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Buggered the engine :( Buggered the engine :(
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 7 Sep 2013
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Buggered the engine :(
Dear fellow moto adventurers, I come to you with a grave problem.

My bike is spraying oil everywhere!

So everything seemed to have gone just fine with the header gasket replacement I was doing, I managed to get the gasket in there and torque everything down just fine, and after taking it apart four times just to make sure I even got the timing chain aligned properly.

Refilled with coolant, topped up the oil go for a ride.

Bike is running at half temp gauge, little hotter than usual. I focus on the traffic for ten mins and keep the fan running, then disaster - the temp gauge is off the scale and oil is flowing freely around the motor. I stop immediately and just got back, thank my lucky stars I managed to get the bike back to my friend's garage.

The head and valve cover are both leaking oil. Guess I'll get new gaskets and smooth out that head. If it wasn't warped before...

Possible culprits for the overheating?

When a KLR is running, should it continue heating up or should the temp remain level? If I don't turn the fan on it's always heated up, with the fan on it levels off at about 50%.

Any advice much appreciated.
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  #2  
Old 7 Sep 2013
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UPDATE:

I discoverd the rad cap loose. With the heat evaporating fluid and no pressure to draw from the overflow reservoir I suppose I found my culprit for overheating.

Now the problem is what do I do about the leaking head gasket. Retorque and fill up with fluids, hope nothing keeps leaking out I suppose. Any other suggestions?
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  #3  
Old 8 Sep 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ElExplorador View Post
UPDATE:

I discoverd the rad cap loose. With the heat evaporating fluid and no pressure to draw from the overflow reservoir I suppose I found my culprit for overheating.

Now the problem is what do I do about the leaking head gasket. Retorque and fill up with fluids, hope nothing keeps leaking out I suppose. Any other suggestions?
Nothing to lose by re-torquing and seeing what happens but don't be surprised if you have to pull the head, skim it and replace with new gaskets....
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  #4  
Old 21 Sep 2013
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You need to take apart and replace the head gasket. Re-Torqueing those bolts will likely do nothing or maybe stop leaking outside but still leak coolant into the cylinder or oil into the coolant. Not worth chancing more damage.
The fan shouldn't need to be running to keep the heat in check. replace the thermostat or get a T-Bob to control even heating of the cylinder.
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  #5  
Old 23 Sep 2013
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Thanks JJ, I think I will have to get that thermometer replaced as you said - not worth the stress about forgetting to turn the fan on.
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