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What is this mystery item?

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MercurialWarc...
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Joined: 26 Apr 2016
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PostPosted: 21:56 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: What is this mystery item? Reply with quote
Evening all,

Got a question for you.

Basically, what is this pin thingy in the attached attachment (which has hopefully worked)?

It's approximately 18mm long and 3mm diameter, it has a shallow groove at one end, and a deeper groove at the other.

Quick backstory - I'm doing up my Dad's bike for the spring, and he's mentioned that he'd been having overheating issues before the bike was put away before the winter.

So today, I've stripped the bike down to check the cooling components, and when I've taken the thermostat cover off, I've found this mystery object just sitting on top of the thermostat.

Now, obviously I'm a bit concerned that this is indicative of a more major failure and a more expensive fix than just replacing a dodgy thermostat.

So, any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
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doggone
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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PostPosted: 22:00 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Part of the thermostat or possibly the springy part of the radiator cap?
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 22:06 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Initial comment, I presume the thermostat is complete and in one piece so said part doesn't come from there?

2hd comment - WHAT BIKE. Jesus, can't people give proper information.
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Riejufixing
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Joined: 24 Jun 2018
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PostPosted: 22:06 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
What bike? Look up Spare Parts For That Machine and see if you can see something similar anywhere?
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MercurialWarc...
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Joined: 26 Apr 2016
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PostPosted: 22:20 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
doggone wrote:
Part of the thermostat or possibly the springy part of the radiator cap?


Polarbear wrote:
Initial comment, I presume the thermostat is complete and in one piece so said part doesn't come from there?

2hd comment - WHAT BIKE. Jesus, can't people give proper information.


I'm dumb, sorry - bike is a 1995 ZX9R B2. No issues with it other than the overheating.

And yes, as far as I can tell, both the thermostat and the radiator cap are intact.


Riejufixing wrote:
Look up Spare Parts For That Machine and see if you can see something similar anywhere?


That's what I was trying to avoid - I was hoping someone would be able to just see it and think, "ah yes, that's the gangle pin, located down in..."
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 22:24 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oh! Is this one of those "guess the bike" games? The clues are: "Dad" so I'd say an older gentleman, late 40's to early 50's. Water cooled bike, hmmm Thinking Overheating so probably likes a long run. And then we have the picture...

Could be the rod from the centre of the old spring-type thermostats:

https://motointercom.eu/shop/6838-large_default/thermostat-water-yamaha-t-max-500-2004-2011-t-max-530-2012-2019-fzr-600-yzf-600.jpg

...that would be dramatic!

So my guess is [drum roll] a 2015 Yamaha Fazer 600
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Easy-X
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PostPosted: 22:25 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
FFS got that so wrong Smile
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Riejufixing
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PostPosted: 22:32 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Easy-X wrote:
FFS got that so wrong Smile

Ah well. You ain't no Sherkle Homes on "what bike", but the thermostat idea is quite possible, it might explain overheating too; I wonder whether there's a bent bit of sheet metal in there somewhere too..... the OP will soon pronounce... this will be interesting!
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mentalboy
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PostPosted: 23:05 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
You know what guys, I reckon it might be the thermostat pin. Laughing

If the OP's really brave he'll post a us a luvverly pic of some gunk ridden mess of a thermostat housing.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 23:22 - 26 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
But would that be a casue of the overheating, or an effect?
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MercurialWarc...
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Joined: 26 Apr 2016
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PostPosted: 00:00 - 27 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
In my defence, I didn't think there would be much benefit of mentioning the specific bike model because, in my mind, the cooling system is self-contained, and how different can they between bikes?
It's an absolutely dreadful defence, I'll admit Laughing but I apologise nonetheless.

Easy-X wrote:
Could be the rod from the centre of the old spring-type thermostats:


I reckon that's it - the thermostat I removed is of that style, and that pin looks very similar to my loose one.

The thermostat I removed from the bike was definitely intact, and definitely has its pin in place - though its pin is of a different shape (doesn't have a groove at the top) which is probably why I didn't twig this earlier.

I've attached the only pic I thought to take of the thermostat I removed from the bike - a top-down view to show the scale of the pin (I didn't attach it earlier because it was too large a file and I didn't think it would be of much use - but, as we've established, I'm an idiot Rolling Eyes ).

You can see that the top piece is intact, and you'll have to take my word that it had the pin in place - I'll see if I can get an actual picture of it soon.

So, I reckon that a previous owner has replaced a destroyed thermostat with a new one, and the loose pin has been left to circulate the cooling system and has just happened to land on the current thermostat.

Question now is why has this bike killed two thermostats, but I reckon I'll make a separate thread for that one, under a different username... Laughing
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Riejufixing
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PostPosted: 00:28 - 27 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
MercurialWarchief088 wrote:
I reckon that a previous owner has replaced a destroyed thermostat with a new one, and the loose pin has been left to circulate the cooling system and has just happened to land on the current thermostat.

Question now is why has this bike killed two thermostats, but I reckon I'll make a separate thread for that one, under a different username... Laughing

Did you see my earlier post about "a bent bit of sheet metal"? If the previous owner had a thermostat fail mechanically in a way that the allowed the guide pin to ping out, then perhaps the retaining part of the thermostat's frame above it (hiding the pin, in your photo) is still swilling around in the system somewhere?
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mentalboy
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PostPosted: 01:40 - 27 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Riejufixing wrote:
MercurialWarchief088 wrote:
I reckon that a previous owner has replaced a destroyed thermostat with a new one, and the loose pin has been left to circulate the cooling system and has just happened to land on the current thermostat.

Question now is why has this bike killed two thermostats, but I reckon I'll make a separate thread for that one, under a different username... Laughing

Did you see my earlier post about "a bent bit of sheet metal"? If the previous owner had a thermostat fail mechanically in a way that the allowed the guide pin to ping out, then perhaps the retaining part of the thermostat's frame above it (hiding the pin, in your photo) is still swilling around in the system somewhere?


And, just maybe, the detritus from the first thermostat caused the demise of the second?
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Sister Sledge
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PostPosted: 08:04 - 27 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's time to stop probing your bum with a fibre-optic camera and start using it for its intended purpose!
(they're cheap. Just buy the fibre part with a usb fitting)
I've a feeling that the water pump impeller is mauled and so are several passages within the radiator.
Remember: Metal sinks which means bits will mostly be in the lower regions of the cooling circuit.
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 08:23 - 27 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Time to open up every section of the cooling system you can to check for bits of thermostat.
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A100man
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PostPosted: 17:32 - 27 Feb 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Term 'gangle pin' betrays age of OP to at least his 50s.

IIRC the gangle pin was the part used in a Candid Camera jape form the 70s , enjoy..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2xmrESajA
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McHattrick
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Joined: 30 Nov 2018
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PostPosted: 13:11 - 02 Mar 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
MercurialWarchief088 wrote:


...and that pin looks very similar to my loose one.

... but, as we've established, I'm an idiot Rolling Eyes ).

... and the loose pin has been left to circulate the cooling system ...

You, sir, are NOT an idiot.

Not only did you use the word 'loose' in the correct context , but you did it twice in the same post.
Most Numpties here think they 'loose a race' or 'loose their gloves'.

As far as BCF membership goes that ranks you as a Genious.
Well done.
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Ste
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PostPosted: 13:15 - 02 Mar 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
McHattrick wrote:
you as a Genious.
Well done.

You are also a genius.
Wink
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McHattrick
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PostPosted: 13:30 - 02 Mar 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ste wrote:
McHattrick wrote:
you as a Genious.
Well done.

You are also a genius.
Wink


Embarassed Oops
Been trieing too joine the spelllling polees for ages...
Back to the day job.

Embarassed
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bugeye_bob
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PostPosted: 16:15 - 02 Mar 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is this it, Pic 10 in the ebay advert,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1995-KAWASAKI-NINJA-ZX9R-ZX900B-THERMOSTAT-HOUSING-/272493759129?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hG8AAOSw-0xYWvGq/s-l1600.jpg
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MercurialWarc...
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Joined: 26 Apr 2016
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PostPosted: 01:05 - 06 Mar 2020    Post subject: Reply with quote
How do, all - long time, no see.

Well, it's definitely the central pin of the thermostat - the new one arrived today (a genuine Kawasaki part, I'll have you know) and, when submerged in a saucepan of boiling water, it revealed its central pin like a dog's 'lipstick' Laughing

So that's one mystery solved, now on to the next one...

Sister Sledge wrote:
I've a feeling that the water pump impeller is mauled and so are several passages within the radiator.
Remember: Metal sinks which means bits will mostly be in the lower regions of the cooling circuit.

Polarbear wrote:
Time to open up every section of the cooling system you can to check for bits of thermostat.


The impeller was pristine, and I pulled off every part that I could, and each one had no obstructions, no nicks, no tears, no nothing.

Unless there's an obstruction somewhere that I can't access, I'm reckoning/hoping that when the previous thermostat failed, it only dislodged one of the two welds attaching it to the rest of the unit, allowing the pin to travel freely throughout the cooling system whilst the unit remained largely in one piece?

A100man wrote:
Term 'gangle pin' betrays age of OP to at least his 50s.

IIRC the gangle pin was the part used in a Candid Camera jape form the 70s , enjoy..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ2xmrESajA


I did wonder whether anyone would notice that Laughing
I'm in my mid-twenties btw, but it's amazing what you stumble across on the internet with a pint of rum in your system... Laughing

McHattrick wrote:

You, sir, are NOT an idiot.

Not only did you use the word 'loose' in the correct context , but you did it twice in the same post.
Most Numpties here think they 'loose a race' or 'loose their gloves'.

As far as BCF membership goes that ranks you as a Genious.
Well done.


Well thanks, but I wouldn't claim that a basic knowledge of my native tongue qualifies as being a genius Laughing
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