Found Oil on the Engine - Need Advice

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

You are probably right Roxolio, but, without any attempt to charge your battery (with a charger or tender), you can't rule out a problem in your charging system.

(Oh, and BTW, yesterday I confirmed you CAN push start the Strat [but it wasn't on a dead battery.])

I was going to mention that, about the charging system.....but you can't really test it until you get a good battery installed.

As for push starting the 'Liner......... confirmed! :crackup

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Wow, that looks pretty nasty. Are you sure your plug isn't loose ??
I would definitely recommend a good cleaning to see if anything comes back.
Not sure that is just "assembly lube".

It hasn't gotten any worse in the 11 months I've owned it. From the looks of rex's, if he pulled the cylinder head covers off, it'd probably look about the same. When I get time and enough boredom, I'll try cleaning it.

That pic was previously posted in my "Change the Sparkplug" How-To thread.

[adrianinflorida]

Not to beat a dead horse, but mine just started exhibiting EXACTLY the same appearance as Patrick's photo, right down to the heavy concentration of residue around the front left corner head bolt. The plug is and was tight, so it's not coming from there and I'm just past 12,000 miles, so I would think if it were merely assembly lube, it would have started before this. Strange thing is, it doesn't feel overly slick, like oil, it's pretty sticky, almost tacky. Gonna clean it up tonight and see if it reappears.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

battery, if you have run it down more than once, it might be done for.

O.k. .......... as an electrician for over 40 years (now retired) I remember being told, as an apprentice, that batteries should be run down (at least every 6 months) & then recharged, to give them their best shot. I know that I've never done much work with batteries (apart from electronic panel, back up batteries, which were never deliberately run down) & I've never let my car battery run down deliberately (but many years ago when cars had generators, not alternators they often ran down, & an overnight charge got them going again).... so why is there a problem with letting the bike batteries run down? Just as an aside, I've never had any problems letting my electric toothbrush battery, or my shaver battery, run down, & then recharging. Could it be something to do with the chemicals in the bike battery? I accept that this problem is happening - I'm just trying to get to grips with WHY!

[alanmcorcoran]

There are lots of different kinds of batteries, each with their own chemical makeup/plate design and other issues. NiCad batteries (like your toothbrush) give the longest life when deep discharged. Not so for lead-acid batteries:

(from the Internet)

"All lead/acid batteries like to be exercised at intervals. To do this you should discharge them at a rate of 1/10th to 1/4th of their amp hour rating. For a standard 12 volt lead/acid battery you can usually find something at the NAPA Parts Store that is just right. I like truck tail light bulbs for small batteries and headlamps for larger ones. You can use just the backup filament, or the turn signal filament or both. With the headlight you can use normal or high beams.

Just wire up some clip leads from the battery to this "load". Monitor the voltage on the battery and when it tries to drop below 11 volts under load, stop. The battery is now ready to recharge. This evens out the distribution of the lead sulphate on the lead plates of the battery and the sulphuric acid strengths in the cells.

This in turn helps insure that the battery will have its full charge capacity. How much to discharge the batteries depends on the exact battery and its chemistry. Lead/acid batteries should not be over-discharged. A standard car or motorcycle "12 volt" battery should not be discharged below 10 volts.

[Sarris]

Damn Alan. That's more battery poop than I need to know. Have you been spending a lot of time out on Google again????

:neener: :twisted: O_o :poke2:

[alanmcorcoran]

Love me some Google.

Actually, I know a bit about batteries from many years of computer work (NiCad, NiMH and LiON) and some experience with lead acid batteries for night riding on bicycles. (Not sure what the technology is today, but, for 100 mile plus rides in the dark, in the mid to late nineties, lead acid was the only thing that would give you enough brightness and last for at least 3-4 hours.) I didn't trust myself to put my own words out there though so I looked for some science to get my back.

Plus, I have an electric toothbrush. I think they still use Nicads in those, cause they're cheap, and they like you to run them all the way down (deep discharge), cause they have a strong "memory" effect.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

(from the Internet)

"All lead/acid batteries like to be exercised at intervals."

From where exactly did you find that?

It is not specific enough to know for sure if it is bad advice or not, but I suspect NOT because it is so open to mis-interpretation. Normal operation of the starter is likely all the discharge the battery really needs to keep it healthy.

The reason that a battery MAY fail when it is deep discharged is that it is nearing the end of it's useful life anyway and the added strain of the deep cycle sends it over the edge. This is even more likely to happen if you don't notice right away that the charge is down; sulphation occurs MUCH more rapidly when the charge is low and MUCH MUCH more rapidly in an OLD battery that is low. Most lead-acid batteries fail due to sulphation and sulphation is almost non-existent in a battery that is at it's peak charge.

[alanmcorcoran]

http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/bat.html

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/bat.html

Damn, Alan, the passage you quoted is WAY far down the article. You ARE a persistant SOB, aren't you !!! :biggrin:

How about this statement: "How much to discharge the batteries depends on the exact battery and its chemistry."

So I guess my point is: Not knowing the exact battery chemistry, most average users are probably better off not guessing at how it should be "exercised" and just let nature take it's course.

While lead-acid technology hasn't changed much in 80 or so years, it has changed some and the "exercising" this one author proposes may not be advisable anymore......if, indeed, it ever really was desirable.