Running Hot

[lister.of.smeg]

Hi All
I am a new user and need your colective advice please.
I have a H1 400, 1989
I road it from Hereford to Walsall via the motorway, steady cruising 75-80, with the occasional burst when no one was looking,
when i got of the motorway and started to filter, the bike was not happy, very snatchy on the throtle, temp gage reading halfway, but coolant spewing out of the overflow into my boot.
I drained and flushed the rad and head as per the manual.
But could only get 2.0 liters back into the system, not the specked 2.3L (corectly mixed de ionised water and high temp coolant) just in case, old coolant looked ok, bit stinky from cooking, but not cloudy or signs of oil.
Took the bike for a steady run, quickly got the temp up to halfway, gave a steady run up to 80 or so, went for a play on a roundabout to get rid of the chicken strip, and started sliping in overflowing coolant, thankfully stayed up, very steady run home.

No problems with hot or cold starts, just keeps filling my boot

Whats up???????
Also got an annoying leak from the clutch gasket???related????

please help
Martin

[RedexRobB]

hey martin, i think the 2.3 litres includes filling the expansion bottle too. It sounds at first like the headgasket has gone, what mileage has the bike covered? If its roughyl 20k or more it could be due for replacing.

As for clutch gasket, they probably arent related, just a seperate problem id have thought!

[lister.of.smeg]

Its covered 32,000km
Only bought it coz it was cheap, damn ebay!!
Head gasket sounds like a big job?? Are there any how to's on the forum or thread??

[lister.of.smeg]

I read about a warm up valve.
What is it, where is it and how do i check its working???
this sounds like a nice easy fix that wont take all the skin off my knuckles and money out of my wallet!!

If it was the head gasket would there be other signs, like water in the oil, loss of power, oil all over?

[RedexRobB]

Dont think there is a warm up valve, if its what i think it is where a valve is closed to prevent water flow while the engine warms up, then opens when warm, then the ZXR doesnt have one.

Not always water in the oil, i had a head gasket go on mine and the only signs it had gone was that it was running hotter than normal, there was no loss of power either. The coolant can sometimes smell of exhaust which is another indication as well as coolant pissing out. Also the colour of your exhaust fumes, i think it usuallya white smoke that will come out.

Im not 100% sure on the head gasket job for the H model, for the L model the engine needs to be dropped out so i can only assume the same for the H. It is a two day job tho, maybe one day if you know what you are doing.

[Ernie456]

Sorry mate but i have the same problem, tired to bleed the system and even took the thermostat out but it's still the same and will take the engine out later tonight. it's not that much of a big job as you'll have the engine on the bench in front of you. be careful disconecting pipe and wires and line up the timming marks and it should be a great way of finding out how your bike works.

there that sounded easy didn't....... i'll post back tomorrow and we'll see if i'm as helpfull then.

good luck

[Northern ANdy]

a thermostat is a warm up valve. If the oil isn't gungy I doubt its the head gasket. There is nothing in the manual about 20k head gasket life. First off I would check the level in resevoir bottle, then the rad cap.

[RedexRobB]

I thought the thermostat was to measure the temp of the water in the engine? Is there any manual that will tell you when the head gasket should be done? Im going by common problems here, and the head gasket going at roughly 20k is common for the ZXR.

[Northern ANdy]

its the thermistor that is part of the temp measuring device. Its resistance changes with temperature , R drops as T rises, then the gauge moves further over as R falls.

[RedexRobB]

negative temperature coeficient then

[Northern ANdy]

indeedy, if you examine one it'll be stamped NTC and a part no.

[masterofinsanity]

the thermostat lets the bike warm up quicker and opens to allow coolant flow around the engine which helps cool the engine as it passes through the radiator, you can take the thermostat out and test in a jug of boiling water but personally for the price of em if your taking it out anyway i'd replace it.