Boiled over from expansion bottle - head gasket blown??

[mickthemirkin]

Hello All,

I have just got my ZXR400H2, have riden it once and now, before I've even had time to introduce myself here or even take a decent pic of my bike for your amusement, I've got a serious problem. Another £870 Ebay wonder

Towards the end of the ride I noticed I was doing a passable impression of the Red Arrows with the white smoke on. Bike seemed to run ok but was leaving a touching vapour trail behind me (hadn't even had a curry ). On shutdown the exhaust smoked with whisps of white-ish smoke for quite a while.

This morning, I started up and left the bike to warm up as I wanted to check the temperature gauge / radiator fan. When the needle of the gauge had got to probably 4/5 towards the red a worrying burble / rattle seemed to be coming from the top of the engine, albeit the engine was still seemingly running fine. Then I noticed a huge puddle on the R.H.S. of the bike accompanied by a boiling type sound again from the top of the engine. The fan had not cut in at this point and it had taken quite some time for the engine to warm up to this level.

I switched off, water continued to pour from the expansion bottle overflow pipe and the boiling noise continued. So, have I blown the head gasket or is there another explanation? The bike is a 1989 H2 imported from Japan (I believe) with 37941km recorded but it does have a KPH/MPH converter (in fetching pink) so I'm not sure what the true km/mileage really is.

If the head gasket has gone, where can I source one from and is it a fairly straight forward job?

Can I do it with the engine in the frame?

Thanks for all help, suggestions etc.

Mick.

[masterofinsanity]

Hi, welcome to the forum, definitely sounds like the head gasket, the boiling and fan not kicking in could be an air gap in the coolant system but the white smoke would suggest HG, is there any water in the oil? although if its boiling like you say i'd imagine its gone on the exhaust side.

you should be able to get a HG from cradley kawasaki http://www.cradleykawasaki.co.uk

i would check your fan is working for a start by bridging the wires from the rad sensor, keep your fingers out of the way of the fan!!

[saka_ZXR]

I had the same problem with the water boiling and water p***ing out but dont get the white smoke etc.

Gnna have a look around 2morrow as its my day off n just check i havent got any leaking hoses or a hole in the rad etc.

[mickthemirkin]

Doesn't appear to be any water in the oil. When I got the bike there was slight white cream there but I just put that down to the bike sitting for a while and condensation build up.

Ok, let's hypothesise; If there is an air lock in the cooling system, and for whatever reason the fan didn't work, would this be sufficient to cause a boil over at 4/5 max temperature gauge deflection? Could the white smoke be unrelated, insofar as the bike is running lean? When I got back from my first ride I smelled the end of the exhaust and it definately had a tinge of ethylene glycol which initially made me suspect the head gasket but I also wondered whether the vendor had jet washed it and got some fluid down the exhaust and it was this that was burning off.

Also, is there a way to check the coolant pump is working? The coolant bottle has now emptied to the level it was when I got the bike (hmm, I wonder why it was on Ebay .... answers on a postcard to...). How does one eliminate an air lock in the cooling system? Is it the old run it with the top off the expansion bottle for a minute or two until the level stabilises trick?

Thanks again,

Mick.

[masterofinsanity]

hi mate i would whip the rad cap off and run the engine, look out for little bubbles you know the ones for HG sign.

[mickthemirkin]

Latest Update:

I have now, after leaving the bike to thoroughly cool down, re-filled the expansion bottle, and ridden it twice, the while keeping an eye on the temperature gauge and with the proverbial crossed fingers. Suffice it it runs ok, albeit running lean with sluggish performance upto about 6k revs and hanging on throttle closing but thereafter it flies.

Now, what's mightily odd is that on both occasions the temperature needle has hardly moved, there has been absolutely no evidence of the previous white vapour trail and the water level in the expansion bottle has stayed exactly the same. Now I'm beginning to doubt the head gasket and put it down to a non functioning fan and consequent boil-over. Oh, following advice elsewhere one of said rides was to Halfords to purchase a lighting up toggle switch as a manual backup for operating the fan and a bottle or RedEx as a nod to Bob.

So, to continue my earlier hypothesis; can a bike just boil over if the fan doesn't cut in and how on earth can such boil over cause white smoke / vapour in the exhaust. Colour me baffled.

Any ideas, anyone?

For now I'm going to just ride it, fit the toggle switch and see what happens. Oh, and I'll flash off a picture for the introductions section, too.

Mick.

[RedexRobB]

faulty thermostat perhaps?

[mickthemirkin]

I'd considered that, Bob, and also a faulty tremperature sensor on the rad, too. I'll look into both at the weekend (which for me is next Tue/Wed) and report back.

Mick.