Hi there. *I haven't been on the forum for a while. I think it's because the bike has been so reliable up to now.* I own a 2007 Kawasaki KLE 500 and it has 107 000 km on the clock. *It has not given me one bit of trouble since new until now unfortunately. My rotor magnets delaminated recently and I managed to get a second hand one and install it. *The bike was running perfectly and the oil light never came on and went out quickly after startup. I only noticed the rotor problem because I had to remove the starter motor to replace the brushes. *I drained the oil and removed the sump pan. *I removed the oil pump sieve and cleaned it as there were some bits stuck to it. *I reassembled the sieve made sure all the sump seals were in place and installed the sump pan. *I filled with oil and checked level. *I started the bike but now all of a sudden the oil light does not want to go off and there is no oil pressure. * I primed the filter and oil channel with some oil and still nothing. * I replaced the oil pressure switch and I checked the wiring. * Everything is ok. I burped the system by cracking open the oil filter and still no oil pressure. When I crank the motor the oil in the sight glass does not fall all indicating that there is no oil pressure.

I am at a total loss as to what to do now. *The bike was running perfectly prior to disassembly. *The oil pump can simply suddenly not fail surely? * Essentially the KLE 500 motor is exactly the same as the EX 500 except for cams, *ignition and carb set up. *Is there perhaps anything I am missing? *I would be extremely grateful if someone could assist.

Kind regards, *Shaun, *Cape Town, South Africa.

Ok so I primed the oil system and cranked the engine. *Still no oil pressure. *I removed the sump plate and strainer. *I turned the rotor slowly with a socket wrench and carefully looked inside to see if the oil pump was turning as I thought perhaps the fibre washer inside the oil pump had farked out thereby moving the shaft and disconnecting the drive but it was turning on the inside and looks ok. *I noticed two of the oil o ring seals on the sump appear to look flat so I'm thinking it's loosing pressure through those o ring oil seals. I replaced one of the smaller 13mm o ring seals on the sump plate and that one seems thicker and not so flat on the top compared to the other two bigger 18 mm ones. *I have ordered new ones from the local Kawasaki stealer. *I replaced one 10 mm o ring seal on the small pipe that leads from the oil filter to the oil pump. *They could only give me one in the meantime. *The sides on the new one is rounded and gives a nice firm fit when inserting the pipe in the hole. *The sides on the old o ring seal are flat on the side and the fit feels loose and not as firm as the other one. *See picture. *I'm going to replace all the o ring oil seals.

Remember the engine has 107 000 km so just maybe those o ring seals are shot and need replacing. *I'm really hoping that this is the case. *It's the only logical thing i can think of. *The thing is I only took off the sump and logic tells me that a oil pump cant simply fail while the bike was standing. *The oil pressure light never came on and went off instantly even on a cold start up prior to taking the sump plate off. *I'm just hoping that it's just the o ring seals. Roll Eyes


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Sheared oil pump shaft perhaps ?

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My memory is becoming that good, I should be able to organise my own surprise party soon

UPDATE: Better close up pictures of the o-rings on the oil feed pipes. * The one is a new one for comparison.**I freakn hope this is the problem. Just waiting for new o-rings from the stealers.

The oil pump shaft is ok.

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I understand you way of thinking.
But this has me baffled...you have bought the bike new ?
How can a 2007 model still have delamination of magnets...it should have a new style flywheel

I bought my KLE new in 2007. The solid rotor is a aftermarket one. You can get it from Wemoto. Magnet delamination is a common problem on the KLE.

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Strange, I would have sworn that there were 2 versions of the OEM flywheel.
Pre & post '98.

Thanks for the info, will thinker some on your oil pressure problem and see what I can come up with.

Sheared rollpin? Part 92043 in diagram...

Cheers
Ian

I thought of that too but I took the strainer off, turned the rotor slowly and carefully looked up into the oil pump and I could see it was turning. Apparently the fibre washer normally wears allowing the shaft to move thereby disengaging the oil pump rotor. I don't think this is the case.

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There is only one flywheel part number on my '06 model KLE.



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...and so I wait for o-rings.* *One and a half weeks to go...ex Japan* :-\

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I finally have some good news! I finally received the seals on Friday. On Saturday installed the new seals. I filled the oil filter with oil and every other channel and pipe. When I first cranked it over the oil light did not go off. I thought shit still nothing. Then I applied a tip I read about where they mention you must "burp" the oil system. I loosened the oil filter a bit and cranked over the engine. At first nothing and then the oil started pissing out. I nipped it up quickly and then cranked over again. The oil light went off in two seconds. I was so relieved it was finally sorted.

To conclude. It was the oil pan o-ring seals after all that was causing the oil pressure loss. It can clearly be seen in the pictures. The bike goes like a dream now.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. Much appreciated.

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I haven't been on the forum for a while. Just a quick update. The bike is still going like a dream. It's on 118 000 km now. It doesn't smoke and doesn't use a drop of oil between services. It's a truly remarkable and well built bike.

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Good to see you are still riding the KLE Spye. They were (are) a very underrated bike. Mine had just over 70k when I sold it about 3 years ago, I still see it running around the area.