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Engine trouble GL1100 - need shop recommendation

394 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  ndeboy, 
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I was riding on the Atlantic City Expressway two days ago, when my '81 GL100i lost power and wouldn't restart. I got it towed to my fiance's parents house and started investigating. An oil change got it running, but revealed metal filings in the discarded oil. It's also making a "pinging" noise that sounds like a bad lifter.

I don't really have the facilities to tear the engine apart, so I was hoping that someone here could recommend a good shop in South Jersey or SE Pennsylvania that would be willing to work on an older Wing. I'm really hoping to save the bike - but an engine rebuild sounds expensive. Would it be a better idea to swap out the whole engine, rather than repair the damaged one?

Any advice is appreciated!
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krazy al
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i would run some sea foam in the oil. and also a can in a full tank of gas.i would run it about 200 miles.be kinda easy on the driveing it for the 200 miles then change oil and filter.what type of oil are you running in it?i run delo 15-40 in mine.you may want to check your dog bone fuse.i would wire a 30 amp fuse in its place.i dont know how oil would keep it from running unless you locked up engine.witch you havent or it would not start???


alan
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jackjohn
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Hi Ndeboy, sorry to hear of your trouble. Being from Texas I cannot help with a repair shop in your area. I can answer a few questions for you though. The 1100 doesn't have lifters, it is overhead cam, the cam lobe drives a rocker arm and the arm drives the valve. If one is too loose, it can give the ticking sound like a lifter in an automotive engine.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of a scenario that would shut the engine down and then go away after a simple oil changeunless it was actually heat related.How much metal flake did you find in the oil and how many miles does the engine have on it? As for repairing or replacing, if something has come loose in there and wasted itself, then repairing may be very expensive. Used engines are available through ebay or a bike breaker and may be the simplest and least expensive route to getting back on the road. Remember that if you go the replacement route, you should also replace the timing belts on the (new) engine and probably the water pump also.

It is almost impossible to find a Honda dealer around here that will work on one of these old bikes. (or that can for that matter) Perhaps one of the members that lives up your way will chime in with some suggestions, maybe an independent.
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Thanks for the engine info. Mine has about 90,000 miles on it, of which maybe a thousand are mine. The new metal-on-metal sound, combined with a pretty significant amount of flakes in the drain-pan have me convinced that it's something no amount of seafoam will fix.


I've spent enough time on this forum to know that Honda dealers aren't likely to touch this bike, so I'm really counting on someone to point me to the local old-wing specialist.
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