I drove my bike without engine oil for 100kms at 80kmph after which it made a shrieking sound and stopped

Question

I purchased a Hero Achiever 150.

Bike had many issues in it like not accelerating over 7000RPM while riding, which was complained and sorted out in 2nd servicing. Then suddenly while riding bike to my village, bike stopped moving anymore and its piston was destroyed. The reason for that was no engine oil in the engine, caused due to the negligence of the mechanic at the service center for giving me the bike without proper checkup while 2nd servicing. I claimed warranty and all the damaged engine parts were replaced as the service center says and they have only changed bore and piston.

Ever since then my bike was not the same. I had to go to service center once a month having lot of issues in it, and engine used to drink engine oil pretty fastly than recommended. I had to replace engine oil every once in a month. Engine used to emit white smoke all the time.

I think there is something worse happened to the engine due to driving it without oil and the service center people are not disclosing and trying to escape from getting loss, but just managing me and the bike to work temporarily.

I have given a proper complaint with notice in it to the company to repair my bike permanently to avoid further correspondence the service centre people kept my bike with then since 11 days and today is 12th day I haven't even got it back from them yet.

What could have happened to my bike's engine? How will I be able to check if it's okay after I receive it from them without warranty being void? Because I hardly know about bike engine and they might fool me again.

Answer 1

Unless this repair has been done properly, you can end up with all sorts of issues. Now perhaps the problem is something simple like an air leak or bad fueling etc which the garage will hopefully repair for you.

But as its been another 12 days it sounds as if perhaps major engine work is being attempted again, or perhaps they're waiting on parts etc. They should infirm you of this though or at least keep you up to date with what's happening.

As with a car, a 4 stroke bike is very similar. So if major components have been damaged as in your case, then ALL components should be replaced or repaired/re-bored, re-ground to as good as new condition. I fear that here perhaps the garage has replaced only the obvious parts for the engine here e.g the piston, rings and cylinder/barrel, but not payed any attention to the bearings, crankshaft etc.

As the engine had seized, not only should the piston and rings be replaced, but the cylinder/barrel, gudgeon pin, upper & lower bearings should be too. And any crank damage either repaired, or the crank replaced. If this is not done, the problems you describe will occur, and it will also end up creating the same engine damage all over again in future.

Unfortunately you can't really check the work carried out, not without dissembling the engine anyway. However you can get a good idea by seeing how the bike runs, listening to it and continually checking the oil. Not only for the correct level, but also checking its condition.

Check the dipstick as best possible for any tiny metal flakes/deposits which can indicate engine wear, you can do this by dipping the oil, then wiping the dipstick onto a clean black rag. Use a bright torch on the rag to look for metal deposits or reflections from them. The rag should be clean. You can also get a drop or two of oil from the dipstick and feel it between finger and thumb, it should be perfectly smooth. Also smell the oil, it should NOT smell burnt.