Afternoon Update; 52,000 on the Bike 31,000 on the Build.
After pulling the Heads, it was determined that the newest noise was Piston Slap from the 4.125 Wiseco Pistons in the Revolution Performance Nikasil Cylinder Kit. Kinda really surprised me as I did not see any scuffing on the Cylinders when I 'scoped them not long ago (was already starting to make the slap noise)?? With the Cylinders in hand, Oasis told me "No scuffing on either the Cylinders or Pistons... The (Piston) Coating is fully intact"... So I'm scratchin' my head... "How do you have Piston Slap without scuffing???" When measured, the clearance was around .006, opened up from the originally installed .001... Oasis asked me if it was ok to ship the Pistons / Rings / Cylinders to Revolution Performance as Andrew wanted to see them, of course that was ok with me, figured I had nothing to lose...
In the meantime, I wanted to speak with a few of the "gurus" and come to find out that this
is not an isolated issue with the 4.125 (and larger) Piston / Ring Packs,
no matter who the Manufacturer is, Nikasil
or Ductile Iron Cylinders, mostly due to the lack of stability of the tiny Piston Skirts necessitated with Pistons of this size in the TC Engine...
Seems that about 6 months or so after I got the original RP Cylinder Kit, guys like T-Man, RP, Wiseco, and others developed a "fix"... to design a 3mm Oil Ring and Nitride the Oil Rails, thus giving the Piston more stability in the Bore... I was commenting, "1mm don't seem like much
" then Shrader pointed out that it was a 33% difference, 'guess a little can mean a lot...
I was contemplating going with a different Manufacturer's Cylinder Kit, but even the "non Nicasil" folks said they've seen these issues with Cylinders /Pistons of different manufacture, from what I gather the 3mm Oil Ring is the best "fix" at this time...
After evaluating the Nicasil Cylinder Kit, Revolution and Oasis came up with; "We will re-coat the Nicasil Cylinders and supply the updated 3mm Pistons and Ring Packs, the re-coating is on us, you pay for the Pistons and Labor" the Pistons / Rings really weren't that much, I figured they were passed through at cost..
I really appreciate the Customer Service of Andrew at Revolution Performance
With almost 30k of trouble free, using no oil out of the original Kit (at the last oil change, the Engine used about 1/3 of a qt. before that nada, zip, zilch) I would not have bitched if RP did nothing for me... The outside of the re-coated Cylinders are as new, in fact I had to ask Andrew if they were new and not re-coated, he affirmed that they were my original cylinders, just re-coated, in one of our conversations, TR mentioned that re-coated "seasoned" Cylinders are preferable to new...
When I dropped the Bike off at Oasis, I mentioned changing out the fueling Pump / Plate to the S&S units, the guys at Oasis went through and checked everything, pressure checked and reinstalled the fueling stuff, disassembled and cleaned the T-Man CVO Street Performer Heads, felt no need to replace anything, "everything looks great!" Cam surfaces, Cam and Primary Tensioner shoes?? "great", I asked if they replaced any lifters? "we cleaned them, they looked fine..."
'Have 1,400 miles since picking the bike up, fuel mileage is very close to before, I know that I've Posted that the bike has been quiet with only an occasional noise with no rhyme or reason, but now the bike has been "Principal's Office" quiet and well mannered, no occasional noises or ticks of any kind, so far...
The short of it... around 30k miles, this Build required Pistons / Rings and a new Compensator, as the miles progress, we will see if the updated Pistons / Rings and the latest & greatest SE Compensator and cast in Oil Deflector have any advantages as to service life...
Thanks again!!
Oasis Cycles of Brandon, MS
Revolution Performance
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Topic: 113" / 117" Build, Am I headed in the right direction? (Read 99390 times)