Man this thing runs like a dream, after the timeing changes I did man a world of difference. The stroker crank with stock piston and crank being balanced , the amazing amount of power this thing has is awsome! A big thanks to timbo for a super good set-up I think this will be a vary good fix.
I have had my 03 C-dale for about 4 months now and have raced 2 gncc and 2 from my local series (I got second in the local series). Let me say this is the greatest bike I have raced. When racing my predator I as completely worn out from wrestling the bike where as the dale I can go on for another hour if needed. On the last race the motor started knocking at the end of the race, Rod bearing failure. so, I drove 4 hours to Haydugs shop and he offered to rebuild it while I waited. Let me say Thanks Haydug, it sure beat having to back up there again.
OK, work has been slow and I have been doing some thinkning. 1)Cannondale used the same motor in their dirt bikes? If so are the bikes having the same failures too? 2) I noticed that it seemed all failures seem to happen with extended high rpm's runs (mine did). I have read the thread and the different theories but I was wondering if the problem could be more of a supply issue to the engine. I am talking about how the oil comes from the framee, in extended runs does the flow rate of the motor exceed the ability of the oil to pulled from the frame? In pulling the engine I noticed the moderate diam. oil feed lines and metal screens plus oil filters. Could this be starving teh engine at the extended high revs? Would taking out the screen filter be any help or would it be more of problem?
Very good points to think about, along with another variable being the extra 130 lb weight of the quads.... but this frame oil circulation has come up recently in another thread, and the suspected starvation with extended uphills or long wheelies. ... will search for the thread. As for actual filtering, aren't the quads and bikes the same?
Those are good points yes. Although, comparing the dirtbikes to the quads is like apples to oranges. Notice the crank case doesn't crack on the bikes, this is due to the fact that the frame cradle with flex to the engine, causing no apperent added stress to the engine. As for the crank issue, when I rode the dirtbikes, I indeed had a crank failure on my bike. It was a C440, in which I revalved the suspension, installed a 19" tire, and mx'ed it. My guess is on the bikes, there is not as many out there running as there is quads, and most are owned by older guys who don't run the guts out of them. Now look at the quad owners, and they aren't afraid to drop the hammer on them. I feel most of the issues are with vibration, of which most comes from the stock unbalanced crank. Add that to some people putting the engines back together incorrectly, and you now have a time bomb.
Braff1: Glad to see you got it running. Call me and give me the full report!
If it were oil there would be signs of heat discoloration on failed cranks.Some of us have taken lots of cranks apart and have seen no signs of heat whatsoever until the crank bearing has totally disintegrated.High RPM definitly has an effect on when the bearing fails but not oil.The high RPM's cause all kinds of other forces but I for one love high RPM so a better bearing should do the trick.I know Timbomooses Z400 bearing is better,Falicon also uses a better bearing and Winkys new cranks also use a better one.
Yep not one crank I have taken apart has had heat stress on the rods unless its siezed up and then its only on the spot that had jammed rollers skidding on them. In fact even the center of the rod that the cage doesnt hit and wear on doesnt even wear out. They ussually get pitting on them which is caused by overloading fatigue, not lack of oil or friction wear. Are you guys looking at all the pics in this thread?
Just talked to timbo about the numbers of cranks updated. He seems to be doing way more strokers than stock updates. I think its a 4 to 1 ratio. There should be around 200 updated cranks out there already and no reported failures due to cage wear. We have had several updated cranks back apart due to non crank related problems and they have shown to be holding up extremely well even with the added stress of stroking and big bores.
I recently got to pull apart one of the last 03 engines cannondale ever did. It was nice to see the factory stud update was doing its job well. All engine bolts were locktited and tight. The engine was a very low mileage replacement motor. The rod bearing cage was uncoated plain steel and pretty much chewed the rod surface to pieces. Its amazing how many different types of coatings there were on these cages. Obviously no coating is the worst. This might explain why so many 03 engines had such a high crank failure rate. On a side note this engine had a perfect piston and sleeve but wouldnt you know it the hole drilled in the sleeve was way to deep and Im not going to reuse it. The first one I ever seen with a deep hole had to have no wear .....sigh.
