Exhaust Plate Crack?

[eullnj]

I did a once-over on my motor (125 ELPTO, 1998), and I noticed something either new or something I have not noticed before. I'm not sure what cover this is (see below), but there may be some sort of "crack" going completely across it. I'm not sure if you can see it clearly, but there are some scrape marks I made by the "crack" to determine it's depth/impact. There is no gap in the "crack" and the "crack" goes directly behind the sticker. The sticker looks to be in perfect shape, so it doesn't appear anything is leaking out of the "crack". The paint looks to be intact along the whole "crack" save the spots I tried scraping it off.

I had the motor out just last weekend, and it ran great. The impeller was new last year and only run a handful of times. The motor doesn't seem to get too hot, and I don't get any exhaust to speak of.

Is this something to worry about, or just some minor imperfection of the manufacturing process? The plugs are all clean (save a little bit of oil, which I believe is normal). Anything else to look for?

Thanks!

 

[eullnj]

Re: Exhaust Plate Crack?

I should also add that I checked compression on all cylinders, and they all came in at an even 130# or so, if that's of any importance.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Exhaust Plate Crack?

That is the exhaust cover plate. If it was leaking, you'd think it'd be pretty obvious.

Some methods of casting aluminum, especially thin parts, will cause cracks in the molds that leave imperfections on the castings. That's probably what you're lookin' at.

The only other thing I'd check out is look in the cylinders, and look closely at the plugs. If one of them is unusually clean, I'd take this plate off and look at the back side of it. An exhaust plate water leak can spray water into a cylinder, eventually causing trouble. Don't know about the 4's, see it on a V6 once in awhile.

Other than that, I wouldn't worry about it.

hope it helps
John

 

[eullnj]

Re: Exhaust Plate Crack?

Thank you, it helps a lot. I did pull the plugs, and they looked normal, a small amount of oil residue on each plug. Pretty much the same as they have always looked.

Thanks for the reply!