FST cooler

[Max400]

Well after rading a thread about the FST cooler that said you have to silicone the little ball bearing into the oil passage, but it didn't say so in the instructions. well I took the head cover and the clutch cover off:mad: and I foung the ball bearing it was in the oil reservoir by the cam bearing. I really don't want to put another ball bearing in my motor, but I have to block off the oil passage........dose anyone think that I could block it off with a little piece of gasket material over the passage?

I will be calling FST today, but I don't know if I'll get any info out of them:confused: they were a little less than helpfull the last time I called them about this.........you would think that after not putting in their instructions that you need to silicone the bearing in that they would be a little helpfull, they said they thought that everyone would just go ahead and glue it in without them saying to do it!! maybe I should have, but I try to always folloew the instructions to the T.........

[Max400]

the first pic is where I found the ball bearing. this pic is where the oil passage is that I need to block!

[F-16Guy]

I'm using a set screw, that ball bearing thing looks pretty cheezy. Find the oil passage on the right side of the case where the cylinder base gasket sits. Get a slightly larger set screw and a drill bit/tap that matches the size of the set screw from your local hardware store. Put tape on your drill bit equal to the depth required to make the set screw flush with the gasket surface. Carefully drill down to the tape line on the bit. Carefully tap hole (use light lubricating oil and tap in small steps, backing tap out to remove shavings). Clean hole, test fit, install with lock-tite. Lets see that come loose! I would never use any kind of sealant in an oil passage, that's asking for trouble!! Honda doesn't use gasket sealer, and if you prep your gasket surfaces right, you shouldn't either.

[chad502ex]

Originally posted by Max400
Well after rading a thread about the FST cooler that said you have to silicone the little ball bearing into the oil passage, but it didn't say so in the instructions. well I took the head cover and the clutch cover off:mad: and I foung the ball bearing it was in the oil reservoir by the cam bearing. I really don't want to put another ball bearing in my motor, but I have to block off the oil passage........dose anyone think that I could block it off with a little piece of gasket material over the passage?

I will be calling FST today, but I don't know if I'll get any info out of them:confused: they were a little less than helpfull the last time I called them about this.........you would think that after not putting in their instructions that you need to silicone the bearing in that they would be a little helpfull, they said they thought that everyone would just go ahead and glue it in without them saying to do it!! maybe I should have, but I try to always folloew the instructions to the T.........

Max400,

I too had the same issue when I installed mine from FST instructions the first time round. Then, luckily, I was in a rebuild, actually from 490cc to 502cc, when I noticed the ball bearing was laying by my cam bearing just like yours was. I removed my sidecover and noticed the bearing was gone. I called FST, he said "Oh, yea, you have to epoxy the bearing in the vien", I said "your instructions didn't specifiy that", he said "Oh, I'll change it then". Anyhow, makes no difference, I was lucky enough to catch it before the motor had any issues. To remedy, I bought a slightly larger (i mean slightly) diameter ball bearing and tapped into place with small hammer without damaging oil passage. I removed all oil with brake cleaner and q-tip before inserting the bearing. Before inserting, high temp silicon all over bearing and into vien did the trick. Between the bearing wedge and silicon its still there and has been for over three rebuilds.

Chad502EX.com

[Chef]

The new instructions say to use JB Weld on it. Mine has stayed so far...

[chad502ex]

Originally posted by Chef
The new instructions say to use JB Weld on it. Mine has stayed so far...

Chef, correct JB is what he said not epoxy. JB works great if it bonds to the metal surface. Just make sure the passage is clean from oil otherwise JB will have trouble bonding to the passage walls. I stuck with silicon, for some reason I had visions of the JB flacking off and ending up in my cylinder. Not that that would happen, but maybe..... :)

Thx Chef!

Chad502ex.com

[BS300ex5]

anyone got FST's phone #

[RiPPiNiTuP7]

This is one mod I won't be getting :huh

[F-16Guy]

Originally posted by RiPPiNiTuP7
This is one mod I won't be getting :huh

It's a good mod and well worth the money, except for the check ball in the oil passage. Use a set screw, and you'll never have to worry about finding a check ball (or gasket sealer/JB Weld for that matter) where it shouldn't be. A modified EX engine needs all the cooling it can get, and this is the best single improvement you can make, in my opinion.