gourmet Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 I have 290 kms on my C14. Started it up this morning, could hear a loud ticking noise from the engine that was not there yesterday. Let it warm up, blipped throttle a couple of times, noise did not go away. Shut it down and smoke poured out of the exhaust. Oil can be seen in the glass of the engine case. Problem is the top of the glass seems to have gone white. Thoughts, comments, diagnosis. Yes, I know, shoulda bought a Honda. Thank god I decided to keep the Bird as well. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 What kind of smoke? Exhaust, Colored, Steam filled??? The white you see in the crankcase window, is it water or coolant in the oil? Blown or leaking head gasket? Did the engine freeze with too little glycol in the coolant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBadExxample Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Brian, Not to sound rude, but instead of fucking with it yourself, take it back to the dealer. It sounds like a very serious problem. Besides, if the dealer notices that you've worked on the engine, he'll have an excuse to not service it under warranty. My first thought is that there's a lubrication problem, bad oil pump, clogged filter or orifice, lack of oil, coolant in oil. If the tick noise changes rhythm or volume when the engine is loaded, it's likely a rod bearing or wrist pin. The most common cause of which is oil starvation. BTW, in the past Kawasaki has had problems with porous head castings. Coolant is the spark plug wells is a sign of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwimack Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Brian, Not to sound rude, but instead of fucking with it yourself, take it back to the dealer. It sounds like a very serious problem. Besides, if the dealer notices that you've worked on the engine, he'll have an excuse to not service it under warranty. My first thought is that there's a lubrication problem, bad oil pump, clogged filter or orifice, lack of oil, coolant in oil. If the tick noise changes rhythm or volume when the engine is loaded, it's likely a rod bearing or wrist pin. The most common cause of which is oil starvation. BTW, in the past Kawasaki has had problems with porous head castings. Coolant is the spark plug wells is a sign of this. +1 I'd get it back to the dealer asap, 290 klicks is nothing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 If you take into account all of the symptoms mentioned, I'd bet on the blown head gasket or cracked head. If it's under warranty, let the dealer fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redxxrdr Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 If you take into account all of the symptoms mentioned, I'd bet on the blown head gasket or cracked head. If it's under warranty, let the dealer fix it. +1 White in the oil usually means coolant. Don't run it, take it to a dealer. It should have been delivered with a anti-freeze solution for your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runner Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Water in the oil=head gasket. Warranty call all the way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gourmet Posted December 28, 2007 Author Share Posted December 28, 2007 Thanks for the reply guys. I am not doing anything with it - it is going to the dealer, not only am I not smart enough but that is what a warranty is for. When the bike was first started and started to make the noise I noticed a few drops of water drop on the garage floor from the bottom of the engine. At the time I couldn't understand why. Reading your reply's makes me see. The water seemed like straight water. I haven't and am not going to check if they put only water in the cooling system. I will mention it to them and let them dig it apart. There is white foamy oil under the oil fill cap, pretty sure that it is water in the engine and things are not good in there. This pisses me off big time. Thanks for the help. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBadExxample Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Brian, That sucks big time. I can't imagine how you must feel. Keep us posted. At this point, I'd almost insist on a new engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrdman Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 Brian, That sucks big time. I can't imagine how you must feel. Keep us posted. At this point, I'd almost insist on a new engine. Or lemon law the fucker and invest in a good mutual fund. You still have the XX! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomek Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 290 km and head gasket ? I don`t think so,head gaskets don`t go bad without reason,besides, in case of sport engine the offending piece is 0.4-0.8 mm thick, couple of layers of steel.When bad, exhaust gasses might pressurize cooling system under power,but coolant won`t really leak into a cases.Plus it is making noises. Something internal ( major) is fucked up,,,,,,,,,,,do new bikes come with coolant or retards at dealership deal with that during preparation ? Anyway,bike has a warranty,long time till you`ll be able to ride in the tundra up north soooooo,,,,,,,plenty of time to fix the machine,,,,,,,don`t worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 head gaskets don`t go bad without reason Reason = Non Honda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 It's condensation, not an internal engine problem. Why are you running your bike when the roads are covered in snow, and you can't ride it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartonmd Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 It's condensation, not an internal engine problem. Why are you running your bike when the roads are covered in snow, and you can't ride it? I agree... This kind of thing can happen from, let's say, idling it in the garage when it's cold and moist out, and not letting it get ALL THE WAY warmed up to bake the water out, then as it cools, it sucks in air, which has moisture in it, which builds up more moisture... Water/oil frothy mix doesn't oil hydrodynamic bearings very well, which is more than likely the reason for the knock... To test his, how far is the water level, above where it was before? If it's about the same, but frothy, it's like stated above, but if it's a LOT higher (like a quart higher), it could be a head gasket... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gourmet Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 Ok just back from dealer. The header bolts were only finger tightened at best. It appears that I am not the only one with this problem. That took care of the tciking noise. As for the smoke, took the exhaust off, looks like something was in the pipe that was not supposed to be there. Possibly a piece of plastic, animal etc who knows as whatever it was is now very black and in pieces. It looks like the white in the oil window was condensation. Changed the oil at the same time as fixing the header bolts and let it warm well and it is not there now. This is it's first oil change. The oil in the glass now shows it at the top level line whereas when I picked it up from the dealer new it was barely at the bottom level line. Thanks for the help. I will stop running it in the garage needlessly Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddy Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 It must be hard to have a new toy in winter you can't play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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