Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and unfortunately, I have to start my first tread with a nasty situation. I just bought a Speed Triple 2008 2 months ago from a private owner. I love the bike. It's great in every way....but after 2 month I have serious problems with my engine. I've been to several dealers, who advised me to start looking for a used engine as a complete rebuild is quite expensive and time consuming. So this is my starting point. I'm looking for a used engine. I'm trying to find out which engines fit in my Speed Triple. So i'm hoping that someone can tell me which engines can be swapped without serious modifications. - Can i also look for Tiger or Sprint 1050 engines? - What years can i look for? Thanks, Bob
Hello Bob and welcome to the Triumph Asylum. Before you go too far down the road of an exchange engine, could you describe the problems you are having with the existing one ? Maybe we could help you to get it going again.
Hi Dave, Thanks. Well the bike is "ticking" loudly and is using/leaking cooling liquid (100ml per 250km/155miles). The engine oil is milky white. I'm thinking that te previous owner has been driving with this cooling liquid leak for a while (as i don't think that this much leaking happens over night). Now the dealers don't know whats causing the "ticking" and i just don't know how much damage is done inside the engine (due to the the cooling liquid). I don't know if i want to invest in this engine.. Bills can run up high when looking for a problem that nobody can locate. Thats why i'm looking for a used engine.
Hi Bob it sounds to me like the head gasket is gone. It would be easy to fix, then empty the engine of it's current oil and coolant. Renew coolant and oil and test fire.
Hi mate and welcome Like the biglad says i would suspect the head gasket Not the biggest job in the world but best done by someone who knows If you're handy with the spanners do some research on YouTube You might find some video on There
That doesn't sound all that bad. I'd say the head gasket has failed and is the cause for the milky white engine oil, but the rattle sounds like it is from the left side of the engine ruling out the cam chain and tensioner but could be a valve out of clearance. Some more info might help the diagnosis. How many miles has it done? What's the service history? Has it started ticking recently, got worse recently or has it only come to your notice since you discovered the coolant leak? Price up the cost of a replacement engine against having your engine worked on, unless you hear the new engine running and know its history you could be buying one that's also got problems. Good luck mate and welcome.
Thanks for the comments guys. How many miles has it done? - 17.500 What's the service history? - has had all the regular service (at least that what the previous owner told me, the bike looks like its been taking care of properly). After i bought it, its been to the shop for a interval maintenance; oil, filters etc. At this time i diddn't get any comments on the "milky Oil". When the "ticking" startet getting worse i brought the bike in for a valve clearance check. That's when they gave me the option of the engine rebuil/engine swap. Has it started ticking recently, got worse recently or has it only come to your notice since you discovered the coolant leak? - Yes it has. When i bought the bike i heard a little "ticking", but I thought it was the valves out of clearance. I think its been leaking coolant ever since i bought the bike, but the leaking is getting worse as is the "ticking".
Any mechanical noise will get worse in proportion to the oil's reducing ability to work, due to contamination by the coolant. That isn't phrased very well so here's attempt number 2 - if the oil is contaminated by coolant, it won't lubricate the engine properly, so there will be more mechanical noise. This is sounding more and more like a head gasket job, which is actually quite straightforward to do at home. Take the engine out, remove the head, replace the head gasket and put back together. Then using cheap oil, fill up, start motor, leave ticking over for perhaps 5 mins to wash-out the internals, then empty. Renew filter and engine oil and you're good to go !!!!
I'd probably get the radiator cleaned out professionally too, just to ensure there isn't any oil/milkshake blocking anything up. Granted; I've never dealt with a head gasket on a bike (so tell me if I'm wrong please!) but I've seen a car where everything on the engine side was fixed properly and the engine overheated because of the gunk in the rad essentially making it useless. A good clue to look for this would be if there's gunk in the cooling galleries of the block. I'd also stick a straight edge on the head, just to make sure that nothing has warped, if it has a light skim should fix that. A skim would also technically increase the compression ratio of the engine, so a marginally thicker gasket would negate that.
Thanks for all the comment. I just got the haynes manual in the mail. Should i replace any other parts while the engine is open?
Hi Cadaver, When you took it in to the workshop did they actually check the valve clearances ? I agree with all the above, suspected head gasket failure, a good flush of both the engine and cooling system with a new head gasket should sort the problem. Check/set all valve clearances at the same time. As this is more of a labour intensive job than financial, I would definitely carry out the above operations first, not that much to lose only your time. If the engine is kaput, I personally would look for the same engine then you have your existing one for spares. Listening to the video and from your description I think it can be corrected, good luck and keep us posted.
Thanks for the comments. I replaced the dead gasket and checked the valves (all were good). And just starter the engine again tonight. Haven't driven on her yet. Ticking is gone! Very happy with the results. But i have one plug over, i can't find the other end. Any thoughs on what it can be? The check engine light is also on.
Good work mate, hope the motor behaves for you now. The plug, if it is hanging from under the injector rail, is on all bikes and on our models is unused. It's probably got something to do with emissions for the US market.
Thanks! Any thoughts on the check engine light? I'll try taking the battery off, for a few minutes tonight. Maybe it will reset it self.
did you do anything to the head bar replace the gasket,normally gasket goes when head is warped so may require light skim or problem will resurface in the future.
