Blown Head Gasket!?!?

[omslaw]

OK, I need some advice.... I think that I may have a blown head gasket. (not me, the busa

)

I have an '04 - bought new in Apr 04; now have 9700 miles on it. I'm not a hard rider, mostly commuting to-and-from work and weekend riding. Bike is mostly stock except some cosmetic mods. I do have bolt-ons and a K&N filter. After putting on the bolt-ons, I started to have 'backfire' (afterfire?) and removed the PAIR valve after a couple of weeks; 'backfire' gone. Since I had the plastics off, I noticed the coolant overflow bottle low (almost gone) and refilled it.

A couple of months later (over the weekend) I noticed that the overflow bottle is low again. Hmmmmm. OK, so I refill and NOW I've paid close attention to the coolant level in the bottle...it's going down.

I don't have ANY leaks (that i can see). Coolant in bottle looks normal; doesn't look like oil is in there. Engine Oil looks kinda dark for less than 1000 miles since changing. When I last changed the oil, it didn't look bad. Bike still's got lots-o-power!

With the coolant disappearing and the Engine Oil appearing darker after < 1000mi, it sure sounds like it's a blown gasket...

Thoughts? Short of taking to a stealer, is there another way I can tell? How much of a pain in the a$$ is it to replace? How long can I let this go if it's a blown gasket?

Oh...how could this have happened???

Thanks, all!

--Omar



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[TheAtomicAss]

My father and I just recently got done changing both head gaskets on a '97 LHS, and we found that somehow the engine had overheated, the cylinder head warped, (alum. heads), and the gasket became compromied.  It drank ALOT of coolant and overheated quickly.

Possibly the first time you ran out of coolant enough to overheat and have the same problem.  Just my theory.  Can't comment on how hard it is as I don't have a busa.  Yet.  

Edit: Forgot to mention, neither gasket actually blew out, and the engine would run strong, until it overheated. The gasket doesn't have to be broken. But if you get the head off, a shiny piston head will confirm your suspicion.



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[omslaw]

The engine has never overheated. A couple times last summer, in stop-and-go traffic, the temp gauge got up to about 3/4, fan was runnin' constantly, but as soon as I got moving, the needle settled back down to a little below 1/2...which is usually where it is. That's the hottest the motor has gotten.

Oh, and Welcome to the Org!



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[TheAtomicAss]

The engine has never overheated.  A couple times last summer, in stop-and-go traffic, the temp gauge got up to about 3/4, fan was runnin' constantly, but as soon as I got moving, the needle settled back down to a little below 1/2...which is usually where it is.  That's the hottest the motor has gotten.

Oh, and Welcome to the Org!

Same thing with our LHS. Runs normally around 1/2 on the gauge, never got above 3/4 when it would overheat. There wasn't enough water in the cooling system to touch the temp sensor, so it never registered the real temps. And sitting in traffic during summer will do it, on some vehicles even if you have enough coolant.

And thanks, I think I'll make myself at home here.

 

[98vobra]

The oil will look milkey brown if you are getting coolent into the oil. Also the exhaust will smell like antifreeze

 

[omslaw]

I checked this morning and the coolant is about 1/4" lower than yesterday. Oil...looks like oil (thru site glass), not like a choc. milkshake. Exhaust..smells like exhaust, not antifreeze.

There was some slight vapor from the pipes this AM when I started her up...but that quickly went away...it was mildly cool this morning.

I'm stumped.

I have no idea where that coolant is going! When I changed the plugs about 1500 mi ago, they looked normal.

 

[DAB]

Have you taken the plastics off and started it up then looked for external leaks (could coolant be dripping on to a hot exhaust then evaporating for example?)

Check if there are any strange "trails" on the engine/fairing/exhausts etc. that would indicate some fluid running/boiling off.

Clutching at straws here...

 

[omslaw]

Good idea. I'll try that this weekend.

 

[GSXcite]

Omar,a sure way to check for a blown head gasket is to do a leak down test. It is performed by screwing an adaptor in the spark plug hole that is attached to a guage. a small amount of compressed air is applied to the cyl. and the guage measures any abnormal leakage. It would not be cost effective to to buy the leakdown tester and use it only once. Should not cost too much to have a shop check it out for you and let you know whats wrong. then you can make a decision on least expensive way to get it fixed.Just my .02

 

[GSXTacy]

Seemed to be running good last month. Did you get the problem figured out before the ride? I dont seem to remember you saying anything about it.