oil burner

just purchaced a 2003 with 10,000 miles and the seller told me to check the oil level often and that the left cyl would foul a plug around 800 or so miles. change plugs and sure enought the left cyl plug was oil fouled. now what do I do, keep driving it and change plugs or try to fix it?? a stuck oil ring? It starts and runs fine now..

UHHHH.... boy you have a problem.
to leave alone is a big if.
Have someone check it out. Run a compression check. That will tell you if it is rings/valves seating.
If that checks out ok, then it could be 2 things.
one the valve stem seals are bad on the intake allowing oil into the cylinder.

or the head gasket is bad allowing oil to the upper galleys/cams to be pushed into the cylinder.
http://hondaparts-direct.com/fiche_section_detail.asp

Neither one is good and neither one is going to be cheap. If you can do the work yourself it will be less.
here is a view of the head.

http://hondaparts-direct.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=144661&category=SCOOTERS&make=HONDA&year=2005&fveh=3417

My guess is it's the head gasket gone bad.

hope this helps.

MaxB

Frank450,

Welcome to the forum. I do not know and will not postulate a theory, but you definitely have a problem. I do not recall ever reading about a similar problem. The FSC600 engine just does not behave that way if all is okay.

jdeereanton wrote:

Frank450,

Welcome to the forum. I do not know and will not postulate a theory, but you definitely have a problem. I do not recall ever reading about a similar problem. The FSC600 engine just does not behave that way if all is okay.

I too have not heard of this on a S'wing but i made my postulation based on past expeiences. On a few the head bolts loosen causing the oil to migrate to the cylinder.

You have to admit it is VERY hard to diagnose problems over the internet. Therefore all solutions are "BEST GUESSES"

Please keep us informed as to the outcome and fix for your problem.

MaxB (Who had lots of this problem on dirt bikes in the past)

One more thing that it might be, a bad spark plug wire or a weak coil. This might be the cause for the fowled plug. Have you changed the oil and filter in your scooter? What ever the case the Honda, for the most of the time, runs like dream and has NO problems to speak of.

frank450 wrote:

just purchaced a 2003 with 10,000 miles and the seller told me to check the oil level often and that the left cyl would foul a plug around 800 or so miles. change plugs and sure enought the left cyl plug was oil fouled. now what do I do, keep driving it and change plugs or try to fix it?? a stuck oil ring? It starts and runs fine now..

800 miles is a fair way to ride before a plug fouls - normally I'd expect less than 100, before a fault shows up. Mind you I'm used to carbs not fuel injection (perhaps the ECU is countering masking part of the problem - conjecture only at this point).

If you're handy with spanners I'd check the compression against the specs Honda lists. All this will really do is confirm you have a problem (which you know already).

You don't say if the bike has been stood around for any length of time?? 10000 miles on an 03 bike is pretty low. Do you know how long the previous owner had the machine and if the fault manifested its self after he purchased it?? If it was like that previously then I'd suspect that the bike has been stored without the bores being oiled and that the left hand ring is gumbed up. It is possible that it may free its self if you take the bike out for a long run and get it nice and warm, on the other hand it may not and your only option would be to have the piston out and free it off by hand (baking in an oven works well, but makes the kitchen stink a bit - only do this either with the express permission of the kitchen owner or wait until they are out for the day )

The only real way to check if the valve stem seals etc. are okay is to have the head off and perform a fill/leak test. Perfomed simply by turning the head upside down, supporting it so its level (leave the plug in) and fill the combustion chamber with hydraulic fluid or diesel fuel and leave over night. If you come back in the morning and find nothing has leaked then the set up is fine. Leaks from the valve seats or around the stems suggests faults with either the valve seats or the stem seals respectively.

I would like to suggest that if the head gasket had gone, then you would either have a lot of Mayonaise in the crank case and on the dip stick or the bike would blow coolant and run hot, neither of which you mention.

Hope this helps and you find a solution quickly. I'm afraid either way you are looking at a bill, even if it is only for a set of plugs, a head gasket and a piston ring - at Honda prices I doubt thats going to be cheap (it certainly isn't here in the UK!).

Thanks guys for your input.. the local honda man said it might be a bad check valve in the cyl head cover which controls the oil blowby like a pcv in cars.. Anybody heard that?? will do compression test soon. thanks