help identify this

[unblind]

I am going through a long list of winter mods, including checking/fixing the o-ring (which was out of place)
Upon dropping the pan I noticed something wedged in the oil pickup screen. I don't have any idea what this is and I've looked but cannot figure out where this might have come from.
So two thoughts
1) something broke and I must find and fix
2) foreign matter?

Anyone have a clue for me?

 

[gamorg02]

its it hard or soft, almost looks the colour of one of the oil pump gears?

 

[unblind]

Forgot to mention that. It seems to be hard plastic.
My first guess was maybe a gear but the color didn't look right to be from the pump gear and all the teeth I could see without pulling it were in fine shape.
Apparently there are more gears I can't see without pulling it.

 

[gamorg02]

U should be able to see some. U can pull the clutch to see the rest.

Forgot to mention that. It seems to be hard plastic.
My first guess was maybe a gear but the color didn't look right to be from the pump gear and all the teeth I could see without pulling it were in fine shape.
Apparently there are more gears I can't see with pulling it.

 

[satariel666]

its it hard or soft, almost looks the colour of one of the oil pump gears?

Most defo but it could also came from waterpump gear.

 

[one2dmax]

The only plastic gears in the engine are:

Waterpump Gear
Oil Pump Gear
Oil Pump Drive Gear - Behind the clutch basket

It could easily be one of the above.

Sean

 

[gamorg02]

if you have the clutch cover off i'd remove the clutch. if you don't, not sure if you can see the plastic gear on the clutch side, but you could drop the oil pump to see its gear.

haven't been into the water pump but i imagine u drain the coolant and open the cover and would be able to tell..

EDIT. nope see pic then u gotta take off the second 'cover' thing.

 

[tugla]

it might be way too early for me or all the hot wings i ate last night but how would a piece of gear from the water pump get into the oil pan????

 

[one2dmax]

Not the impeller which is on the coolant side. The drive gear which is on the oiling side (driven by the counterbalance shaft).

Sean

 

[tugla]

ohh i see, it is too early for me hahah thanks sean i knew there had to be a resonable answer for this

 

[unblind]

Updated but more confused?

I got clutch holder tool today and finally pulled clutch.
Oil pump idle gear is fine ! :bang head:
Then pulled water pump cover thinking that's my last option as far as plastic gears go , that ones also in fine shape ! :bang head:
Have looked at all three gears, and pulled them off to make sure I'm not missing a chipped back side
So I wasted time and money on something that's fully intact?
I'm ready to say heck with it and put it all back together,and just say that it was "foreign material" inside but I think that's really a long shot. :confused2:

Where else should I look before I say screw it?

 

[[email protected]]

The gear on the oil pump itself is plastic also. You should be able to see it through the window on the clutch side. Check the picture below, it is the one lower in the picture next to the horizontal green arrow. You can't see the whole thing though. You will have to get it to turn so you can inspect the whole thing. Not positive but I would think if you were to put the clutch basket back on the shaft, minus the plates, you could turn the basket which would end up turning the oil pump gear. Not positive that would work, or how hard it would be to turn it though.

 

[unblind]

I did in fact pull the oil pump to upgrade it , so I know that gear is fine also.

All three plastic gears I have removed, and don't know what else it could be from?

One other possibility is that the previous owner had broke and replaced a gear at some point?

 

[unblind]

Contacted previous owner and he never replaced any of the gears.

Then I start looking at all the pics I can find of oil pump gears and it seems to me that the gears on the pump are the same color as the idle gear and water pump gear; aged to a nice orange-ish color. Would it be safe to assume that if my pump gear is a lot whiter in color, that's it's newer and
been replaced at some point??

See pic=

 

[one2dmax]

Hard to say. They all start out white and heat and age make them yellow out.

Sean

 

[COP RUNNER]

i . I'M JUST GOING TO PROBABLY ADD TO THE CONFUSION BUT , I'VE BEEN A MECHANIC MY WHOLE LIFE , AND SOMETIMES WHEN I OPEN A CASE OF OIL THERE IS DRIED GLUE ON THE QUART CONTAINERS FROM THE CARDBOARD CASE THAT THEY COME IN , THAT I PICK OFF WITH MY FINGER , IF I DIDN'T , IT WOULD FALL IN THE FUNNEL AND WINED UP IN THE OIL PAN ! .. AND DOING AS MUCH ENGINE WORK AS I DO , JUST WHEN PULLING OFF VALVE COVERS I HAVE SEEN PIECES OF RAGS - PLASTIC QUART CONTAINER LIDS - AND THE LITTLE DISK THATS UNDER THE LIDS , SO ALL I AM SAYING IS THAT PIECE MAY NOT BE FROM YOUR ENGINE , IT MAY HAVE BEEN INSIDE A QUART OF OIL RIGHT FROM THE REFINERY , OR IN THE FUNNEL PRIOR TO POURING OIL THROUGH IT AT SOME POINT IN YOUR BIKES LIFE ! .. :confused2: .. JUST MY THOUGHTS . :ummm:

 

[unblind]

"Hard to say. They all start out white and heat and age make them yellow out."

Sean


Morley; With that said ...wouldn't it be safe to say the white one is newer and the others could be original with the bike from 1990 and 20K miles on it?


Cop runner ; thats what I originally might have thought (foreign material) but it's just too coincidental its yellowed plastic AND the oil pump has a brighter(newer) gear on it. :confused2:

 

[gamorg02]

"Hard to say. They all start out white and heat and age make them yellow out."

Sean


Morley; With that said ...wouldn't it be safe to say the white one is newer and the others could be original with the bike from 1990 and 20K miles on it?


Cop runner ; thats what I originally might have thought (foreign material) but it's just too coincidental its yellowed plastic AND the oil pump has a brighter(newer) gear on it. :confused2:

i can take a peak tomorrow but i think my oil pump gear is much yellower than yours and mine is an '03 with 19k miles on it. that might be the culprit.

 

[unblind]

i can take a peak tomorrow but i think my oil pump gear is much yellower than yours and mine is an '03 with 19k miles on it. that might be the culprit.

Thanks a lot for looking into that, and also for offering the use of a clutch holding tool, from earlier on in post. I of course ended up getting one.

All the pics I've seen of used ones on ebay, -the pic mabdcmb posted ,-even the one you posted from cyclepedia all shows very used (yellowed-orange) looking gears, just makes sense to me that mine seems awfully white compared to my others.

Keep in mind I know VERY little about engines, in fact this is the first time ever pulling out an oil pump, so what do I know :ummm:

 

[gamorg02]

Thanks a lot for looking into that, and also for offering the use of a clutch holding tool, from earlier on in post. I of course ended up getting one.

All the pics I've seen of used ones on ebay, -the pic mabdcmb posted ,-even the one you posted from cyclepedia all shows very used (yellowed-orange) looking gears, just makes sense to me that mine seems awfully white compared to my others.

Keep in mind I know VERY little about engines, in fact this is the first time ever pulling out an oil pump, so what do I know :ummm:

haha mine too, we're all learning together. worst part about the job is scraping the gasket on your back of a cold concrete floor eh?

seems tho a PO would know if the gear was replaced as that couldn't have been a small charge for a shop to do the work.