Clutch trouble and maybe more
 

Hi Guys.
My 2003 xt600 appears to have eaten its clutch release bearing. After a long lay off i got my bike on the road again. The clutch was a bit noisy and when the bike got warm gear changes became difficult and it seemed like i could hear the plates themselves being thrashed as i let out the clutch.
I drained the oil and removed the clutch and found small roller type bearings and bits of twisted metal in the sump. The only part i couldnt find was the release bearing so im guessing the bits i have are the remains of the bearing.

I have a new clutch kit and bearings on the way but im obviously concerned that swarf has found its way to other areas of the engine. Any advice from you knowledgable folk on what my next course of action should be. Is this the end of my engine?

Any help much appreciated

Bill

at the very least check if oil pump rotors are scored. ideally you should split the cases to clean properly too.

Thanks turboguzzi.

if there was no scoring on the oil pump rotors would it suggest that non of the crap has circulated ?

I found most of the crud in the clutch basket and on reflection the bits and pieces of the bearing seemed to fall out when i was taking the pressure plate and clutch plates out.

Never split the cases before but if thats whats needed ill give it a go

Cheers for the advice

Bill

look at the rollers and washers to see if they were ground down. it's the steel dust that kills a motor, if you dont see steel dust around you might be ok. indeed didnt make sense that bearing pieces inside the inner clutch hub escaped, but hard to say without seeing, pics are worth a thousand words..

Got a replacement bearing and i can see that of the twenty rollers i have recovered all bar 3. There was a gritty residue that was in between some of the teeth of the clutch pressure plate. That was what was left of the bearing housing i assume. I had a fish around the old oil with a strong magnet and nothing metal stuck to it. A clutch removal tool is on its way and when it gets here ill have a look at the oil pump.

Bill

Wish i had taken pics but ususl story of wanting to find out the cause of it.

Too impatient i intended to say then. I had my camera at the ready as well.:(

What causes this to happen, common failure or cheap bearing?

Hi xtrock. Im not sure what caused this. Looking at the new replacement bearing which is a yamaha genuine part it looks quite thin and flimsy. Its a different design to the older xt600's

Bill

Ye well sad to hear this happen to you, maybe facing a big job if you dont find all parts. Start of the good season and all, fingers crossed it works out fine!

I've never seen one of those bearing go out like that , I have had some that felt still and notchy . To flush the bottom end out I've taken a diesel fuel pump nozzle and squirted it into every hole I could with the motor tilted so everything flushes out , makes a mess but does do a decent job without full teardown . Tip the motor on it's side to drain as much out then do a second oil change at fairly low miles . Take the oil pump out and flush the inlet passage backwards so anything caught on the pickup screen can be pushed out.



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Hi jjrider.


This bearing isn't on all years of the xt600 as far as I can tell. Mine is a 2003 model and the clutch cable comes down the right of the forks to the clutch arm. Earlier xt`s have the cable routed differently and have a different set up inside the clutch cover. The bearing doesn't look substantial at all to me. As I posted earlier Ive recovered some of the bearing housing and 17 (of the 20) roller bearings themselves. Of course I may of missed the remaining three when cleaning up the casing and basket, its the not knowing whether they are waiting and ready to do damage ! I will try what you suggest and hopefully more will wash out.


Re the bearing failure itself, my bike was laid up for quite a few months. I wondered that maybe the oil had settled away from that area as it was on its side stand and its been gummed up when Ive first started it up again. I cant think what else would cause such a catastrophic
failure. Bikes done 28,000 miles. perhaps this is something that should checked whenever the clutch casing and clutch is out. Maybe even more often than that.


Bill

http://i64.tinypic.com/jrtdug.jpg


Number 14 in the diagram

Ya that's different than my 3tb which also has the clutch lever coming down in the clutch cover only the cable comes from way over on the left side just under the starter. I was picturing the lower bearing on the lever itself. Suzuki uses those thrust bearings on the clutch itself to help smoothen it out when under pressure. #14,15, & 16 all need to be replaced together .



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Yeah i thought that. Looking at videos prior to stripping i realised there was a slight difference between the years. Thanks for explaining that bearings purpose. I have a replacement washer and bearing but because the other part looked okay i didnt think to order it. Ill see how the bearing sits on it and take from there. Hopefully thats as easy to get as the others were !

Bill