2-1 exhaust

[billy budge]

Thanks for the info Hans, thought i was going mad. Was thinking i could check its rotation by putting it in gear and turning the engine over by hand, just want to make it hasnt seized before i put all the cover back on again.

[HansJ]

If, and that's IF, i am correct, you won't have to put it into gear. I can't really understand the workshop manual in this case, but i also saw that the detail nrs don't correspond to the picture of the waterpump. Maybe the manual is faulty? Let's hope so. And if someone else can jump in here to confirm my thoughts, please do. It was 2,5 years ago i had my engine apart...

[billy budge]

Well ive had a full on afternoon pulling the trx to bits...AGAIN!!!! Took the plugs out and turned the engine over and the water pump impeller turns nice and freely so im chuffed with that, also stripped the fcrs and they are spotless. On checking the plugs one only had a gap of 0.6mm which is weird but didnt think this would account for overheating.
So then decided to re-test the stat and strip the stat housing just out of interest and im glad and also pissed off that i did, inside looks very bad indeed. See the pics attached for more, sorry they are a bit dodgy...pants camera. They give the general image though that the hoses are full of dark brown/orange rusty sludge and also what feels like metal flakes!!!! Also loads of white lumps, some are mushy but some feel hard and crystalised....is this head gasket?? Should i also take the head off to inspect further or not??
Im concerned as the moron who did the mods to the exhaust had my bike for nearly 10 months, a long story so wont go into it. Anyway for 10 months it sat outside with no tank on in allsorts of weathers and was never started, my mate said that one of the overheating causes could have been that the water jacket could have corroded and broken down due to this long time of sitting still. Could this be the case or is it head gasket?? Cheers guys.

How do i attach pics, cant remember!!

[billy budge]

Pics have come out garbage but looked ok on the camera. Anyway this is the inside of the thermostat housing.

[billy budge]

A bit clearer this time.

[billy budge]

[i

Thermostat itself.

[billy budge]

[HansJ]

...
They give the general image though that the hoses are full of dark brown/orange rusty sludge and also what feels like metal flakes!!!! Also loads of white lumps, some are mushy but some feel hard and crystalised....is this head gasket?? Should i also take the head off to inspect further or not??
Im concerned as the moron who did the mods to the exhaust had my bike for nearly 10 months, a long story so wont go into it. Anyway for 10 months it sat outside with no tank on in allsorts of weathers and was never started, my mate said that one of the overheating causes could have been that the water jacket could have corroded and broken down due to this long time of sitting still. Could this be the case or is it head gasket?? Cheers guys.
...

Think you might have found the root of the over-heating at least...

But i am still a bit confused, so a couple of questions:

You wrote that you've had the stat out and testetd this? I understood it as this was part of the error hunt after the over-heating started, but now i am not sure? What has happened since you had the housing apart since last time (kms, time, repairs etc), and did you have the over-heating prior to this?

What kind of coolant has been in the bike? Tap water, distilled water, antifreeze/other additive?

Have you tried any of the radiator cleaner fluids one can get at petrol stations?

(I don't think a blown head gasket would cause this, unless the cloggy mass is created from a reaction between oilor a coolant additive and hot combustion gases)

[Mincehead]

You should go ahead and strip the top end of the motor, I suspect either head gasket or a cracked liner myself.
Ok, before that.......................................... A quick flush with a hosepipe, clean out the bikes coolant hoses and try it this way:
You want a 50% ethylene glycol and 50% deionised water coolant mix, no need for expensive ready mixed stuff, the 99 pence cheapo stuff will do at this point, then run the bike up to temperature, let it cool and take a look at the fluid by draining the block at the M6 (I think) drain bolt betweeen the header/front pipes if I remember correctly.
ANY white deposits evident or oily film and it`s a definate top end strip and inspect.

[billy budge]

Thats the thing thats got me scratching my head Hans, i had the overheating issue previous to me taking the thermostat apart yesterday. I took the thermostat apart a few months ago and tested it and the system was spotless. The bike hasnt been out for a run but had been started a few times for 10-15 mins for testing purposes and only using a pure blend anti freeze made by Putoline. Then nothing else has been done to it as i lost heart in it all and didnt know what else to do.
Ive never used any cleaning or flushing agents either. I just decided to strip the thermostat again yesterday after you said about having it in the wrong way round, i got worried and took it apart mainly to test it again and then i found the gunk and rust.

Cheers for the tips Mincehead, im off next weekend so can make a start then. Can you do a top end strip on the trx engine with the engine in the bike or is it an engine out only job??


Ta.

[Kayla]

Im concerned as the moron who did the mods to the exhaust had my bike for nearly 10 months, a long story so wont go into it. Anyway for 10 months it sat outside with no tank on in allsorts of weathers and was never started,

F-ing hell I barely let my bikes out of my sight for 10 minutes! Still, I'm glad you seem to be getting to the root of the cause.

[Mincehead]

Yep all the top end can be stripped off without an engine out.

[billy budge]

Cheers Mincehead, thats one bonus then. Never had this engine apart as its been bulletproof until now.

Im exactly the same Kayla but it got quite serious along the way, he was doing the electrics too and I had them re-done by track electrics in norfolk who managed to strip out nearly a kilo of unnecessary wires!!! The bike was due to be there for a month tops but he got harder and harder to get hold of, he started ignoring calls and if i sent him a pm he would ignore it...even though i could see him online on the forum he was on!! Travelled all the way from bedfordshire to him in ipswich several times to catch him out but his unit was all shut up. Then finally read on the forum that things had gone very bad for him and he had gone abroad on the run!!!! he did sooo many bad things to my bike including destroying the special paint job on my tail unit and tried to hide it and seeing him talking about the jobs on someone elses bike he was doing and i could see my bike in the background, with no tank on and my spanking new 700 quid fcrs, sat out in the pissing rain uncovered.
I got cautioned by the old bill one day on the train as during an extremely heated phonecall to him i put my hand through a window wanting it to be his head, not like me but never met anyone like him and never wish to ever again in my life. I couldve beaten him to death when i finally caught up with him, took several of my boxing buddies with me too. I will get payback one day but i will bide my time.

[Mincehead]

Ferk me, I would have kneecapped the MF!
Boxing eh?
Did a wee bit many moons ago, a tall, rangy, teenage lightweight.Nowadays more like a light heavyweight.
So.....................................................
The TRX isn`t complex to work on, you shouldn`t have too many problems.Those chrystalline deposits may well be due to hydrocarbon deposits in the coolant from unburnt/partially burn fuel and oil.If you`re lucky it`ll be just a head gasket and if you`re unlucky a cracked cylinder liner.
I look forward to hearing what you find, it`s quite unusual stuff on the TRX.

[billy budge]

I came close to it buddy i can tell you that, it got nasty when we picked it up...threatened to cut his throat if i ever saw his face again. I had a thing with arson when i was a kid so that was on the list too!!!!!

Yeah same as you mate with the boxing, ever losing battle to shed the weight now. Not so many full on fights now, mainly sparring and training as i wanted to hang onto the last few remaining braincells i had!! Under the super middleweight/light heavyweight band now myself.

Cheers for the info mate on the engine, very suprised it has happened myself. Nothing has ever happened to it prior to his bodging hands touched it. I will keep you updated with pics and details once ive done some more on it. Is there anything specific i need to look for, never had a head gasket go before so dont know what stands out.