Water everywhere

[andym]

OK guru's, I have a bit of a problem with a fucked zxr.

I decided to go for a run to Bristol earlier (got there about 8pm and brokedown at the first set of lights I stopped at and could not get the bike running again). Eventually I admitted defeat and called the breakdown company. About 11pm the guy turns up and tells me he doesn't really know a lot about bikes. I say it will probably start with a jump.

Bike splutters to life quite quickly, but dies a few seconds later, so back on with the booster pack and the bike starts again... anyway, eventually got it to keep running, but it was revving a bit high still, but decided to take it to the petrol station and try filling up. Got there only to find it was closed, so chatting to the guy, explaining that it should be fine from here, he could do his paperwork and carry on with his evening (this was about midnight now).

While chatting I notice water pissing out the expansion tank and look at the temperature guage and it's about 3/4 full, so I switch the bike off and check the connectors on the sensor, turns out 1 was loose, as soon as I pushed it on the fan kicked in....

Now the stupidity bit, I decided to let a bit of pressure out by loosening the radiator cap, after a few minutes the steam stopped, so I think it's fine to remove the cap completely (forgetting it's still pressurised). Cue the cap shooting off like a rocket, my hand being scalded, the bike and surrounding area (including the recovery guy and his car) being sprayed by almost boiling but close to vaporised water.

After this the bike flat out refused to start and stay running for more than a few seconds, so is it just water in the electrics (almost all the plugs were soaked under the petrol tank), or would the pressure change have done something worse to the engine?

Also, the bike has been dumped in a texaco in Bristol and needs to be moved tomorrow, I've found it can be recovered, but I need to be with the bike for this... anyone local that can offer a lift if they are going that way please?

TL;DR

Bike lost all water in a split second, what's most likely fucked?

Also can someone offer a lift to Bristol tomorrow at some point?

[Ichy]

It wasn't particularly warm yesterday so the question is why did it overheat? The coolant might have been low or there may have been an air lock in the system. Maybe the pump was broken or it might just have been the fan? Who knows, there is very little info to work from.

The problem you have now is that you have a bike that was overheating and you tried to force it to start. It might have suffered damage. It sounds like the bike is actually starting so not electrics. Did you actually refill it with coolant?


Where do you want a lift from to get you to Bristol?
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[Scotsman37]

Sometimes it's mentioned in forums the cap can be suspect and replacing it helps to cure such overflow problems, except there is other times the pressure valve release may not be working properly or the coolant system really needs to be flushed out properly to remove any residue causing a potential blockage. Even trapped air but it didn't help that the radiator fan wasn't working for a long period of time while riding!

Just like a car's radiator you NEVER take the cap off even shortly after stopping being that it is still boiling hot water inside that WANTS to expand and you know even a kettle of hot water stays HOT for a while..!

Here's a good explanation of a coolant overflow problem with a Kawasaki bike you may find interesting?

https://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~shanetp/Faults.html

Plugs underneath you maybe better unplugging the connections in that area and spray WD40 into them to drive out any possible water like you've stated it was boiling hot water and plastic connectors could have expanded just enough for that brief moment to loosen up possibly just enough space to allow that hot water get into the connections to create a short!

I hope you put like the other person stated fresh coolant back into the system before trying to restart & run your bike without it because you don't want to damage the engine parts due to sudden extreme overheating!

So hopefully it is just a simple fix either flushing the radiator, replacing the cap, coolant pump. So, at least the bike's engine wasn't turning over when you removed the pressurized cap because if it had been oh boy?

[andym]

[andym]

Quick update here... Finally Chepstow came back to the real world and I managed to catch a bus over to Bristol.

First I tried to start the bike... A little bit of (OK full) choke and it fired up first time. So I switched it off and checked the water levels (turns out the expansion tank is totally fucked*).

When I started it again I decided to try coming back through Tockington as I didn't fancy breaking down on the motorway in the middle of the roadworks.

All the way home it ran perfect (apart from the high idle still), even managed to stop a couple of times and it didn't die. So now I'm in 2 minds whether to take it out for another spin or not (although from reading another thread I might try putting the spare coils on there and see if there is any improvement)

* Done a Paddy-esque bodge with some chemical metal stuff (for radiators etc) and shit loads of duct tape. Also with the CCT I removed a couple of parts and rammed a nut and bolt in there and no more engine rattle

Thanks Paddy for your inspiration on doing jobs cheap as

[Ichy]

Just check the oil for emulsification and that the water level isn't dropping, other than that, go for it. Probably worth refilling the system with coolant.

Be careful not to over tighten the cam tensioner, quiet isn't always good .
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[andym]

Oil and water seem to be fine, water level dropped maybe a teaspoon full, oil leak still there. But I've decided to call it a day with it now. I took it for a spin, and after changing coils, clipping leads, securing plugs, checking the airbox for leaks, checking between carb and engine for leaks, checking the spark plugs, oiling throttle cable, checking carbs returning (full twist, let go and hear clunk).... it's still revving at 3-4k unless I give the idle screw a little tweak then the speed comes down again.

The thing is it's great when it's running, pulls well (still not done a full throttle yet though), without pushing it will do 60 in second and still feel like 30.... but it is a temperamental fucker when it stops