Poss head gasket fault

Mr_Incredible · Post by **Mr_Incredible** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:46 pm

Hi all, now where to start lol.

I've been doing my bike up since I bought it and I've finally got to what I thought was the final stages. It's a 90/91 Fzr 1000 exup. Now during the rebuild process I changed the thermostat as the old one was faulty, afterwards I noticed that the bike was losing water. My first thought was that the thermostat was at fault so I stripped it down again but all was well, took the thermostat housing off the engine and found the seal damaged so replaced and refitted. When I first noticed the coolant it seemed only to happen as bike warmed/cooled. I've checked all pipes and connections and can't find anything a miss so I'm a bit confused. Took it for a ride out on Saturday came home left it to cool then checked the coolant lvl, again it was low. Now here's the punch line I checked the oil lvl today and it was a little bit low so I added some, when I took off the filler cap I noticed the there was a small trace of white on it, not thick mayonnaise type just a small trace of it. So the big question is has anyone got any ideas on this problem? Has anyone ever done a head gasket on one of these? Any help welcome.

Jay762 · Post by **Jay762** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:38 pm

never had a head gasket issue - not read about ones on forum for this bike either - I know I used to get specs from the vent tube going to the air box but sight glass always remained clear / oily

Post by **Stig** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:31 pm

Have a sniff test done

The mayo could just be condensation build up if it's minimal. Most Exups use a bit of oil

banner001 · Post by **banner001** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:23 am

there are always pockets of air in the cooling system that require a bit of a blast to remove them.

before you go down HG route i would refil your coolant, refil your expansion bottle and go for another 30min-1hr spirited ride, leave it to cool for several hours and when its fully cool go back and re-check your coolant and expansion bottle levels...they should now be a lot more stable.

as for cloudy oil, you always get a bit of moisture in the crankcases from blow-by past the rings...perfectly normal, it will clear after a few minutes riding.

incidently its not that hard to do a HG change on these bikes, the only tool youwill need that you probably dont have is a long reach (like 4" reach) M6 allen key in order to remove the head, also note that these bikes have 2 gaskets, one true HG and one that holds the two halfs of the head together, you should only need to change the true head gasket, as long as you dont damage the midle one you will be fine.

Post by **Stig** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:41 am

John, if HG is needed what brands are recommended or would you always use OEM?

banner001 · Post by **banner001** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:37 am

OEM for HG...you cn go athena/patern parts for the others as they are less important, but OEM all the way, should last 40-50k miles

Fatdog · Post by **Fatdog** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:47 pm

banner001 wrote:OEM for HG...you cn go athena/patern parts for the others as they are less important, but OEM all the way, should last 40-50k miles

I'm with John on this one, OEM for the head gasket.
A bit more money, but piece of mind at the end of the day.

Jay762 · Post by **Jay762** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:57 pm

whilst it is labour intensive - hence the price you have been quoted - as said it is a simple, straight forward job. A torque wrench and the extended allen socket are the only specialist tools required

Tipper2 · Post by **Tipper2** » Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:30 am

When you say the coolant level is low is that the level in the radiator or expansion bottle?

Tipper2 · Post by **Tipper2** » Sat Apr 15, 2017 9:41 pm

"When you say the coolant level is low is that the level in the radiator or expansion bottle?"

Sorry, just re-read that and it sounded as if I was saying you didn't know what you were doing which wasn't at all intended.

Just curious about the level in the expansion bottle?

banner001 · Post by **banner001** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:01 pm

pm sent.