Timing belts don't like oil!

[gltriker]

Hey all,
Here's a little update on where we're at.

snip-
At the moment, I'm playing around with iginition. For whatever reason, cylinders 3 and 4 haven't been firing great; I can tell from way less acceleration and their headers being far less hot than the cyl 1/2 ones.

please Share what you have been 'playing around' with, sebastien.
-original ignition coils and wires and spark plug caps?
-breaker points and condenser?

[Old Fogey]

Don't be tempted to try stopping the oil leak by overtightening the cover bolts; they do snap or strip the threads easily.
You will be able to check the valve guides once the valves are removed. It is unlikely that they will have sustained any damage. If they are damaged, you must clean the outsides of the guides of any residue before removing them or risk damaging the head.
Don't even think about reusing the old head gasket!!
Do replace the two O rings on each oil feed restrictor.

[Old Fogey]

Looks like I missed something. You seem to be past what I was offering advice for.

[redglbx]

Fogey,,,

[sebastien]

Hey all,
Here's a little update on where we're at.

snip-
At the moment, I'm playing around with iginition. For whatever reason, cylinders 3 and 4 haven't been firing great; I can tell from way less acceleration and their headers being far less hot than the cyl 1/2 ones.

please Share what you have been 'playing around' with, sebastien.
-original ignition coils and wires and spark plug caps?
-breaker points and condenser?

Hi Cliff, yes, ignition is all stock; points, condenser, everything. Last night I rechecked and reset the ignition exactly as per Octane's instructions and Randakk's Split Timing technique and still got bad to no firing on cylinders 3 and 4. Front cylinders registered over 200C whereas rear two were around 30C, likely just head conduction through metal. I attached a timing light to the cyl. 1 and 2 wires and got the strobing light, whereas nothing came from attaching to wires 3 and 4. Today, I took a spare spark plug and tested for ignition on the L side. Got spark from the cyl. 2 lead but nothing from the cyl.4.

Now, I'm in the middle of removing my '77 coils and wires and placing the spare '76 ones and eager to see if that makes any difference. Will let you know.

[sebastien]

Don't be tempted to try stopping the oil leak by overtightening the cover bolts; they do snap or strip the threads easily.
You will be able to check the valve guides once the valves are removed. It is unlikely that they will have sustained any damage. If they are damaged, you must clean the outsides of the guides of any residue before removing them or risk damaging the head.
Don't even think about reusing the old head gasket!!
Do replace the two O rings on each oil feed restrictor.

Thanks for the advice Old Fogey. My in-laws are in Scotland and northern England right now on a bike trip. E-bike, that is! Looks like it's been pretty sunny; awesome

[sebastien]

In addition to the repairs due to failing belts the source of the oil leak needs fixing. Possibly a new crank oil seal and/or camshaft oil seals will be required. Some or all have been leaking pretty bad to contaminate the belts?
Jerry

For sure, I did change the crankshaft seal and have spare cam seals waiting for the right moment

[gltriker]

Hey all,
Here's a little update on where we're at.

snip-
At the moment, I'm playing around with iginition. For whatever reason, cylinders 3 and 4 haven't been firing great; I can tell from way less acceleration and their headers being far less hot than the cyl 1/2 ones.

please Share what you have been 'playing around' with, Sebastien.
-original ignition coils and wires and spark plug caps?
-breaker points and condenser?

Hi Cliff, yes, ignition is all stock; points, condenser, everything. Last night I rechecked and reset the ignition exactly as per Octane's instructions and Randakk's Split Timing technique and still got bad to no firing on cylinders 3 and 4. Front cylinders registered over 200C whereas rear two were around 30C, likely just head conduction through metal. I attached a timing light to the cyl. 1 and 2 wires and got the strobing light, whereas nothing came from attaching to wires 3 and 4. Today, I took a spare spark plug and tested for ignition on the L side. Got spark from the cyl. 2 lead but nothing from the cyl.4.

Now, I'm in the middle of removing my '77 coils and wires and placing the spare '76 ones and eager to see if that makes any difference. Will let you know.

Sebastien, the solution may be something as simple as a loose plug-together bullet terminals connection in the primary ignition wiring circuit. I think of three. Two in the immediate vicinity of the affected ignition coil. Where's the Third?

'How is that possible if I was successful to set the static ignition timing on both sets of breaker contacts, exactly as per Octane's instructions and Randakk's Split Timing technique ?? '

Len Cross had a quite similar situation... review Len's post #15 and his informative youtube video link

viewtopic.php?t=78720


important info from Randakk regarding condenser' case ground path resistance:
https://www.randakksblog.com/gl1000-con ... denser.pdf

and
https://www.randakksblog.com/wp-content ... denser.pdf