch lean.
Little white.

As well as the oil I'd also check coolant level just in case your nose is right. You may also see deposits where any coolant has evaporated.

 

[Parminio]

Maybe he (the guy you bought it from) was just oblivious to the fact he was running on 3 cylinders all along.

Good for you!

 

[Ashsix50]

Maybe he (the guy you bought it from) was just oblivious to the fact he was running on 3 cylinders all along.

You may be right. He claimed not to be much of a bike guy and I never ridden a vmax so I didn't notice either. I had feeling after awhile that something might be off and when I went hunting for a signal circuit short I finally noticed. Oh well I will continue to learn one way or another...

 

[MaxMidnight]

Oh well I will continue to learn one way or another...

You probably learn more by getting it wrong that by always getting it right.
Keep plugging away and we are here to help if needed.

 

[Parminio]

You probably learn more by getting it wrong that by always getting it right.

Absolutely!