Over heating to the extreme!!! Now it's a kettle Help!!

[dragonback31]

Hi all i really really need help, i have read a lot of the over heating problems others have posted and am thinking it's a hg nightmare but just need to be sure.

I have a 1988 zx400g which is the import grey version, it has the same frame and engine as the h1 uk version.

The story so far..... i start the bike which seems all good no struggling or ignition problems which is great, She'll run ok and warm up after 10mins or so which is good. gauge reads just on the first mark on the gauge. All seems not to bad. but i ride for 3-4 miles doing no more than 50mph and under 7,000 rpms so not stressing the engine at all and the gauge needle creeps further and further in to the middle. After 10 miles she is almost on the red and i have to stop. coolant boils out of the expansion over flow. but only when i stop and turn off the bike. when i take of the tank plate and airfilter box steam is coming out of the gearbox breather hose into the collector box. And in a a polite way stink's bad!!

I have flushed the rad and engine itself with a mains hose, i have replaced and checked the thermostat, the water pump turns and the fin's are ok, i have also have tried a coolant leak fixing agrent in with the coolant. no different.

This is a real heart ache for me as this is my first big bike and it passed a mot only a few weeks ago and is tax for a year.

I live in devon and have tried searching online on ebay for a gasket set for my engine but with out luck... just incase it is the hg gone but i was told by a family friend it could be a cracked head!!!

I even thought sell it and had it on ebay for only £500 which i thought was a bargin for a bike with 12mths mot and tax.... but no one bought her!!!

[CaNsA]

Defo gonna be a Head Gaskett failure.

Get on the phone to cradley kawasaki they will sort you out. You may need to get teh head skimmed too.

[RedexRobB]

If your upto it, replacing the headgasket will be the cheapest option. Other choice is replacing the motor. falloffslowly should be able to sort you out a running engine, maybe you can do a deal with your old one and get some money off? He can also fully service it with new HG, valve clearances etc, at a cost.

Baz - 07727943464

[dragonback31]

thx not the news i hoped for but expct as much gggrrrrrr, I don't mind striping a bike down to the bare bolts apart from the engine as i'm not to clued up on the cam chain setting and timing etc... plus have never taken one apart. When you see pic's in haynes manuals itt looks way to much le a trillio bit puzzle. i have message fallofslowly so hopefully he can help. I have looked into getting another engine throu e-bay but it's looking like £250-£400 which as a stay at home dad i just don't have.

Does any one live closer to me in Teignmouth devon that has done one of these before (hg replacement) and could give me a hand doing it lol.

thx for everyones help si

[zimm]

I've done a few zxr's and ZX-4's

I'd advise against a cheap replacement engine, every one i've bought has required a rebuild before being worth fitting.

head gasket failure is common on these engines, and really not too difficult or expensive to rectify.

My cousin isnt too far from you, and i've been meaning to visit.. so could give you a hand if the timing's right..

[dragonback31]

hi zimm that would be awesome mate, as i'm nearly always at home there's worries about timings... i think i'll get the engine out of the frame so it makes it easier to work on and order a headgasket when i get some pennies lol.

So you don't think it's a cracked head?????? i can't seem to figure out how the coolant is steaming in to the gearbox ...????? but like i say i haven't a clue about this engine lol
let me know when your popping down my way!!!!

Any help is very welcome mate thx again!! si

[RedexRobB]

sure you want to be posting your home number like that?

A new head gasket is 20 quid or so, so thats how many pennies you need to save

[Neosophist]

£17 quid for a headgasket

you may as well replace the coolant and oil at the same time.

and the engine oil is shared with the gearbox.. if your headgasket goes it allows the oil and water to mix together, which is why you can end up with oil in the water, water in the oil and oil/water in the bores!

as already been said.. these bikes EAT HG's, but fortuantly there easy enough to do

Drove my old VFR 150 miles without a water-pump and it never-overheated provided you kept it under 60mph, now thats a bike

Zimm is the man btw

[matt fesler]

hi people, ive just purchased that zx400g that you have been talking about and it still has the same problem.
you dragonback31, the owner, you had this bike before, and didnt say anything to the person who bought it off you, now i have bought the bike not knowing of the underlying problem !! why didnt you say anything to the person you sold it to?? bit sneaky wasnt it??

anyway nothing i can do now

can anyone advise me on what the best option to do.... look for a second hand engine or replace the gasket?
thanks
matt

[matt fesler]

does anybody know where i can buy a head gasket from ?

[cargo]

No idea

[IFUKINMITE]

Hi all i really really need help, i have read a lot of the over heating problems others have posted and am thinking it's a hg nightmare but just need to be sure.

I have a 1988 zx400g which is the import grey version, it has the same frame and engine as the h1 uk version.

The story so far..... i start the bike which seems all good no struggling or ignition problems which is great, She'll run ok and warm up after 10mins or so which is good. gauge reads just on the first mark on the gauge. All seems not to bad. but i ride for 3-4 miles doing no more than 50mph and under 7,000 rpms so not stressing the engine at all and the gauge needle creeps further and further in to the middle. After 10 miles she is almost on the red and i have to stop. coolant boils out of the expansion over flow. but only when i stop and turn off the bike. when i take of the tank plate and airfilter box steam is coming out of the gearbox breather hose into the collector box. And in a a polite way stink's bad!!

I have flushed the rad and engine itself with a mains hose, i have replaced and checked the thermostat, the water pump turns and the fin's are ok, i have also have tried a coolant leak fixing agrent in with the coolant. no different.

This is a real heart ache for me as this is my first big bike and it passed a mot only a few weeks ago and is tax for a year.

I live in devon and have tried searching online on ebay for a gasket set for my engine but with out luck... just incase it is the hg gone but i was told by a family friend it could be a cracked head!!!

I even thought sell it and had it on ebay for only £500 which i thought was a bargin for a bike with 12mths mot and tax.... but no one bought her!!!

YOU ARE A RIGHT BLAGGIN :smt013 SELLING THAT BIKE ON WITH OUT TELLIN NO ONE ABOUT THE PROBLEM!!!! £500 IS A BARGIN IF THERE WASNT A PROBLEM WITH THE BIKE THAT THE BUYER DIDNT KNOW ABOUT. N OH SUCH HEART ACHE FOR YOU THEN U GO AND DO THE SAME THING YOU SCUM BAG

[jake]

robbery and skullduggery. stupidity and drama.
this forum has it all


im still in the dark tho on where one could buy a headgasket or any other kawasaki part from?
be good if it was despatched the same day also..

[cargo]

robbery and skullduggery. stupidity and drama.
this forum has it all


im still in the dark tho on where one could buy a headgasket or any other kawasaki part from?
be good if it was despatched the same day also..

I hear what your saying Jake Kawasaki parts are just so hard to source..............somebody somewhere must be selling thme but WHO ? ? ?

[matt fesler]

thanks i will try cradley on monday. do they deffinatly sell a head gasket for a zx400g?

and thanks for the sarcasim lol