Help!!! Broken reed!!!

[haromang14]

So after doing a successful leakdown test for piece of mind on my 06 sxr during the winter season i decided since my carbs were off to just inspect the reeds for warping or whatever and noticed one of my rear bottom reed petals were missing!!! I cant find the piece and i was instructed to yank the stock head and inspect the domes, nothing unusual, no gouges or anything on the cylinders, i had 160-160 comp in each cyl, what to do now? Did the engine just consume it or do i need to pull the cases, i dont see or hear anything in the crank so i assume all is fine? Somebody please set my mind at ease?!?!?

 

[haromang14]

Forgot to mention that the lubricant in the bottom end looked alittle white in that cyl compared to the one with the intact reeds, could be from the rich mixture from the reeds not being able to close?......

 

[naticen]

No worries with the motor eating plastic reeds. I'm surprised to wouldn't notice that reed being broken. You should notice when you put it back in. White lubricant sounds like water ingestion, but if you mean lack of black junk on top of the piston then that rear cylinder does look rich and I would think it should improve if that reed was missing for a while.

 

[Blue]

Backs a little rich but the burn pattern is really good. Thats how they should look. Plastic shouldnt hurt anything. Runnit.

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[haromang14]

I just bought the ski in feb, havnt rode it yet, i did notice the FA and air box was alittle oily so that explains the missing reed but as far as water goes, i drained the fuel when i got it and since then had put about 1/4 tank of fresh fuel with stabilizer and yamaha ring free through the motor so i dont think its water, other than the oily FA the ski started fine and revved nicely but after a rev and then returning to idle for about 5-10 second the idle would drop, so basically i couldnt get it to idle consistantly but thats obviously from the reed not being able to close, im just worried about the tan/ whiteish oil and the missing piece, got some new stock reeds on the way i guess ill run it again, should i carefully scrape that carbon buildup off of the top of the pistons? And what does that accumulation mean? Leaner would be more accumulation?

 

[Blue]

Leaner would be blacker to the edges. Correct. Leave it or clean it doesnt matter it will come right back once u run it. Oily white film is usually due to a little water entering the carbs which is common in standup skis.

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[haromang14]

Ok cool thanks guys, this happen to anyone else where a motor consumes a reed valve?

 

[naticen]

Not rare at all. They are a wear item that needs replaced every now and then

 

[haromang14]

Ok so i replaced the reeds with oem petals, loctite'd the screws, new gaskets, installed in ski and ran on the hose, she sounds good, seems more snappy when i blip the throttle and seems to idle steady now after comming back down from high rpm and the flame arrestors are bone dry, so im hoping all is well internally and shell last for many summers, i did leakdown test the motor after installing the reeds/reed gaskets/ head gasket and noticed the motor dropped about 3/4psi during the 10 min test, i did 8 psi for 10 min and i also did a test prior to pulling the cages and had no drop in pressure AT ALL. Is a 1 psi drop bad? Should i re test now that the gaskets had a chance to heat up? Or is it common? I figured it has to be a gasket and not the crank seals because it held pressure %100 before taking the cages out

 

[naticen]

I've had the reeds seal and make the gauge show leakdown a tiny bit if you don't spin the motor back and forth a hair to equalize the pressure on both sides of the reeds. 1 PSI isn't bad and should be fine though, but iit would bother me if it wasn't as good before the work. Spray some soapy water around your intake gaskets and studs and see if it blows bubbles.

 

[haromang14]

Gotcha, any way to test carb base gaskets for a good seal?