I just purchased a relatively inexpensive endoscope and looked into the injector ports and spark plug ports.  I am seeing what appears to be anti-freeze in two of the injector ports, can't really tell when peering through spark plug ports.  Please see the attached and let me know your thoughts.
Thanks,
Jim

It surely isn't what one expects to see. I would immediately suspect a leaking head gasket of possibly a crack between the port and water jacket. I have never heard of a crack there but that certainly doesn't exclude the possibility.

Stale petrol?

Two Wheels Better wrote:Stale petrol?

Agree. Take a sample using the hook on your camera to which you have attaches a cotton swab. Smell the sample just taken or try and light it.

That'll steam on start up!

Looks like duff fuel to me too.

In my early experience with "affordable" automobiles I recall that the rather distinctive smell of antifreeze getting into the combustion chamber is incredibly difficult to not be aware of when the engine is running.

It's easy to assume the worst if you think you have a coolant leak, but there are plenty of innocent reasons to look for (if it's not fuel and your coolant is green) Check if you're loosing coolant. Cappuccino under the oil filler cap or inside or sight glass. You shouldn't see water shoot out the muffler instantly at start while someone presses the start button for you. Do some of the regular stuff like say check for loose hose clamps (a pressure test isn't easy on a brick because of the unusual cap)

OK another case of ridiculous wishful thinking from me, spose a radiator clamp is loose, and spose coolant pools around the injector wells, and spose the o ring is poor (or the injection rail isn't tight, even if the bolts are) coolant could get passed the o rings and pool against the closed inlet valves with the engine turned off. Made me wonder which two cylinders were affected, spose both with valves  closed.

Safety First, Remove sparkplugs to prevent Hydraulic action in the bores. Spin the engine and see what comes out of each plug hole, then go from there.

Good point Moriarti.

Another thing, if that photo is from cylinder 4, check that the vacuum hose is dry. Wondering if fuel is green in that neck of the woods.

daveyson wrote:Wondering if fuel is green in that neck of the woods.

Biofuel?

Friends,
My sincere apologies for perhaps a waste of time.  I may have thought the worst upon seeing this as you suggested.  I had forgotten that I had sprayed Sta-Bil fogging oil into each port earlier when I removed the injectors.  And even before that, I had drained all antifreeze out of the motor to remove the radiator to work on a dead fan.  I believe (hope) I just thought the worst with initial inspection with my new scope.
This bike has sit for several months, and my brother gave it to me after he had a stroke so the history is questionable.  I am finding that it has been neglected for years, and it will be months if not years before I can start it for the first time.
Anyway, I used a miti-vac and sucked as much of the liquid as I could.  It appears to be the stay-bil oil as that it is greasy feeling.
Thanks for the awesome feedback.
Jim

No waste of time at all. Some of us got to make an educated guess, using our very best grey matter, and this helps keep the weisenheimer Alzenheimers at bay.

That's a good result, and good to know I'm not the only one who forgets stuff.

I think you could be surprised and that you could get it started in one day. I've got a few bricks that weren't started for years before I got them,  they all started easily once the problem was found, yours might not have a problem. I might have been lucky. The last one wasn't started for ten years, I think they survive this storage cause of the nikasil, alloy, stainless, that sort of stuff. They didn't cut corners when they designed the brick.

Ha!  This brings to mind my recent battery adventure.  Me, jump to conclusions?  Naw...  
I'm the prez of the "Assume the Worst" club.
Season's greetings to one and all!  

I've a mate who rang me to ask if I knew why his R1150R Oilhead wouldn't start, only crank, after removing and replacing the fuel tank for un-related work. He reckoned the fuel pump quit working or that the fuel filter had suddenly become clogged due to the jostling it might have taken, or perhaps the fuel pressure regulator karked it in that instant.

I told him to check the electrical connector for the gauge and fuel pump up the right hand side of the tank. He asked again what these components might cost. I told him it's usually simple. He texted to say he'd found a fuel filter kit with all of the required gaskets, clamps and hoses, and that it was on its way. I asked him whether his bike had quick disconnects on the fuel hoses and to be sure they're tight. I never got an answer.

Coupla days later he told me he spoke to a BMW mechanic - whom we both know - who told him to look at the fuel quick disconnects because they're easily left not quite connected.

Yep, that was it, he said, glad that Bob the mechanic had told him about this common issue.