This thread is meant to either scare me a bit, or put my mind to rest a bit. And maybe get some good advice of what the problem can be, and what should i tell the mechanic to throughly do on my bike, as i will not start digging so deep into my motorcycle by my self (lacking the tools and the time to do so).
Let's get things straight: i'm talking about a 1993 Kawasaki EN500A (Vulcan 500), 41000 km (25 476 miles), but i cannot guarantee for this as i am about the 4th owner of this bike. I've had it for one year now.
About a month ago I couldn't see enough oil through the little round glass that helps me check the oil level. I thought my engine was consuming the oil so i went to my mechanic to have some more oil put in it. It turned out that it was some white-grey foam that was preventing me to see oil through the little glass. He told me i had coolant mixed with the oil. From the bikes history (he had been looking for the bike the past 3 years) he told me it has to be a worn cylinder head gasket. I ordered a new one along with a clutch cover gasket and oil pan gasket (as the mechanic told me he wants to throughly clean the water from the engine).
I never got around to taking the bike to him as it sat 2 weeks without turning it on, and when finally i tried to do it i discovered i had some electrical problems that i could only recently solve ( http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/mechanics-corner/63035-starter-relay-trouble-shooting.html )
My intention was warming the engine up, taking out the oil+coolant mixture and putting in some cheap oil just until i could get the motorcycle to the repair shop. So i wasn't able to do that. But come the new year I will do that right away.
So here are my questions:
1. How bad is for the engine having the mixture sit in it for 3-4 weeks? I can imagine the oil has already separated from the coolant. Having this situation, what should my mechanic do about it?
2. What are possible causes for my problem that I should ask my mechanic to look for ? I have been told that the cylinder head gasket is just one of the possible causes. Another one would be the water pump. Any other ideas?
3. If the cylinder head gasket it the cause, then what caused the cylinder head gasket to get worn? I have never gotten any signs of overheating from my temperature sensor. It's true though that we have very warm summers here. This last summer i used to ride the bike in traffic jams at at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). So i wouldn't rule out the overheating problem. If it turns out to be an overheating problem is it true that the cylinder head gets deformed and that it should be mechanically reshaped in order to restore it's flatness.(this is something someone told me and i can not be sure of the accuracy of the technical info as i am not a auto/moto mechanical guru)
4. Any other ideas on how the current problem should be treated from now on? How should the engine be cleaned, what other parts need cleaning, any special treatment that should be applied to engine parts and all this considering the engine has been sitting with the oil/coolant mixture inside it for about one month?
Thanks in advance for all of you showing interest in this thread. Have a happy new year and may the road incidents avoid all of us!
Let's get things straight: i'm talking about a 1993 Kawasaki EN500A (Vulcan 500), 41000 km (25 476 miles), but i cannot guarantee for this as i am about the 4th owner of this bike. I've had it for one year now.
About a month ago I couldn't see enough oil through the little round glass that helps me check the oil level. I thought my engine was consuming the oil so i went to my mechanic to have some more oil put in it. It turned out that it was some white-grey foam that was preventing me to see oil through the little glass. He told me i had coolant mixed with the oil. From the bikes history (he had been looking for the bike the past 3 years) he told me it has to be a worn cylinder head gasket. I ordered a new one along with a clutch cover gasket and oil pan gasket (as the mechanic told me he wants to throughly clean the water from the engine).
I never got around to taking the bike to him as it sat 2 weeks without turning it on, and when finally i tried to do it i discovered i had some electrical problems that i could only recently solve ( http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/mechanics-corner/63035-starter-relay-trouble-shooting.html )
My intention was warming the engine up, taking out the oil+coolant mixture and putting in some cheap oil just until i could get the motorcycle to the repair shop. So i wasn't able to do that. But come the new year I will do that right away.
So here are my questions:
1. How bad is for the engine having the mixture sit in it for 3-4 weeks? I can imagine the oil has already separated from the coolant. Having this situation, what should my mechanic do about it?
2. What are possible causes for my problem that I should ask my mechanic to look for ? I have been told that the cylinder head gasket is just one of the possible causes. Another one would be the water pump. Any other ideas?
3. If the cylinder head gasket it the cause, then what caused the cylinder head gasket to get worn? I have never gotten any signs of overheating from my temperature sensor. It's true though that we have very warm summers here. This last summer i used to ride the bike in traffic jams at at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). So i wouldn't rule out the overheating problem. If it turns out to be an overheating problem is it true that the cylinder head gets deformed and that it should be mechanically reshaped in order to restore it's flatness.(this is something someone told me and i can not be sure of the accuracy of the technical info as i am not a auto/moto mechanical guru)
4. Any other ideas on how the current problem should be treated from now on? How should the engine be cleaned, what other parts need cleaning, any special treatment that should be applied to engine parts and all this considering the engine has been sitting with the oil/coolant mixture inside it for about one month?
Thanks in advance for all of you showing interest in this thread. Have a happy new year and may the road incidents avoid all of us!