Athena cylinder plating issue

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Posts: 284

Joined: 12/31/2012

Location: AUT

10/30/2017 12:02 PM

I am currently in the process of rebuilding a buddys kx250f that he drowned in a pond grin
Quite a bit of sand got sucked into the combustion chamber, but it obviously immediately died as it went under water. Looks like nothing was damaged, piston, valves, everything looks fine. Except that it has an athena cylinder on it, and the plating looks very weird. I cant even describe it so here are some pics:

I cant feel those marks with my fingernail, but also cant wash them away.
Anybody ever seen anything like that? Safe to use again or not?
Any input is much appreciated cool

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Acidreamer

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10/30/2017 1:19 PM

Personally id get it replated.

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2009 Kawasaki KX450F
2009 Kawasaki KX250F
2002 Suzuki GSXR 600

TrailDigger

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10/30/2017 2:07 PM
Edited Date/Time: 10/30/2017 2:08 PM

Maybe shoot Athena an email?

Did you try to rehone it?

Edit: It looks like some sort of deformation for the plating cooling down dramatically maybe? I dunno, I'm no metallurgist.

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If you're not mixing gas, you're not haulin ass.

omalley

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10/30/2017 3:31 PM

TrailDigger wrote:
Maybe shoot Athena an email?

Did you try to rehone it?

Edit: It looks like some sort of deformation for the plating cooling down dramatically maybe? I dunno, I'm no metallurgist.

I had that thought as well-wondering if sucking in cold water shocked the plating. Total WAG on my part though.

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TrailDigger

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10/31/2017 12:07 AM

omalley wrote:
I had that thought as well-wondering if sucking in cold water shocked the plating. Total WAG on my part though.

You'd have to ask an expert. I could picture it heating up to engine temps and cracking off the cylinder walls or something of that nature.

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If you're not mixing gas, you're not haulin ass.

Bruneval

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Location: New York City, NY USA

10/31/2017 6:12 AM

Wonder what happened to Millenium - they used to post on here all the time and would be able to answer this question better than anyone.

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mx317

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10/31/2017 8:35 AM
Edited Date/Time: 10/31/2017 8:36 AM

It looks like plating is cracked. I could see that flaking off pretty easy.

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Take it to the limit, one more time!

Charper732

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Location: Scottdale, GA USA

11/2/2017 4:23 PM

Nikasil coating is very thin. It looks like it's starting to separate from the aluminum of the cylinder bore. I can tell you from personal experience Athena quality control is horrible, as is their customer service.

I've seen a similar issue but coating starting to chip from the top gasket surface downward. Also dealt with a BBK from them that was advertised as 12.7:1 compression. Did a fluid measurement and it came out to 10.9:1, if i remember correctly. I will never deal with that company again.

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harescrambled

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Location: Warren, OH USA

11/4/2017 1:36 PM
Edited Date/Time: 11/4/2017 1:36 PM

By all means, shoot Athena a email. They're going to tell you that based on the pics, the cylinder is 1) scored 2) the plating is damaged from thermal shock 3) purchase a new cylinder or replate the one you have 4) they're not gonna pay for it since it was under water. That being said, don't run it...the electroplating doesn't expand at the same rate as the aluminum (Aluminum expands more). The plating isn't fused to the aluminum, it's effectively a mechanical bond...think traditional chrome plating or even silver soldering/brazing. The sudden cooling of the electroplate material while the aluminum is hot could certainly cause the coating to flake off, which will roach the piston, cylinder, likely the crank, and possibly the head too.

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