Broke chain, what now?

[Pat Conlon]

Wow, that was fast...USPS said delivery by Tuesday.

Re: shifting and throttle, did you have these symptoms before the chain break?
If not, what did you change?

[ryanschoebel]

Wow, that was fast...USPS said delivery by Tuesday.

Re: shifting and throttle, did you have these symptoms before the chain break?
If not, what did you change?

I did not. The only thing that changed was I pulled and remounted several things. Carbs, starter, alternator, tank, oil filter, shifter lever, and a few others. I'm thinking the shifting could be because I'm using a different oil? I drained oil, and put in Rotella 15/40

[Pat Conlon]

The carb removal and replacement (r/r) may be the cause of your throttle woes. Disconnect the cables at the splitter box, now, with your hand, open the carb linkage, does it snap back shut when you let go?
It should.

I don't think the oil is the culprit. I think you got air in the clutch hydraulic's when you r/r'ed the slave.
Did you disconnect the clutch line from the slave? You didn't need to, if you did, you need new crush washers on the banjo.
If you left the line connected to the slave (good) when the slave was off, did you squeeze the clutch lever, even slightly?
Take the slave back off (Don't start the bike with the slave off, but you knew that ) open up the bleed port on the slave and push in the slave piston with your thumb. Hold the piston in while you close the bleed port. Don't let go until you close the bleed port. Be careful, nasty ass brake fluid will squirt out the port when you push in the piston so be ready for that. Reinstall the clutch slave.
Now bleed your system.

See if that helps.

[ryanschoebel]

I did leave the clutch connected, but I did hit the lever at one point on accident.  So just rebleed the system? And I'll check the carb linkage tonight. If it doesn't snap back ( which tbh, mine never really has) what should I do?

[Pat Conlon]

Take the slave off, open the bleeder and push back the piston, avoid the squirt,  hold piston and close the bleeder, reinstall....then do a final bleed.

If your carb linkage does not snap close.....a few things could cause it....are your springs installed?

Protect your new chain, put the new sprockets on before you ride it any distance.

[balky1]

You said you speared the cat - are you sure you didn't lose the little bearing ball?

[FJmonkey]

I don't think anyone has reported loosing the ball bearing this way. Having done this once myself I can say, I did not loose it. 

[Firehawk068]

I know for a fact, that the ball bearing will not fit down the passage that the clutch pushrod goes through.
There is no fear of losing it this way.

[twangin4u]

As a word of advice, always replace sprockets when you replace the chain. They wear together and should be replaced together. Also, 18/40 is perfect.

That's not just good advice, it's gospel! Sprockets are cheap, chains aren't.  If you don't replace them they will shorten the life of your chain.

I also settled on that gearing (near enough anyway - 18/41) as the best allrounder. Some believe the odd/even combo gives better wear.

You're right, the same result can be achieved with a 17 front, the idea of the 18 is to reduce the load a bit.

Noel

I've read that too. I think the odd/even gives you less chance of same tooth same link contact. Which they say is not as good for the life span of both sprocket and chain.

While we're on the subject... I too had a chain break on me last night. The joining link failed. Brand new EK chain. Was taking off from a stop and got about 50' and motor wound out and nothing but a shower of oil while I coasted about 100 yards. Bent the shit out of the clutch push rod and broke the cover. Very lucky here tho cause it doesn't appear to have actually broken the case. I'm digging in now. Just not sure what damage has been done behind the push rod. Thankfully I wasn't going fast or around a bend or both. Cause I'd probably be more concerned other things right now. Or with nothing at all..

[ryanschoebel]

Update time!! I finally had the time and money to order new sprockets, and fitted them today. So all in all, thats new chain, new sprockets, new sprocket cover, engine welding, new oil, and a bit of carb work. Once i got everything back together though, i took it for a little bit of a ride, and i noticed that my shifter isnt springing back to the middle position like it should. Any ideas what thats about? I tried to do some research, but couldnt find anything fj specific. I'm dying to get riding again  I did get the throttle and choke sorted though, it was just a bunch of dirt and particulates. A good through cleaning, and its right as rain.

[Firehawk068]

There is a possibility that your shift-shaft could have bent when the chain broke.
This would cause it to not return to center when shifting.
It would most likely bind with the cover where it protrudes through it, or bind with the engine case itself.
There is a really stiff spring on the "clutch side" of the shaft that returns it to center, as well as a lighter-duty spring on the "claw" pivot that engages the shift drum. If either of these springs are broken, you would have shifter issues as well.
If you removed the shift-shaft at any time during the repair, it is possible that the stiff spring ended up in the wrong position during reassembly?
I had a very strange and rare issue a few years ago where the "claw" spring somehow came unclipped and spun itself out of position.  
If it is indeed bent, The fix is to replace the shift-shaft with a new or good-used one (which is easy to do). It does however require draining the oil and getting inside the clutch housing side of the engine.
I cannot remember if it involves removing the clutch hub and basket or not. I would have to check.

I would also make sure your shift lever pivot (on the foot-peg bolt) is greased and moving freely, as well as the little ball ends on the linkage rod.
Do a thorough inspection of all those parts.

[ryanschoebel]

There is a possibility that your shift-shaft could have bent when the chain broke.
This would cause it to not return to center when shifting.
It would most likely bind with the cover where it protrudes through it, or bind with the engine case itself.

Well Firehawk, you friggin nailed it. I took it all apart again, and it was binding with the the cover. I couldn't see it before, but it was binding on the lower half. So i took it all off, got a round file, and filed away until it no longer bound. (maybe 1-2 mm?) The cover is slightly different than what was there before, so im guessing thats the reason? Does anyone have any complaints to that?