Hydraulic lock symptoms?

sixofsix · Post by **sixofsix** » Sat May 17, 2008 5:54 pm

I hydraulic'd my CBX back in 1987. If you do get it started, it sounds like a bent valve, kinda a fluttering sound. Ran pretty good, but piston did not come all the way up. A beautiful perfectly curved rod, looked factory...

....nothing $2500 wouldn't fix. I ended up rebuilding it completely after just telling the wife I just needed a new rod, gaskets, a few minor parts.

So......Never ever park your 79 on the sidestand with the gas still on. If you forget and do that, crank 'er over with the kill switch on. And if it does stop cranking suddenly, don't think, oh that's just the starter malfunctioning and try to fire 'er up on a second try.....well, mind you, it's nothing $2500 won't fix....like stunned #0006 did 21 years ago...

cbxtacy · Post by **cbxtacy** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:03 pm

I've seen them bent so bad the piston hit the crank and the engine would not turn all the way around. I've seen them (like Tony's) where they would run. I repaired one once by just replacing the rod. I did the work, I have spare engines with rod's, and all it cost me was head and base gaskets. It's kind of fun dis-mantling an engine. Like a big puzzle but with a shop manual it's fairly easy if you have the patience.

CDNCBX · Post by **CDNCBX** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:42 pm

Hello all,

Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their suggestions and input. The issue must have been hydraulic locking. With Terry's help, I removed the starter, tested it (fine) and put it all back together.

The plugs were removed - and new ones put it, changed the oil and the bike cranked fine - and then ran fine.

Nice to have the tank and everything off/out - makes cleaning all the bits a lot easier

Thanks again for everyone's input and help.

Kind regards, Persi