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640 Adv - blown head gasket or water pump? 640 Adv - blown head gasket or water pump?
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  #1  
Old 14 Mar 2008
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640 Adv - blown head gasket or water pump?
Just completed a long piste in Mauritania on 2000 640 Adv.

Discovered that all the coolant in the radiator has disappeared, and the oil has the consistency of a chocalate milkshake, hence there must be coolant in the oil. This would suggest to me that the head gasket has blown.

I have spent the morning searching Adv Rider and the net, and I cant find much info on the 640 Adv blowing head gaskets. Everyone who seems to have oil and coolant problems seems to blame it on the water pump.

I am taking it all apart later today, but interested to find out if anyone else has had experience with water pump and / or head gasket failures.

Also; to get to the head gasket I assume I dont have to completemly remove the engine. Is this correct?

cheers
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  #2  
Old 14 Mar 2008
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Choco milkshake oil
Not much I can do for you but hang in there. A few years ago I helped a swedish guy work on his 640 under the midnight sun at Inuvik. Thats at the end of the northernmost road in canada. He had the water/oil mix going on and ended up hauling the bike to alaska. It would be nice if it was the water pump on yours.
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Old 14 Mar 2008
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Hi Matt,

Could be either water pump or head gasket as you already mentioned.

Remove the water pump and see if there are any signs of a leak could be the seal has failed. The bearing may have lateral play causing the seal to fail.

Very often with a head gasket failing the water jacket becomes pressurised and the water is blow out of the over flow.

If all the water went into the oil I would reckon the water pump is the most likely cause.

I have a KTM manual hear if you need any info, torque settings etc.

It does not show if the cylinder head can be removed in the frame.

Steve
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Old 15 Mar 2008
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Head gasket failures are not uncommon on the LC 4 and it has been suggested that the 2 nuts/studs {1 front and 1 back} on the cylinder head should be retensioned after a short period to prevent this...

The head gasket can be changed without removing the engine...
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  #5  
Old 15 Mar 2008
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Thanks all for your comments;

Took it apart today. The water pump has failed and the head gasket has blown as well. I checked the piston rings and fortunately they seem ok.

Now I just have to wait to experience the joys of shipping parts to Mauritania!

Steve - just about to send you a PM. If you have a copy of the workshop manual in emailable form, Id really appreciate a copy!

Island Hopper - Good observation re: cylinder head nuts. They were a lot looser than I expected.

cheers
Last edited by Matt Roach; 15 Mar 2008 at 19:46.
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  #6  
Old 31 Mar 2008
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Gents,

A few more questions if you dont mind...........

My parts eventually arrived and I put the cylinder head and a new water pump back on, but I seemed to have made two monumental mistakes somewhere in the process.

I thought I had adjusted the timing chain correctly, but on starting the engine the timing is clearly way out and the bike was running very hot. Does anyone have a simple way to describe how to correctly adjust the timing chain?

Secondly, after changing the oil and the filters and running the engine for less than five minutes, I checked the oil level again. Water has again mixed in with the oil. I took the cylinder head off again and the head gasket seems fine. Because I didnt have a torque wrench I had adjusted all the bolts by hand, and they seemed very firm. Is it possible that if the bolts are not tightened sufficiently, water could leak again? If so, and someone has the correct tensions to hand, would you mind posting them here, as I dont have a workshop manual on the road!

Lastly, although I havent checked it yet, I thought that maybe the base gasket had blown as well - anyone have any experience with this failing as well?

cheers
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