[pman1928]

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I bought a real nice looking '86, 1200 Aspencade. I had the local Honda dealer service the bike out- forks, brakes and fluids. I changed oil myself the other day following warming the engine and draning the crankcase for about 40 minutes, then changed the filter. I had only put about 400 miles on the bike since the Honda dealer had serviced it. The dirt I found in the bottom of the drain pan looked like bronze metal fines and a couple of what looked like metal chips. The bike has about 37,800 miles on it and runs great. It shifts fine with a little clunking sometimes shiftingfrom 3rd into 2nd. I don't know what I am looking at in the bottom of the oil drain pan. Could this be some kinf of clutch material? Is there something else I should checK? The bike doesn't use or leak any oil. Thanks for the help.

 

[AZgl1800]

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I would consider it clutch material long before thinking that any of the engine wear parts have a problem.

Many examples of the Goldwing engine running several hundred thousands of miles w/o ever being repaired. Just normal routine oil changes and filters.

When you next get down to needing an oil change, pour in 4 oz of Sea Foam and run that for a while, say 100-200 miles. Then drain the engine while it is still as hot as you can work on it.

That will clean out anything that should not be in the oil.


Sea Foam alternatives are MMO, ATF, and other hawked products. Most of us prefer Sea Foam for its' predictability and known performance.

 

[Kimswang]

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Take the filter off and open it up. This will tell you what really went on. Lots of metal filings is not a good sign... Take some pictures of your findings and post them here, lots of experience and helpful people.

 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

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I'd keep an eye on it... maybe change the oil again in another 1000 miles. Filters are there for a reason. I'd assume some metal flaking could be from transmission gears, but you shouldn't be seeing much metal being "manufactured"... just the odd chip now and then. Larger amounts of metal debris being seen on oil changes is a sign something's not right.

 

[Bike...and Dennis]

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Hi Pman, and welcome to the forum.

With only 37 K on the bike, it's obvious that it has been sitting all its life. What you're seeing could be several things, maybe even some sort ofsurface rust from parts sitting above the oil level. Try a good cleaning, as others have suggested, but don't worry about it. Ride the bike often, use a quality oil and change it regularly. The bike will probably live forever.

 

[Wingsconsin]

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I would be careful with the adding of any cleaning agent (Seafoam, MMO, or other) and here is my reasoning...
When I had my 1200 I did this to try to clear a clogged oil port in the right side . The oil came out BLACK BLACK BLACK (did I say black?). It was obvious that it was working..My bike had about 50K on it at the time and ran great too...
It did not clear the the clog and we ended up doing it manually..hwoever the unintended consequence I learned was that the cleaner had removed ALL the built up sludge from the seals. The very sludge that was stoping it from leaking...
So when I switched to synthetic oil after the repair I found about 6 or so little leaks in the seals that were never there beofer..even on the left side where we did NO WORK...
My THEORY was that the cleaning caused the leaking because it cleared the blockages from the inner seals - the OLD seals then leaked...
I would say it might be better to change oil & filter several times early (1000 miles at a time) and use the natural process designed into the wing to clear the metal flakes...
An oil change is cheap enough if you do it yourself...and you can monitor closely what is going on...After a change or two you should see better results...

Just my 2 ¢ ...

 

[Redeye1620]

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Spend $25 & get an oil analysis. This will tell you excatly what you are looking at in your oil. I use this company for my vehicles & trust their reports.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php

 

[wingsam41]

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I wouldn't worry much about it. Like Dennis said the bike hasn't been driven much in it's life. I would just check it each oil change. If it starts getting worse then you may want to send in an oil sample and filter for analysis but I'd guess it won't amount to anything. My SEI did the same when I got it with 28000 on the clock. I think I was the one who actually broke the bike in.

 

[William_86]

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i would say its clutch plates material, i've used seafoam on my crankcase (1200) like 3 times and never got any new leaks. i have actually used more than what the can says with no problems.

 

[Ken Bergen]

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William_86 wrote:

i would say its clutch plates material, i've used seafoam on my crankcase (1200) like 3 times and never got any new leaks. i have actually used more than what the can says with no problems.

Yes William it was more likely the synthetic oil as I've heard reports of new leaks on old engines when switching.

 

[sandiegobrass]

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Wingsconsin wrote:

I.....so when I switched to synthetic oil after the repair I found about 6 or so little leaks in the seals that were never there beofer..even on the left side where we did NO WORK... My THEORY was that the cleaning caused the leaking because it cleared the blockages from the inner seals - the OLD seals then leaked.......

It is a known phenomena that old seals used with "dino" oil will often shrink when switched to synthetics.. probably nothing to do with the cleaning...



If interested in why.. keep reading..

Non-synthetics contain much more absorbable solvent than synthetics... the solvent swells the gaskets and overtime shapes the gaskets to the clearances. Changing to synthetic will allow the solvents to escape from the gasket material causing some shrinkage... good gaskets will usually eventually seal, but if worn, they may not..

 

[tbiede]

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Welcome to the site and good luck with your new bike!
I have also read the same thing about using fully synthetic oil with an older model anything. Synthetic oil gets rid of sludge (good thing), that is actually stopping leaks from happening (bad thing). I use Honda HP4 oil, which is part dino., part synthetic, and have had good luck with it. But, others on this forum use different oil and there is a ton of discussion on here about it. Good Luck!

 

[Longboater]

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Change the oil / filter often 2-3K with good long miles draining hot. This should clear up. Inspect the drain oil from both. Take a thick sample and dilute with mineral spirits (paint thinner) to bring out the filings. Do same with a cut open filter.

Do and oil anylisis if this does not clear up.

Let us know your results after each change.

The worst thing for any machine is to remain idle.

 

[Wingsconsin]

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sandiegobrass wrote:

Wingsconsin wrote:

I.....so when I switched to synthetic oil after the repair I found about 6 or so little leaks in the seals that were never there beofer..even on the left side where we did NO WORK... My THEORY was that the cleaning caused the leaking because it cleared the blockages from the inner seals - the OLD seals then leaked.......

It is a known phenomena that old seals used with "dino" oil will often shrink when switched to synthetics.. probably nothing to do with the cleaning...



If interested in why.. keep reading..

Non-synthetics contain much more absorbable solvent than synthetics... the solvent swells the gaskets and overtime shapes the gaskets to the clearances. Changing to synthetic will allow the solvents to escape from the gasket material causing some shrinkage... good gaskets will usually eventually seal, but if worn, they may not..

I DID say it was a THEORY....:gunhead:

Makes perfect sense to me now...but at the time it was more than a little maddening...

Thanks for shedding some light on that old mystery.

 

[pman1928]

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Hey All,
Thanks for the good input. Being new to Honda anything it earlly means a lot!:waving:

 

[sandiegobrass]

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Wingsconsin wrote:

sandiegobrass wrote:

Wingsconsin wrote:

I.....so when I switched to synthetic oil after the repair I found about 6 or so little leaks in the seals that were never there beofer..even on the left side where we did NO WORK... My THEORY was that the cleaning caused the leaking because it cleared the blockages from the inner seals - the OLD seals then leaked.......

It is a known phenomena that old seals used with "dino" oil will often shrink when switched to synthetics.. probably nothing to do with the cleaning...


If interested in why.. keep reading..

Non-synthetics contain much more absorbable solvent than synthetics... the solvent swells the gaskets and overtime shapes the gaskets to the clearances. Changing to synthetic will allow the solvents to escape from the gasket material causing some shrinkage... good gaskets will usually eventually seal, but if worn, they may not..

I DID say it was a THEORY....:gunhead:

Makes perfect sense to me now...but at the time it was more than a little maddening...

Thanks for shedding some light on that old mystery.

don't be too critical of your sludge theory.. sludgecan also play asealing role particularly with worn and cracked gaskets... I said "probably"as the likely (IMO)cause... but not as a certainty ...

 

[Freddie Johnston]

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You know I have heard the pros and con on synthetic.I had a friend telling me don't put synthetic in my 1200 he had a friend that put it in his bike and the clutches started slipping well I have it in my bike and cars it runs great in it.I have a brother who runs a quicky lube and keeps telling me if the engine was broke in on dino lube and you change to synthetic it will leak well it ain't leaking.

 

[redwing52]

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I would be careful with the engine. If the particles make the oil look like gold metal flake paint that is usually bearing material. If you experience the start of any knocking, sqealing or sense the motor is getting tight you micht want to shut it off to avoid more damage. I have seen many spun bearing with the tattletale gold metal flake. I agree with the guys that say do an analysis. Cheap insurance.