2005 SV1000s catastrophic flywheel magnet failure

[Cujet]

My SV1000s gave me little notice when the flywheel magnets disintegrated. I heard a slight squeak that lasted about a second. Otherwise it ran fine. About half way home (7 miles) the engine started ticking quite loudly and this was the result.


I drained the sump and did not find any magnet bits in the sump (you can see the entire sump from the flywheel side) And the magnetic drain plug just had a touch of fuzz on it. I hope for the best!

Rumor has it that the magnetic bits tend to clump together and remain by the flywheel. This is a common problem and I have not heard of any ruined engines. Even so, I'm partially disassembling the engine to ensure parts are clean. If I find disaster, I'll simply purchase a replacement engine. If not, I'll clean it up and perform a number of oil changes.

 

[WANG]

That sucks, man. The magnetic aspect of this makes for a bit of a head scratcher. Did you cut the oil filter open? Seems if little or none of the carnage landed in the oil filter then it would be a good indication to how far the stuff migrated through the engine.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Did the magnets strike something or just come apart?

 

[Cujet]

The glue that holds the magnets to the inside of the flywheel failed. The magnets then hit the stator and turned into "magnet mulch".

I found a few bits of magnet around the outside of the flywheel. But most were contained.

The oil pickup has a steel screen. I have not yet pulled off the RH side cover, for screen removal. That's going to happen, but not today. I'll post pics if I find a disaster there.

There are others who found magnet material stuck to the screen. But from what I read, not in the filter.

As I mentioned, the sump is clean, and I expected to find chunks there. I'm really hoping for the best. And, it's possible that the magnet bits only go as far as the first steel part.

 

[JetStar]

Been reading about this happening on a few FZ1's lately on the forums. Yamaha has released a revised rotor. I may do a preemptive strike on the rotor over the winter, saves the cost of the stator and the magneslush issue. I wonder if the same supplier made rotors for Yamaha and Suzuki?

What year and mileage on the bike?

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: JetStar


What year and mileage on the bike?


2005 Suzuki SV1000s, 18,200 miles. It seems to happen to the SV's between 15K and 20K.

I purchased a "Ricks" stator, which is supposed to be a bit tougher than the original. As the OEM parts tend to burn up around 20K miles.

I may also purchase a Mosfet voltage regulator to reduce the load on the stator and free up some HP.

But, first things first, I need to ensure the engine is OK. Ugh...

 

[WANG]

Good luck, man! Thanks for sharing your experience, I've never seen this happen before.

 

[JetStar]

Originally Posted By: Cujet

What year and mileage on the bike?


2005 Suzuki SV1000s, 18,200 miles. It seems to happen to the SV's between 15K and 20K.

I purchased a "Ricks" stator, which is supposed to be a bit tougher than the original. As the OEM parts tend to burn up around 20K miles.

I may also purchase a Mosfet voltage regulator to reduce the load on the stator and free up some HP.

But, first things first, I need to ensure the engine is OK. Ugh... [/quote

Was Suzuki still using a shunt regulator in 2005?
My old GS uses that system which is known for overheating stators. Many switch those over to a series mosfet regulator. Shindengen R/R SH-775 or a Compufire R/R CF55402.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: JetStar

Was Suzuki still using a shunt regulator in 2005?
My old GS uses that system which is known for overheating stators. Many switch those over to a series mosfet regulator. Shindengen R/R SH-775 or a Compufire R/R CF55402.


Yup, shunt style regulator. If the engine is not complete trash, I'll probably purchase a Mosfet type regulator to reduce overheating problems and free up some HP.

 

[Cujet]

Just a quick update:

I purchased a new flywheel, new stator and a handful of small associated parts. The RH (Clutch) cover hides the oil pickup screen, so that came off too. I found very little in the way of magnet debris in the screen, mostly bits of gasket material. It was doing it's job. But I did find a 1/8 inch sized magnet bit stuck to the screen drain plug (steel plug) .

With the clutch out, the flywheel and starter gears out, both side cover areas were easy to clean. And, it was easy to get inside the engine too.

Put the front wheel on a 4x4, rear wheel held up by the roll-stand, placed my trusty Harbor Freight parts washer under the bike, and cleaned the inside of the engine. I used air to blow it out. Very little came out, but I do believe I got a few bits of fuzz. I used a rare earth magnet and ran it around to pic up any remaining bits. Got very little fuzz.

Assembly was a royal pain. The "Ricks" stator required me to pull the new wires through the original harness, one by one. By soldering them to the old wires, then lubing and pulling. It came with a new connector that might have worked, but it was really the wrong size. So, I had to disassemble re-use the original male connector housing. Getting that right took all day. What could have been so simple turned out to be quite a task.

For such a simple failure, it really took some serious work to get it back on the road. Even so, I'm only going to ride it a few miles then change oil and filter a few times. I hope I don't see "swarf" on the magnet sump drain plug. And I certainly hope I don't have to pull the RH engine cover to clean the screen.

 

[Cujet]

On my second oil change in 50 miles. The oil contained some (not a lot) microscopic glinting bits of metal. Various colors too. Ugh. I cleaned the pickup screen and found mostly gasket materials and just a couple of tiny magnet bits.

I was very careful to drain the oil into a perfectly clean and bright plastic pan. So I could see any metal. It's not horrible, but not perfect either.

The oil filter contained no bits of any size. Not surprising, as the pick up screen is quite fine.

Neither drain plug had any magnet bits.

We shall see what the third oil change brings. I hope it's crystal clear synthetic oil. If not, I'll continue my oil change regimen and look for a healthy replacement engine.

This engine may be a good candidate for a "half micron" bypass filter.

 

[Qwiky]

MOSFET regulator is not necessarily going to load the stator less.

It's the type of operation that is important. Shunt or series operation. The shunt type shorts the unused generator output to regulate voltage. So the generator is always loaded. The series type regulates by going open circuit to interrupt charging and supply current.

MOSFET is type of transistor technology. AFAIK, all of the MOSFET regulators I have seen are shunt type. MOSFETS cannot block current flow in the reverse direction, so they cannot be used to control current flow in a series regulator.