OK so i think i might have done something really stupid.. i was doing a top end ( my first) on my aprilia atlantic 125 4 stroke, and when trying to fit the circlip on then new piston it decided to fly off at high speed.. the worst of it is.. i DID have a rag covering the cylinder hole but took it out to give the gasket face a final clean and forgot to put the rag back in.. no i have no idea if the circlip went into the crank case or not, but ive just spend 6 hours looking around my workshop shed for it there is still old dirty oil in the engine as i have not changed it yet..looks years old . ( i have bought this bike as a non runner) its a leader 125 4 stroke engine.. im weighing up my options, do i 1, strip it down and crack the case ? ( im not expereienced) 2, drain and flush the crankcase with pertol and try a magnetic snake to fish it out ( if its there) or 3, risk it for a biscuit and just ignore the situation ? your thoughts guys ..i feel like im going mad lol.. im thinking of COMPLETELY stripping the bike down to is core, ..as its pretty cruddy and rusty and the frame could do with some wire brush and painting..but this will add months to getting it up and running..and its a Maxi scotter so theres alot to it.. not sure how capable i am.. ohh lordy.. why me ??
Simple answer to the question of why me is He who never made a mistake, never made anything. In other words everyone who ever worked on machines has done it, hence why the manuals go on about stuffing rags in openings etc because they all did it too. Chances are it didn't go in the cases, that would be really unlucky. Seen loads spring off and never ever found them, but I can guarantee they were not in the case because I saw they were making their way off across the workshop. I would be tempted to have a route around with a magnet and if nothing comes out complete the rebuild, then turn it all over by hand and make sure it doesn't snag at all. IF it does, then there isn't much for it but to strip the whole lot down. At least then you will have the experience and there is always a first time for everything. If your gut feeling though is it really did go in, go with it and just strip it down.
3.Never!, 2.A possible, 1.Any friends to help?., If you've got one,cool- If not,a cheap effective magnetic snake can be made by gluing a small magnet onto the end of a flexible rod,then taping around the edge of the rod an magnet itself.so it does'nt stick,an all all of the magnetic force is aimed at the direction your pointing,instead of sticking to things just as you're trying to aim it. .
I'd be stripping the shed before the engine...cheaper to put back together and less to get wrong on re-assembly. Did you HEAR the clip hit anything as it let loose?. Start the search at the side of the engine you were working on and immediately underneath...also check the voids in the top of the casings such as under the carb area. The landing places are endless as you probably know. Once the work area is eliminated check clothing. I once had a clip go in a top pocket (honestly)...felt a proper twat when I found it i'll tell ya, by which stage i'd gone into the spares box and got another and fitted it (the crank hole WAS covered thankfully) If after everything else is eliminated, i'd drain the oil or tip the engine upside down, swill it with petrol. Check the crank turns OK and if it dont come to light i'd then strip it as a last resort. We bought the Polini ZIP70SP that we had as a non-runner. The crank was locked. This was wedged in the webbing and locking the conrod
Hi guys thanks for your answers, and moral support lol. the was no pings, i think there was a small sonic boom as the circlip moved so fast I have taken the entire engine and wheel etc off, much harder or should i say heavier than i expected..my missus shrieked a few tims as the bike tipped.. TBH so did I im a bit worse for wear now but tommorow il try to tip the engine to get the oil and maybe circlip out maybe Il even find some money eh stig , hopefully more than a penny this is a really heavy bugger of a bike so it wont be easy to tip.. Gemma, you may well be right and it didnt go in the crank case but I had the piston in the cylinder wich limited the direction the circlip could ping, unfortuneley, that direction was towards the engine block, i cant be sure.. so it looks like im going to rebuild and restore this bike bit by bit, I got the bike as a wee hobby and to learn how they work, so i guess taking it down to its nuts and bolts is the way to go..I just wanted to get the engine running before i did this. cheers rob
I'd turn it upside down,between 2 planks.resting over a drip tray.go to bed,then get stuck in / in the morning. .
i know mate, but its one of thos situations where i cant risk it..i can just imagine, i take months to restore the entire bike only too destroy my engine with a bloody circlip lol
I did exactly this last week, the circlip hit my thumb and bounced into the case, even tho I had a rag in there, I rinsed it with brake clean, blasted with air and wiggled a tiny magnet around, even spun the motor around, nothing came out, put it all back together, 20mins later it locked up. Best to take it apart, on leader motors the oil pump sits behind the vario, whip that off, could be sitting there
Thank Scuba, nice to know im not alone im not sure if it flew into the crankcase or not, but i was going to attempt to tip the engine over and empty it from the front wher the cylinder would normally sit..rather than take the oil pump out , what do you think mate ?
lol, whip that off you say, remember bud, ive never taken a varrrrriorratorrrr thing off, il probably be fighting for 4 hours to get it off.. if the rest of this bike is anything to go by.. thanks for the tip tho
yeah you can pribably just tip it I guess, does the sump come off or is it part of the case? What went wrong in the first place that needed the top end doing?
When you put the motor back in remember to put the little earth lead on the trans case side, man I forgot that so many times!
the sump is not really a sump, ie, you cant get access to the block the bike would not start, i tried EVERYTHING ! i got a compression tester and it read at 75 psi, i adjusted the valves again but still low compression, not enough to start it, so i decided to do a top end job and new piston as it was a little scored, and new rings too as the top compression ring was kinda wedged in on one side
