85' Honda atc 250r traded for 99' honda 300 4x4

[Kenny_smallz]

Hey guys new here, love this place, so much info.... hey guys i just got this liquid cooled 250r and have plenty questions... new to the 2-stroke engine here. the guy that had it just had it rebuilt and run it and he said the head gasket busted, said the water got on the head and would not run right. so when i got it took head off. the head was all dented up on inside and so was the piston. took the jug off and piston was cracked and had 1/4'' scratch down one side of the cylinder, small. But My main QUESTION is , there was gold flakes all under the jug in the block? not sure bout these gold flakes? The clutches are brand new not sure if its from them. the wheeler has not been run much at all.

[rodeofan5656]

im guessin somethin got in the combustion chamber/cylinder, dented up the head and piston while it was runnin, busted the head gasket, got caught in the rings makin that scratch in the cyl wall, and finally slipped into the crankcase. this tells me that the guy didnt really know what he was doin when he rebuilt it, or he let somethin get into the cylinder when he was workin on it

[Kenny_smallz]

Would the new clutch make thear flakes and also the piston rod has slack left and right

[4x4van]

No, the clutch is in a totally separate area and has no way to get into the crankcase or top end. With the damage in the top end, something got in or let loose, possibly a wrist clip broke. The gold flakes could be from powdered radiator sealant that may have been used to try to cover up the head gasket leak. The rod should have very little side-to-side slack, if at all. At the very least, you've got a complete top end re-build (bore, piston, rings, head & base gasket, etc.) ahead of you. Have a shop check out the rod side-to-side slack; they can tell you if you have bottom end issues or not.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Also a lot of times, a peppered head is indicative of a lower rod bearing failure if the possibility of foreign debris is eliminated as a cause . The lower rod needle bearings can fail and the debris can get sucked up into the top end and pepper the snot out of the head and piston crown. Make sure and check that rod real good!

[rjs89ia]

definately a rod bearing same thing occured with my 310, looked like copper dust all over in the crankwell. theres a small tolerance of side to side play on the big end of the rod but if you can grab the small end of the rod and tip it back and forth thats not good try this with the crank at BDC and if it hits the counterweights or is an odd amount of play id say its time rebuild the crank. sounds like it was a quick and cheap rebuild with an expenisve aftermath. pay close attention to the counterbalance bearings and anything else that looks worn out its best to replace it the first time when you have it apart instead of rebuilding an engine over and over do to ignorance.

[Kenny_smallz]

definetly has too much play, the piston rod is rubbing my counterbalance. the bearing are tearing up in lower end of piston rod and coming out. how hard is it to change the piston rod? do i need to look for new engine?

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Yep, sounds like your lower rod bearing is toast... :(

As long as your crankcase isn't damaged you can get the crank rebuilt and it's not the end of the world or your engine. Eddie Sanders Racing is one shop that does it. Short rod rebuild (which you probably have if your engine is stock) runs $165 plus shipping, including parts. But, you can sometimes score a descent deal on a new/rebuilt crank assembly on ebay. I recently picked up a rebuilt crank with an old school Wiseco rod for $115 shipped to my door.

Just make sure you look for the short rod setup that the '85-'86 cranks have. '87-'89 have what they call a long rod configuration. You would have to run a spacer or the '87-'89 piston if you went with a long-rod crank.

[Kenny_smallz]

ok thanks but how hard is it to tear the engine down and get to the crank shaft. not sure if im skilled enough for the task .