Intake Debris - AAARRRRGH!!! (Long)

[rafster]

Good morning,

So I have a '97 standard and have lurked here on and off since 1999 so I open with a big thank you!  Here's the deal - 
It all started with a desire to eliminate backfiring on decel.  1 month later I have desmogged, replaced vacuum all lines and worn fuel lines.  While I was at it, some stuff got polished, more shiny stuff went on and oh lets not forget the LEDs.  So I finally get her buttoned back up, fire it up and I hear something amiss on the right side.  Too much noise.  Next I hear a vacuum leak.  Then I hear something in the engine.   The vacuum leak is intermittent, as well as the noise in the engine.  The engine noise is rather troubling so I kill the motor once I realize it's not going away on it's own. 

I think to myself - Self didn't you have those intakes covered the entire time you were monkeying around in there?  Self replied, "But of course!"  At any rate I pulled her back into the shop.   I removed off my spark plug covers to discover the intake O ring on cylinder #1  was sticking out.  How in the world did I not only do that, but completely miss it?   Anyways I removed the intake to discover about 1/3 of it had severed.  (oh so THAT was the sound I heard when I was torqueing the bolts...) 

Essentially I have a section of o-ring in my engine.     For all I know it could be a thousand pieces at this point. 

Any ideas on best way to remove it or the ten thousand sections it may have shredded into?  I'm not afraid to do a complete tear down, but it would sure be nice if I didn't have to. 

[rafster]

For those more interested in my stupidity...Trying to add an image.   Warning.  This may take a few tries.  (note to self.  In the future adhere the gasket with a sealant before placing.)

[Ricky-D]

I wouldn't worry about it!

It should, burn up and be emitted thru the exhaust. It may take a

little time but eventually it will all go away.

Can it do any harm? Very unlikely. Maybe look at the spark plug for fouling.

If you get a bore scope, you can look inside the cylinder for peace of mind.

***

[rafster]

Thanks for the prompt reply.  First I'll try my grabber.  Dont think it will work, so next I'm going to try something I did years ago. 

I bought an old Mazda pickup and the previous owner heli-coiled, then tapped one spark plug holes.  There was debris on the piston which fortunately was near TDC.  With some Puerto Rican redneck ingenuity I rigged up a vacuum hose to a vacuum cleaner and sucked up the debris.  I need to give it a shot because she makes an awful occasional pinging sound and the weather is too nice for this bike to sit...older image. 

[The emperor has no clothes]

Nice looking bike

[Troystg]

Very nice... 

[97Valk_CT_Euless]

Some idiot in my garage  left a paraper towel wadded up in one f the intakes...  Luckily it was crammed in tight enough it didn't go into the engine....  Very clean intake stem on that cylinder now!

[rafster]

Thank you for the thumbs up guys!  Oh and polished valve stems are always nice. 

Being overly concerned I decided to heat up the remaining bit of the Viton O-ring just to see what would happen.  Turns out it will melt under a blue flame, but not very quickly.   

So as a matter of precaution I tried the vacuum trick.  Didn't hear or feel anything go up my little tube.  I also removed the valve cover and looked for any bits there which may have slipped past the exhaust valve seat.   Clean as a whistle.   

Still concerned, and with tail between my legs I called my engine builder brother-in-law.  He said not to worry as it likely went straight out the exhaust valve and into the exhaust.  His theory was that the rattling sound I was hearing earlier was the intake against the head.  Made sense to me so I put her back together using an old o-ring on that intake and fired her up.

Now she purrs like a kitten with no backfiring, rattling or vacuum leaks.  I ran off to get an inspection so I can update the registration and continued the ride with a few side roads as I made my way to the Home Labyrinth to pick up some stainless steel washers.  As I was sitting at a stop sign the aroma of burning rubber met my nose and an overwhelming feeling of relief settled in.  For now I think I've dodged a bullet. 

[Troystg]

Excellent..  And LOVE your bike..

[pancho]

         

                          " For now I think I've dodged a bullet. "

Don't think you were ever in any jeopardy,, but nothing like piece of mind and a smooth running motor.

Nice clean bike.

[rafster]

Now to hijack my own post. 

Shortly after having the bike inspected and passing with flying colors I noticed my signal indicator was lit on the headlamp.   Left turn signals were working ok, but the right front was on the fritz and the right rear was solid.  This occurred just before pulling into the Home Labyrinth as previously mentioned.   I was 3mi from home anyways so I didn't worry too much about it.  I assessed the situation yesterday.  Check out the images below!  Both of my LED load equalizers for the right side were fried.  No clue why as they've been working great for several years and I made no changes to this system other than rerouting to better hide the wires.  As far as I can tell, the protective sheath is still intact with no aberrant grounds or "shorts" that I could find.  I bought some cheap equalizers at Autozone.  They lasted long enough to help me identify the source then the wires fell off.  I have a new quad load equalizer on the way and I'll rewire the whole thing just to be safe. 

By the way I'm pretty sure this was the burning rubber/plastic odor mentioned in my previous post!  Check out the melted battery tray and melted electrical tape.  (Luckily I had no fires).