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08 550 Overheated

N

NickGleeson

Joined Mar 2008
23 Posts | 0+
Australia
Guys,

Back from a shortened weekend trip riding as I put a rock through the radiator hose that couples in to the waterpump. Have a B&B plate which dosn't cover this area enough unfortunatly, though I dare say just plain bad luck.

Situation was this, hose got a knick in it and started to drain the coolant unsuspectingly to me, after hammering up a decent hill she stops almost at the top. My mates (who of course are behind!), tell me there was a heap of smoke before I stopped. I let her cool down and she still has compression when in gear and turns over and idles fine. However when on idle there is some smoke. Have not ridden it since this incident.

Can I have some suggestions on what to expect when I take it in for a service? I'm hopeful it's a seal gone in the water pump or a head gasket. Unfortuantly I trust the local Berg dealership here about as much as I can thrown them.

All help, suggestions, ideas would be greatfully recieved!

Cheers,

Nick
 
If the smoke came from the head gasket area, we have seen that when the engine over heats the head gasket(can) fails and allows erosion between the water jacket and the combustion chamber.
Weld it back up and machine it flat again and install a new head gasket and water pump seals and "o" rings.
 
NSMAN,

Thanks mate, smoke was from the exhaust not directly from the bore. Probably should have mentioned that!
 
It could still be a head gasket leaking into the combustion chamber.
I think I would probably retorque the head, change the hose, coolant and engine oil. Give it a try being sure to properly bleed the cooling system. Not much to loose but a couple of hours in the garage.
 
hi nick i have the same symptom with my 450 2004 i lost all the coolant an my friend stop me because foul of smoke from exhaust .i stop and fill the radiator and the follow me for 1 km and after stop , now the results after 2 month of riding i mishear noise from the motor and full of metal the oil screw after rebuilt the motor the left bearing its of end the cylinder have scratches be careful for metal end diffident noise from motor
recards
 
suggest that you refill and fit a new hose then try. if all the water ends in the oil you can havea waterpump seal gone or the three linar 'o' rings have gone. not really easy to tell but generally the sidecover is slower. try changing this seal straight away so you can discount it. even the headgasket would be a small mercy compared to the cylinder linar etc.

check that your water vein hasn't self destructed, they can dissolve like sugar in water when there isn't any (if you get my drift!).

i doubt that you even blew the headgasket. would think that your piston was starting to destroy itself in the bore.....

also, when you can, cut the area that punctured in your old hose off and strap onto the new pipe with zip ties. go to the doc for a picture of this 'mod'.

regards

Taffy
 
this is the man that broke berings bank! why are we even speaking to this man!!!!!!!!! (that's what a chinese man topld me anyway...)

shame on you! shame on you!

LOL!!!

Taffy
 
Taffy, if I were Nick Leason (Not Gleeson) I would just buy another bike, 09 550 is looking good. Don't like the sound of a piston self destructing; I'm guessing such an incident would be pretty noisy and damn smokey!

I've seen on other bikes a protective sleave around the radiator hose, Berg might wanna consider this addition. Sure would have saved me some greif. Why can't there be a bloody shutoff or warning when bikes get hot? Was never a problem with air cooled bikes, but now with radiators and cooling systems it would seem a pretty sensible addition.

Steve, nice photo of the bash plate, gonna be doing that for sure.

I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on the outcome. It's going into the parasites on Wednesday for a prognosis.
 
Guys,

Apparently good news from the workshop front. Oil was pushed up in to the airbox apparently due to the heat, thus the smoking. No oil in the water. I am a little concerned about having oil so high up though, how could this happen without something like a seal failing?
 
don't worry about it. it worked and the bike is still working!

you're back in business fella so well done....!

regards

Taffy
 
Nick the breather system is somewhat finicky,oil level, rpm,s & tip overs will cause such
symptom's.The oil making the smoke will not harm your motor,the lack of will!! Ride
on & change oil often.
 
Thanks Taffy,

Worrying factor for me is that currently she is still under warranty. If there is a drama that isn't fixed and it goes bang after warrenty expiry I'm gonna be homicidal. Happy as a pig in **** that I have her back for the weekend though.
 
Hey Nick,

Keep an eye out for any abnormal amounts of material/'fuzz' attached to the magnetic sump plug over the next couple of oil drains. Engines can get rather grumpy if run excessively hot.

Where in Oz are you?
 
Thanks all,

Oil and filters get dumped every 5Hrs - 7.5Hrs depending on the riding conditions. I have heard that it's common after lying them down and I'm guessing that excessive heat would have a similar effect. This weekend will be the tell though.

Rojerk; In Canberra mate. Should probably update my details in here to reflect that :smirk:

Once again, thanks for everyones input, much appreciated.
 

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