ZX7R - Oil Filter???

[Mitch]

Hi All,

I spent last night stripping down my 2 broken engines (pics to some later today) and they seem to have one thing in common, They both seem to have had a problem getting oil to the crank and then throwing a bearing or a conrod around. Looking at the conrod and the bearings there has been a serious amount of heat there (enough to melt the conrod into itself) and I am thinking that there may not have been enough flow or that the crank/rods is soft area. Looking at the oil pump it seems like it has a little bit of wear but is generally in good shape, so that leaves me to think that the bog std, no name, aftermarket filter I have is not flowing enough oil.

So what oil filters are we running out there (esp those racing or trackdaying)?

[ZXRobyn]

Well I'm not one of those 'racing' or 'trackdaying' . . . . considering the last track day was my first in bout 4yrs
But ftr, for me - it depends on where I buy the oil filter from as to whether I get geniune or not.
I change oil and filter regularly and as such have not had a problem with the filter, well not that I'm aware of anyway. And considering the after market are bout half the price, I'm happy to pick up the saving. And as I said, as long as it is being changed frequently, I don't see it being a problem.

Hey, but I'm no expert - that's you guys . . . . . just thought I'd share my 2c.

[zx793rr]

I just took mine off and it appears completely stock...although not an original Kawasaki item. There are a number of extra oil lines that have been added to the Superbike engine, especially lines that pump oil up under the piston. I am not sure wether this system is total loss or not but I would not think all the oil goes through your filter to get to the top of your engine. I have not had a look at my road engine yet to compare the differances but from memory they appear different. I am not sure as to what percentage of oil gets filtered during a specific period but a total loss system would need a large filter with a high flow rate and the last thing you want is to have your filter stuff up and stop all oil flow.......please don't quote me though as I have not seen a pic of the oil lines.

Just to get you thinking.

[Mitch]

i was talking to a former racer about my engine prior to pulling it apart and he said ï'll bet my ball it is #3 big end" and bingo it was. Aparantley this is the first place to run dry if the bike is running on it's side (after a crash), is opperated with the oil level a bit low or if doing 500m plus wheel stands. This does not mean any of the above WILL cause failure straight away (even though it can) it means that this bearing will have a reduced life, and when/if something goes wrong it will be this one that dies first. I have spoken to a few people about this and there advice is once a year put new shell through your bottom end and live with piece of mind! not sure i want to do that but will be putting new ones in the engine i just got from the wreckers, i think the chances of an unknown engine being run on it's side are increased a huge amount when the engine has come from a wreckers!!!

Due to the number of people i have spoken to who knew of this problem i would say it is a soft spot for sure!!

I got this little gem of info from the 'Redmonkey 7R'site? Both bikes were in crashes so it make sense I guess

[Goose7R]

Hi All,

I spent last night stripping down my 2 broken engines (pics to some later today) and they seem to have one thing in common, They both seem to have had a problem getting oil to the crank and then throwing a bearing or a conrod around. Looking at the conrod and the bearings there has been a serious amount of heat there (enough to melt the conrod into itself) and I am thinking that there may not have been enough flow or that the crank/rods is soft area. Looking at the oil pump it seems like it has a little bit of wear but is generally in good shape, so that leaves me to think that the bog std, no name, aftermarket filter I have is not flowing enough oil.

So what oil filters are we running out there (esp those racing or trackdaying)?

I always go to the dealership and get the OEM from Kawi. 36K miles (58,000km), and 2 track days, never had a problem.