could this apex be on its way to blowing up?

[yamahas]

Can someone explain this air bind or hydro lock to me? Not too sure what it is, what it does and how to know if it happend. Thanks!

 

[nate007]

Hydro lock is where a liquid (fuel, waer, oil, etc) gets into the cylinder(s) and won't let the motor push the piston up all the way in the bore under compression. It can be harmful in a few was. Either you could bend a rod, break a piston, or shear teeth off of the starter or flywheel, etc.. It's not very likely to have that issue when running unless you sink your sled or something to ingest a large ammount of fluid all at once. Even a stuck injector most likely wouldn't cause enough liquid in the cylinder(s) to do much more than ruin a spark plug or just make it stop running, which the injector would stop then too.
If you're worried about hydrolock, rotate the primary clutch by hand a few times and if the motor still turns just fine youre not locked. Keep in mind the primaries are geared down, so it will take more than one full turn of the clutch to turn one revolution of the motor.
If you do feel any binding, stop and remove the spark plugs, and rotate again, if there is any fluid in the cylinders, it will escape there, then you can turn the motor over faster using the starter. Just be sure to remove the coils, or power to the coils to avoid an accidental fire if it is fuel or oil related! Dry everything out and put it back together, then attempt to start it, and let it idle while it "cleans" out whtever is left. If you have access to an air compressor during this procedure, gently blow air into the cylinders with the plugs out to help dry the cylinders.
Good luck!

 

[yamahas]

Thanks nate, thats good stuff to know.

What about this air bind with the oil? I can't see how an air void would be any different then an oil change?

Thanks!

 

[sgilbert]

Thanks nate, thats good stuff to know.

What about this air bind with the oil? I can't see how an air void would be any different then an oil change?

Thanks![/quote
Judging by engine experience and this forum, it apears to me that if a no oil pressure situation happens at high rpm, big trouble, be it now or later. if it happens at idle and shuts down, possibly ok. the air bind I refer to is no oil going into pump, causing no pressure. yes, an engine starting is no pressure, but 1 is not hot, 2 not full rpm, 3 is very breef, followed by full pressure, clean oil. as roest has stated in past, the shut off is like 3 lbs. rule of thumb is 10lbs per 1000rpm. so by the time it shuts down if at full rpm, the crank has baked the lube and scored the crank. sometimes not showing its ugly face for days, weeks or months later. that much I have seen, such as a used mower you buy that later throws a rod while full of oil. the previous owner pretends there was never an "occurance"