yingding Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 history; bought bike 1500 miles ago, been hardly used in last three years loads o crap in coolant system keep flushing but yes overheating. oil filter change put in fully synthetic 10/40w ? did pugs then starts misiring look to see the milky nightmare in sump, bollox , now i have rebuilt two strokes ok but that was many moons ago an i aint never done a four stroke so corse i gotta manual, now i need to pick yer brains any help please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran9r Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Milky oil confirms water in the oil. Most likely a head gasket, specially with the Kawasaki 2 piece items, but not always. My 9R had a cracked bore...lets hope yours is straightforward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted June 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Milky oil confirms water in the oil. Most likely a head gasket, specially with the Kawasaki 2 piece items, but not always. My 9R had a cracked bore...lets hope yours is straightforward. cheers fran ,otherwise it's the push bike to work ps, if you dont mind me askin how much hassle was that for you ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran9r Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 A pain in the GENT. Had a pressure test done...confirmed the coolant system was loosing pressure. Thats worth getting done to confirm it by the way. Engine out, few jobs complete, head/bore skimmed, engine back together, then back in frame. Exactly the same problem -milky oil and a very slight water loss. Engine back out...3 mechanics (including a main dealer), a machine shop and my own eyes could not find a problem. In dispair we re-asembled the bore/head off the bottom end, rigged up a cooling system...and waited. There was a tiny crack between 2 cylinders, traced through the leak. That'd be the problem then. Delay waiting for new bore to be delivered. Well, new to me -Kawasaki wanted something like a grand. Re-fit, test, congratulate each other, change oil, chuck in a van and get it on the (pre booked) dyno the next day. I needed a brew after that lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran9r Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Should say...I'd be tempted to change the oil, and make sure the coolant system has no air trapped. Fill the rad/header, leave the rad cap off, start bike and top up as needed. Only put cap on when the water stays at max (or begins to overflow). If you do short journeys, or the bike has been stood, the milky crap could be just because of that. Keep an eye on the new oil, if it goes milky then it's worth getting the engine apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Should say...I'd be tempted to change the oil, and make sure the coolant system has no air trapped. Fill the rad/header, leave the rad cap off, start bike and top up as needed. Only put cap on when the water stays at max (or begins to overflow). If you do short journeys, or the bike has been stood, the milky crap could be just because of that. Keep an eye on the new oil, if it goes milky then it's worth getting the engine apart. yeah kawasaki offered to change the gasket the for £650 approx, well that would be a write off then approx coolant system is not even filling, topping up on tick over for ages. putting cap on, pressure starts to build but you can hear the header tank just bubbling away. just cant see where the airs getting in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fran9r Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Surely it'd be cheaper to put in a second hand engine? Been around for ages so I'd expect you can pick one up cheap enough. Although time consuming, it's not technically difficult to do. If you go that route you could always fix the original at your leasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Surely it'd be cheaper to put in a second hand engine? Been around for ages so I'd expect you can pick one up cheap enough. Although time consuming, it's not technically difficult to do. If you go that route you could always fix the original at your leasure. well the bikes off the road now, engine out and dismanteling if i cant get me head around it by the 21st then cool, if not it's off to kawasaki to do what i can't eh whell, cheers though ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Surely, it'd be cheaper taking it to a decent independant than having kawasaki look at it themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will#224 Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Easiest option, visit the zxr400 forum, view the full photographed job of a head gasket change, ask as many detailed questions if you get stuck, job done. The full kwak manuals are available for download for free including the F3 kit racing manual. Bargain. If you dont want to do it, buy a new used engine starting at £200 from ebay or from one of a few zxr specialists and sell me the engine at the same price. Bargain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Surely, it'd be cheaper taking it to a decent independant than having kawasaki look at it themselves? thats the first route i took, first two 'decent independants' told me i would be better off taking it to kwaka dealer as they don't have manuals, possibly the largest bike shop in bristol told me they don't do 'grey imports' and they are supposed to be in the know ? twats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly68 Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Easy enough to do as Kawasaki have good timing marks. Watch out when rebuilding though. The copper pipes at the end of the cam carriers tend to snap without you noticing and then you end up without enough oil flow to cams. End result - knackered head! Seen this a couple of times, not nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Easiest option, visit the zxr400 forum, view the full photographed job of a head gasket change, ask as many detailed questions if you get stuck, job done. The full kwak manuals are available for download for free including the F3 kit racing manual. Bargain. If you dont want to do it, buy a new used engine starting at £200 from ebay or from one of a few zxr specialists and sell me the engine at the same price. Bargain! yeah i've started to browse that site and i do want to do it meself really, just not that confident with four strokes see cheers for the offer but i wanna keep this one and see it through as i'm pretty certain of the 28k clocked got some time tomorrow to give it a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 Easy enough to do as Kawasaki have good timing marks. Watch out when rebuilding though. The copper pipes at the end of the cam carriers tend to snap without you noticing and then you end up without enough oil flow to cams. End result - knackered head! Seen this a couple of times, not nice. tip from the top that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deviant Posted July 8, 2009 Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 thats the first route i took, first two 'decent independants' told me i would be better off taking it to kwaka dealer as they don't have manuals, possibly the largest bike shop in bristol told me they don't do 'grey imports' and they are supposed to be in the know ? twats There's a reason why they're referred to as 'Fowlups', as I'm sure that's who you're referring to. It's not that big a job to do yourself. As others have said, go to www.zxrworld.co.uk, download the manuals, ask for help on the forum, etc. Good luck. If you do want a decent independent place to do it for you, try Barton Motors in Bath. And if all fails, buy another engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yingding Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2009 There's a reason why they're referred to as 'Fowlups', as I'm sure that's who you're referring to. It's not that big a job to do yourself. As others have said, go to www.zxrworld.co.uk, download the manuals, ask for help on the forum, etc. Good luck. If you do want a decent independent place to do it for you, try Barton Motors in Bath. And if all fails, buy another engine. ha ha , got it in one mate. yeah looking at zxrworld too thanks for the tip of barton motors, i'll give em a call Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.