Bike problem: water in the oil

[-SuPreMe-]

Had a minor accident recently that resulted in my bike getting alittle messed up!

Anyway as the title suggests i am getting water mixed with my oil. The 1st time i rode it since the crash white creamy oil sprayed outta the engine breather tube that would normally be connected to the airbox, also the bike was running uber hot.

So i got home and noticed the coolant was empty so i filled it with water, then started the engine and gave it some revs when creamy oil GUSHED out the breather tube all over the place.

Now after a smalll test ive noticed that water it going straight into the oil and i mean straight into the oil, because i fill up the coolant tank with water, wait 30 seconds, unscrew the dipstick and see water rising out of the oil sump and leaking outta the sides.

This is where i hope for fellow bikers to help me find out wat the hell is going on!

My fears are of a busted head gasket....... expense.....

[a nameless entity]

Well hopefully it is just a blown head gasket. But how bad was the crash? I fear the possibility of a crack in the engine cases, block, or head. A blown head gasket should only allow small amounts of coolant into the cylinder at a time. You should be blowing steam out the exhaust and only gradually losing coolant. However as that is not the case, and you are losing coolant rapidly, prepare yourself for bad news in this regard.

And don't ride the bike anymore, until you've had it repaired. Even just a blown head gasket means an engine rebuild if you don't do anything about it, as you will glaze the cylinders.

[Hermskii]

Nameless nailed it. It has to be worse than just a blown gasket based on what you describe. Don't even start it up. Take it in to pros and see what they say. Sounds more like a cracked head to me. Sorry my friend.

[-SuPreMe-]

Had the whole engine apart (head, cylinder, crankshaft) and theres no signs of cracking anywhere, a couple gaskets looked gone tho.

Next step is to take the water pump apart and see if theres any damage there.

Its looking like a full engine clean and rebuild with a new set of gaskets.

Long process....

[a nameless entity]

I suspect that you will find that the water pump is ok, since it was able to fill your engine full of water so easily. Although if it's a relatively inexpensive part, you might replace it anyway, since you have everything apart now. Look at the condition of the alternator too, while its all undone. Now would be a good time to rebuild it, if it is getting tired.

Do you like the way I'm spending your money for you so far? Here's a good idea: Don't just look at the condition of the head, block, etc. Have them "fluxed" to make darn sure there aren't any micro cracks in them due to the crash.

[-SuPreMe-]

What exactly does the water pump do? because it just looks like a fan type thing attatched to the crank shaft and its right outside the alternator which confuses me because theres no aparent shielding for the water and alternator, surely the alternator would be as far away as possible from the water pump considering it has big copper coils all round it

Anyway i cant get the crank case apart, there a couple rounded screws plus theres a whole lotta things keeping that crank case together.

Also forget to mention the top piston ring was cracked, could that be another way for water to get places it shouldnt?

[a nameless entity]

Are you taking the motor apart yourself? I hope you're keeping careful track of where everything goes if you are. It's really a job for professionals these days, especially a water cooled bike. Those two rounded bolts or screws indicate the need of professional help too. Getting them out is now best left to a mechanic.

Well the water pump does just exactly that, and it should look sort of like a fan. The crankshaft spins the rotor, which moves the coolant from the rad through the engine in the special water channels cast into it just for that purpose. The coolant circulates around the engine and is pumped back to the rad to be cooled there and then back through the engine again.

As for the alternator being close to the rotor, well it would be, since it works by being spun by the crankshaft also. As to whether it should be immersed in water or not I have no idea, but that would be good way to keep it cool, if there's some way to prevent it from shorting out. Otherwise I think you've misplaced a part or gasket for the moment, if it is meant to be kept dry.

And no the cracked ring does not mean that water could get into the engine that way. It just means that it may have broken when your bike got overheated. But now you know that you need a rebuild for sure just for that, and also since other rings that you can't see from up top may be damaged and need replacing. It/they may have scuffed the walls of the cylinder too.

I am still very unhappy about how quickly you lost coolant into the combustion chamber. There's been a major failure here somewhere, and a nasty crack in some part of the engine somewhere is still the most likely culprit. One of the water channels is leaking into the combustion chamber somewhere, I'm sure.

[-SuPreMe-]

Hmmm well i would go to a professional but i cant afford the ripp off prices that they charge, £35 an hour no thanks.... Ive got my friend to help me anyway and hes studied mechanics at college and he really seems to know his stuff.

Ive taken a good look at the engine parts no signs of cracking... its only a single cylinder.
Im hoping its just gaskets that have gone, because they did look shoddy when i took them out. I just fear it might be somthing wrong in the crank case, if thats the case its gonna be a real crappy situation.

Arrgh i just want it working again, its so mentally exhausting.

[a nameless entity]

Ok, good luck with it m8.

Two good books on the subject you should try to acquire:

The factory service manual

and a

Haynes brand manual on your bike. The Haynes manual will give you photo views and insights into what you should do that the factory manual alone might not.

I don't think they're available any more but avoid a "Clymer" brand manual. Those were just cheap rewrites and not worth the money.

Invest in some decent quality tools as best you can as you go along. Don't cheap out on these, or you'll just be biting yourself in the *** in the long run.

[-SuPreMe-]

Well thanks alot for the info nameless, Ima order the parts this weekend hopefully so ill keep you updated on my progress.

Fingers crossed

[Hermskii]

Good luck on it Supreme. I hope it all gets figured out soon. I always hated when my bike was down.

[a nameless entity]

I wonder how it went?

[a nameless entity]

And now that you're back, would you care to update us on how the repair saga turned out?

You tell me your story, and I'll tell you mine from last Tuesday.

[-SuPreMe-]

Thats all she wrote, the bike never started and costs where too high to fix, I sold it bit by bit.

[a nameless entity]

Oh, that's too bad. But I think that engine was done anyway. There does come a point when you just have to say NO to any more repairs.
Will you be getting or have you gotten a new ride?

Here is my tale, as promised:
The weather here has gotten really cold and rainy this autumn. We've got the best fall colour in the trees I've seen in a very long time, but the weather just sucks for motorcycling. Last Tuesday was to be the only warmish day we'd get all week. (And they were right as it turned out.) So I took off for a ride. I was traveling along a stretch of road that used to be quiet at one time but is now a busy thoroughfare. While I was going along there I suddenly noticed that the clutch was getting much to easy to pull in, and that the gear shifter pedal was harder to move and engage a gear cleanly. That's not good, but where I was was not very good either. No easy way to turn around and head home, and I wanted to avoid that road on the return anyway, once I realized I had better try to get back. So I headed away from home some more, turned right and right again on a side road. By this time I knew I wasn't going to make it, failure was imminent. I pulled over at a nice wide spot and shut off the bike. I was very suspicious that I was about to experience an internal part failure that I suffered many years ago, in 1994. Sure enough, a couple of experimental pulls on the clutch lever and I felt/heard something break. It wasn't the clutch cable, more's the pity. I knew by the way the actuator arm that the clutch cable rotates was now loose that the same part had broken inside again. Fortunately I had NOT forgotten my cell phone as I too often do, so I was able to call the auto club. The bike is now down for the entire winter, most likely. I could have it repaired now I suppose, but by the time it's ready if I can even get them to come pick it up right away, the weather will be freezing cold or it will be raining or both. I understand that it's a simple repair, and the part is cheap. If I could get my hands on a manual that actually describes what to do and the amount of torque each part gets on reassembly, I would go for it myself next Spring. If I have the shop do it, then we get into the area of having other work done that it needs or should have done soon gotten out of the way at the same time. And money is always tight these days. *sigh* And tomorrow is going to be the only nice day we get this week as well.