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Problem with my Husky 610?

stan23

stan23

Well-known member
Joined
May 26, 2004
Location
Danville
Moto(s)
2024 Ducati 698 Supermoto
Name
.
Hi All,

Long story, so please bear with me. I have an '06 Husqvarna SM610 with 9500 miles.

Yesterday, I went out on a ride with some friends and while cruising at around 40mph, I heard a loud clicking/vibration sound coming from the motor. (sounded like a loose nut on the exhuast) I pulled over right away, and when I looked down at the motor, it was lightly covered in oil. I can't really see/feel where the oil was coming from, but my best guess would be the intake valve cover gasket. I checked the oil level, and it was still full, so not a lot of oil had dripped out.

I started the bike, and the valves were slightly louder than normal, and the bike would not hold an idle at all.

At this point, I decided to call a friend and have the bike trucked home.

While waiting for him, curiousity got the best of me, and I started the bike, and it sounded fine (maybe slightly lounder than normal clicking valves). The bike held an idle and appeared 'ok'. I did not rev the bike, but I immediately turned it off.

When I got the bike home, I took the tank off, and I can see that the oil looks to be leaking from the intake valve cover gasket. On the husky, the valve covers to adjust the valves are kinda small, and are held on by 2 8mm bolts. I can see how one side of the gasket had protruded a bit and that was the source of the oil leak.

I ordered a new gasket this morning, and I am going to re-check the valves when I pull out the gasket.

Here is my question:

When the problem occured during the ride, did I lose oil pressure on the intake valves? Is that why I heard them louder than usual?

When I called Dan at Motoxotica, he mentioned that he has never heard of this problem, and it may be the valve adjustment bolt that may have worked itself loose--thus causing the noise (I am no expert in adjusting valves, so I have not pulled the cover off yet)

At best scenario, I replace the gasket, and re-adjust the valves to factory specs when i'm in there.

At worst scenario, I check the valves, and something is bent, and the head will need to be replaced.

:cry
 
leaking valve cover gasket won't cause low oil pressure unless you're leaking enough oil so the sump doesn't stay full, uunless husky uses a valve train oiling system where the whole cavity is filled with oil thus pressurized in which don't listen to me

it sounds like someone tightened the valve cover screw a little too much, squishing the gasket out.

as to the noise... i dunno nuttin 'bout that
 
Stan,

Even if that little cover was totally off I doubt you would loose enough oil pressure to affect anything. There is not a lot of oil up there. As for the noise, check your countershaft bolt. I read on thumber talk about those coming loose.
 
Update:

Tonight, Chi and I pulled the valve cover to inspect/adjust the valves.

As soon as I pulled off the cover, I saw exactly where the oil was leaking from:

DSCN2412.jpg


^^ As you can see from the above pic, part of the gasket had been crushed in.

After removing the old gasket, I see some markings on the head itself! The markings are right where the old gasket had been crushed in.

DSCN2436.jpg


I have no idea who/what made this mark, but it looks like some sort of chisel mark. I asked the previous owner of the bike if he ever saw this (he adjusted the valves every 1K) and he had never seen it.

The only thing I could think of that would do such a thing is if some thing was knocking around the valves itself and caused the protrusion. However....

When examining the valve cover, there are no markings whatsoever:

DSCN2413.jpg


I took a flashlight and I can see the valve springs, etc.. and it didn't look like anything was floating around that could have done this.

We went ahead and adjusted all four valves to the factory .0002 tolerance, and found that several of the valves were slightly tight.

Anyways, my new gasket gets in tomorrow and i'll put everything back and see if the bike will run!
 
Good luck Stan.
Didn't some 610s have leaky head gasket probs also? Or was it valve cover gasket?
 
ChainLash said:
Good luck Stan.
Didn't some 610s have leaky head gasket probs also? Or was it valve cover gasket?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the early 610s had the leaky head gasket problem -- i'm glad I don't have that problem!

Anyways, once the new gasket gets here, i'll smooth out the ridge and try to run the bike.
 
It looks like someone with an overzealous wrench hand maybe slipped and impacted the head with their wrench...

I'd make certain that area is flush before re-installing the gasket. Use a nice staright edge to make sure...

GL
 
Update:

Got the new gasket in, smoothed out the edge and put everything back together.

Bike started up right away and idled fine. The valves sounded normal.

When I took it for a test spin, I noticed the bike bogged a little. This occured at all RPMs. It felt like the bike was running out of gas (plenty of gas in the tank)

I turned the bike on and off a few times and it started just fine.

When I suited up to go for a 'real' test ride, I gave it some gas, and the exhaust made a loud 'pop!' and the bike stalled. I tried to start it, but it didn't go.

Well, good thing I was close to my garage. I checked the petcock and it was on. Pulled the fuel hoses, and checked that the fuel does flow when I have the petcock on.

What could it be?

On the Husky, there are 2 hoses on the main petcock, One goes to the other side of the tank, and the other hose goes into the carb.

I figured I had them mixed up, and the bike ran out of gas.. But when I swapped the hoses, the bike still didn't want to start.

Starter motor turns the bike freely, but what else should I check? I don't see any kinks in the fuel lines.
 
Just changed the plug and drained the float bowl. Still no go :grrr
 
better check compression....hopefully that original noise that you never discovered the source of, was not the piston seizing and slapping and now it won't run cause the rings are seized....
 
slydrite said:
better check compression....hopefully that original noise that you never discovered the source of, was not the piston seizing and slapping and now it won't run cause the rings are seized....
Click to expand...

I suppose that is possible, but why would the bike start and run fine after resealing the valve gasket.

My guess is that the valves are not adjusted properly and there is no compression.
 
Great..

100 miles and 5 days of ownership, and the bike no longer works.

I'll probably part this POS out, so if anyone needs anything, let me know.

I am never buying another 'used' bike from anyone, unless I do a full compression test/breakdown. Too many unknowns...
 
Well, don't you also need to rule out electrical failures/glitches on your 610? Could be something simple, like a bad coil in the plug cap or the safety wire to the kickstand not disengaging.

Your bike looks too new to have engine problems, Stan.
 
masameet said:
Well, don't you also need to rule out electrical failures/glitches on your 610? Could be something simple, like a bad coil in the plug cap or the safety wire to the kickstand not disengaging.

Your bike looks too new to have engine problems, Stan.
Click to expand...

There is no safety sidestand switch, and none for the clutch lever either.

The plug has spark and gas is flowing.

The only thing left is compression.

That would explain the rogue noise I heard when I first had problems and the big 'bang' right before the motor died.

Let this be a lesson learned.. no matter how 'new' a bike looks, it does me no good to look new sitting in my garage.

I may just take a gun and blow it up for pure giggly satisfaction sake lol
 
That noise you originally heard when the problems started could have been the cam chain tensioner. If the CTT is not working properly, your valve timing is going to be way off. Find TDC on the compression stroke, remove the cam chain tensioner and see how many adjustment clicks are left. If the CTT is already at max tension, you may need to replace the cam chain and I would get a new CTT.

You can search for the link to download the workshop manual from the thumpertalk board. This will give you a little more info on how to do this.

Also, do a compression check. If the CTT let go, hopefully your valves did not get damaged. Understand your frustration but don't give up on this bike yet.
 
Do you have a compression gauge? It seems like there's no point in torturing yourself until you've confirmed you have an issue.
 
Peter said:
That noise you originally heard when the problems started could have been the cam chain tensioner. If the CTT is not working properly, your valve timing is going to be way off. Find TDC on the compression stroke, remove the cam chain tensioner and see how many adjustment clicks are left. If the CTT is already at max tension, you may need to replace the cam chain and I would get a new CTT.

You can search for the link to download the workshop manual from the thumpertalk board. This will give you a little more info on how to do this.

Also, do a compression check. If the CTT let go, hopefully your valves did not get damaged. Understand your frustration but don't give up on this bike yet.
Click to expand...

Hi Peter,

Thanks for all your help. I will remove the CTT tonight and check it. I already have the service manual, but it is not very clear on how to check it.

I don't have a guage to put into the cylinder, so i'm not sure how I can do a compression check right now. I'll see what I can do.

As you can tell, i'm fairly new to wrenching, so i'll learn as I go along.
 
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