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02 FC550 blowing radiator hose off of water pump housing

olpace

olpace

Joined Dec 2010
35 Posts | 0+
Why would my 550 blow the radiator hose off of the water pump housing? the first time was when I didnt get a full kick in on it I accidentally gave it a lil gas when kicking it, this resulted in me nearly getting thrown over the handle bars and the radiator hose? getting blown off the water pump housing... I put it back on took the cap off filled it back up, cranked the bike and was trying to figure out/trace a bogging issue (bogs and dies when I give it gas) seems to be flooding, and I kept feathering the throttle to try to get it to run, Hose blew off again and showered me with boiling coolant. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. should I have kicked it over a few times to circulate any air out before filling it back up or?
 
Sounds like 2 problems. 1) blown head gasket 2) needs the updated waterpump cover. You can modify the cover yourself with a little JB Weld.
 
How can I be sure the head gasket is blown before tearing it down, its been running GREAT! there is no water in the oil etc.... should I borrow a radiator test kit from someone and pressure test it? if so how many pounds of pressure should I pump the system up to?
 
also forgot to mention earlier, Ive not seen any smoke/steam etc none of the tale tale signs of the head gasket yet, but again I am more familiar with cars/boats/harleys than I am the bergs mechanics, so forgive my ignorance. LOL
 
With the radiator cap off and the bike idling, if you see bubbles in the coolant you more than likely need a new head gasket.
 
Ok, thanks bud, Im going to go home and clean the carb, replace the plug, fix/remount the radiator hose, fire it up and diagnose from there. I will keep you posted. also, is the 110 fuel ok to keep running in it? my manual calls for RON 98 or higher, but our highest pump gas is 93. The bike calls for 5w-50 oil and I cannot find that anywhere here, it also says it can run 10w-50, can I safely run 10w-40 until I can order some oil in the right vicosity? I will get some pics and more information up tonite. If I do need to replace my head gasket it there anything else I should look for replace/repair while in there other than inspecting for broken valve springs, adjusting valves, and checking the head etc?
 
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the hose under my exhast in the attached pics is the one thats coming off...
 

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and does my 2002 have the coolant bleeder screw? Im going to try looking for one when I get home... could this be why I blew the hose off after I filled it back up as I didnt bleed the air out? It didnt come off the first time until I kicked a lil bit while giving it some gas on accident trying to start it, it made it kick back on me (hince when It almost launched me) then the hose just poped off...
 
From "the doc" :


If using same headgasket again... May try torqueing down to 60Nm - 15Nm above factory numbers (became the standard torque setting from '04 onwards).

The bleeder screw was added in 05 maybe in 04.
 
"the owners doc"
http://www.husaberg.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

The bike does have a bleed screw, it's just almost impossible to use. There is a set screw between the 2 exhaust ports.
It's jest best to fill it, lay it down on the floor on the right side for a minute. Tip the bike back up level and recheck the fluid level. Do not overfill the radiator. The fluid needs to be 10mm above the core, room for expansion is needed.

Waterpump cover mod as described by Bobzilla.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2195&p=17616&hilit=lower+radiator+hose#p17616
 
Ok guys, my bike is fixed and running great! I cleaned the carb ( which was in dire need), put in a new plug, changed the oil, and swapped coolants. Laying the bike on the side works great for burping the cooling system! thanks for the tip! I have attached some pics of what im running, that orange coolant is great! so far, my bike is running alot cooler. I havent put a temp strip on it, but I can tell from the heat coming off of it that its not running near as hot. Im in Louisiana and its 100+ degrees here so I swapped to the Amsoil 20w-50 and it seems to like that alot better as well, The old coolant that I was running is the stuff in the black bottle. (see attached pics) anyone else have input on different coolants, whats good and whats bad? also, for the radiator hose (to the water pump housing) I put a coating of BLACK rtv silicone gasket maker inside the tip of the hose. let it set for 7 minutes APPROX then installed on the barb and tightened down hose clamp, works like a champ!
 
attached pics of coolants/oils
 

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Good quality stuff. You may want to reconsider the oil from a cost basis. I used to change my oil every ride to every other ride. No more than 5 hours on an oil change. Change the filter every 4th or 5th change. It's just cheap insurance, and allows you to keep tabs on the metal content in the screen.
Alot of the old timers were running Chevron Delo 400 15w/40. Good quality reasonably priced. Also that bike should run fine on premium pump gas as long as there is no ethanol in it. I never could justify the additional expense of race fuel.
 
The new formula Delo is not the same as the old stuff. At least in the USA.

I use Rotella T every 5-8 hours. Filter every 4 changes also.

Have 12,500 miles, 350 hours in my 05 650 engine. 80% road 20% trail
 
Thanks guys! The only pump gas i can find around here with no ethanol is 87 octane, im going to call around tho, the race fuel is $9 a gallon here :(
 
98 RON is not the same as 98 Octane. do a wikipedia search of 98 ron and it will give you a ton of info on it, i plugged all the numbers once and 98 RON was the equivlent of 91-93 octance, not like that will help you anyway if you can only get 87. i have ran 87 octane plenty of times without issue. i also use rotella t and do frequent oil changes with good results.
 
I found a local oil company that will sell me 93 octane (NO ETHANOL)!! :mrgreen: Now I can actually afford to ride! hahaha
 

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