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What did you do to your Non-FZ1 motorcycle today.

All the farkles to my DRZ today were sticky! Added some batman stickers to my canisters and Two Wheeled Texans Stickers to the front and rear fender. Also got my 2014 Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) sticker which allows me to ride on trails in the state parks in Texas.
 
I get knocked down .......

Oldschool said:
Determined beyond a doubt the the 990 is eating coolant. After overheating several times on my trip due to a failed thermostatic switch, it now is consuming coolant. Not enough to smoke, nor pressure up the system, but sadly undeniable. I put dye in the coolant, and changed the rad cap to eliminate water pump seal and faulty rad cap, but there is only one place the coolant could be going. This means a complete top end tear down and lots of money. With a one bike garage it also means my season is done. I,ll take her out in the morning for one last run, then it gets stripped down. Then I have to price out a total rebuild, and decide whether or not to just do a gasket replacement (the base and heads both have to be done at the same time) or while in that deep, do the barrels, pistons, rings, bearings, valve seats, cam chains, and have a completely new motor. If I didn't truly love this bike (can't think of one I'd rather have as my only bike) then this would be the end of the line for it. What this will cost would buy a DRZ, but that isn't what I want. So much for a new bike this winter, I guess I'll have to settle for a new motor. Aarrrgggg!!
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Sometimes it's good to be wrong. Lots of internet research, and being curious enough to start tearing down the engine. I wasn't completely wrong, just wrong about the head gaskets. I will post pictures of what my pile of parts looks like when I get a chance, probably while I wait for the long list of parts to arrive. As long as none are on back-order I might get to ride again before the snow flies.

Last night I dropped the oil to check the filter for tell tale signs of coolant. The paper cartridge filter on the LC8 motor is know to swell if contaminated by coolant, making the paper pleats wavy in the process. At the same time I used a special light and glasses to check for the florescent dye that I added to the coolant, and BINGO found the mysterious disappearing coolant. I doubt anyone has every been as happy to find coolant in their oil before, but for me it was a relief! Although the oil looked normal, the dye was undeniable, showing bright yellow/green throughout the system. I had to turn the lights out in the shop to be sure, since the white fluorescent was making the small UV light hard to see.

I opened the clutch to find more evidence of coolant in a slight milky film on the inside of the outer clutch cover, and then removed the water pump cover to find the culprit. The impeller shaft had moved just enough to chew up the fins on the impeller and damage the inside of the water pump cover. I had to drain the coolant to get in and will flush out the rest of the dye tonight, since it was getting late last night.

Pictures and more to come. Bottom line though, I Can Fix This!
 
Oldschool said:
Sometimes it's good to be wrong. Lots of internet research, and being curious enough to start tearing down the engine. I wasn't completely wrong, just wrong about the head gaskets. I will post pictures of what my pile of parts looks like when I get a chance, probably while I wait for the long list of parts to arrive. As long as none are on back-order I might get to ride again before the snow flies.

Last night I dropped the oil to check the filter for tell tale signs of coolant. The paper cartridge filter on the LC8 motor is know to swell if contaminated by coolant, making the paper pleats wavy in the process. At the same time I used a special light and glasses to check for the florescent dye that I added to the coolant, and BINGO found the mysterious disappearing coolant. I doubt anyone has every been as happy to find coolant in their oil before, but for me it was a relief! Although the oil looked normal, the dye was undeniable, showing bright yellow/green throughout the system. I had to turn the lights out in the shop to be sure, since the white fluorescent was making the small UV light hard to see.

I opened the clutch to find more evidence of coolant in a slight milky film on the inside of the outer clutch cover, and then removed the water pump cover to find the culprit. The impeller shaft had moved just enough to chew up the fins on the impeller and damage the inside of the water pump cover. I had to drain the coolant to get in and will flush out the rest of the dye tonight, since it was getting late last night.

Pictures and more to come. Bottom line though, I Can Fix This!
Click to expand...

Does this mean the repairs will be less expensive than originally thought?
 
Oldschool said:
Sometimes it's good to be wrong. Lots of internet research, and being curious enough to start tearing down the engine. I wasn't completely wrong, just wrong about the head gaskets. I will post pictures of what my pile of parts looks like when I get a chance, probably while I wait for the long list of parts to arrive. As long as none are on back-order I might get to ride again before the snow flies.

Last night I dropped the oil to check the filter for tell tale signs of coolant. The paper cartridge filter on the LC8 motor is know to swell if contaminated by coolant, making the paper pleats wavy in the process. At the same time I used a special light and glasses to check for the florescent dye that I added to the coolant, and BINGO found the mysterious disappearing coolant. I doubt anyone has every been as happy to find coolant in their oil before, but for me it was a relief! Although the oil looked normal, the dye was undeniable, showing bright yellow/green throughout the system. I had to turn the lights out in the shop to be sure, since the white fluorescent was making the small UV light hard to see.

I opened the clutch to find more evidence of coolant in a slight milky film on the inside of the outer clutch cover, and then removed the water pump cover to find the culprit. The impeller shaft had moved just enough to chew up the fins on the impeller and damage the inside of the water pump cover. I had to drain the coolant to get in and will flush out the rest of the dye tonight, since it was getting late last night.

Pictures and more to come. Bottom line though, I Can Fix This!
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your troubles Lee, but am glad it can be repaired and get you back out on the road to bring us back some awesome photos of your travels!
 
These are just some of the reasons I have stayed away from Euro especially exotics all these years. Triumph is the only one that gives close to Jap reliability. Aprilia is pretty good too. Ducati, BMW - avoid like pest ... KTM - a bit better but still leery...
 
Dustin said:
Good news, kinda! Keep us posted!
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Of Course, with pictures.....

Hail said:
Does this mean the repairs will be less expensive than originally thought?
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Parts only, I'm the mechanic, so big time. My labour should only cost a bottle of single malt.

YZFRiderNY said:
Sorry to hear about your troubles Lee, but am glad it can be repaired and get you back out on the road to bring us back some awesome photos of your travels!
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Thank Billy, I have put more miles on the KTM than probably every other bike that I have ever owned, or at least close, so things are bound to wear out. If you have to learn how to wrench, might as well jump in with both hands. Glad we live in the information age, it sure helps. Besides the Harley guy at work, wanted to get his hands on it and I could bear the thought.......:box:

So far, Here is a snap shot/s of the progress. I waste no time when I decide to do something!



About to begin, bike stripped of racks and guards.



I drop the oil and don my secret agent specs, and exploding pen.





The sump screen looked bright yellow and green to me with the UV light. If it had no coolant it would have looked like the camera saw it.

These next two are the paper cartridge style oil filter. It only swells and gets "wavy" if there is coolant (or water) present, there was!





Note the milky residue on the clutch cover, most had settled off by the time I got the picture.



HERE IS THE Culprit;



Not the inside surface damage to the water pump cover, and how the water pump impeller has shaved its outer edges sharp. This was caused by the inside cir-clip that hold the shaft between the bearings failing, with only the small inside one holding it. It allowed the shaft to move 1 mm and contact the housing and the seal to be damaged by the movement. This caused the leakage.



The dye shows the coolant without the need for special glasses. Even the slightest leak is easy to detect.



Tonight I removed the outer clutch cover and water pump housing and cleaned up the engine. Now we wait for parts.

This is what the inside of the clutch cover should look like.

 
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Not a show stopper

CrazyBiker said:
These are just some of the reasons I have stayed away from Euro especially exotics all these years. Triumph is the only one that gives close to Jap reliability. Aprilia is pretty good too. Ducati, BMW - avoid like pest ... KTM - a bit better but still leery...
Click to expand...

I have put a lot of HARD use miles on this bike, and it has only had 2 issues that stopped me. The first was a fuel pump. Typically they fail because of running the tanks too low and overheating them repeatedly, and the previous owner may have done that. It uses the same pump as Toyota Corrolla, but they don't like to be uncovered(without fuel to cool them).

This (The Water Pump seal) is the second. I just diagnosed the issue wrong. Fairly easy fix, especially if you let the shop do it.:nothing:

I am amazed at the quality of components and workmanship on this bike, especially since I get to see a lot more of it right now. :waiting:
 
Dustin said:
So what has this repair cost you & what are the chances it will fail again? Is this a recurring issue with the 990?
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Parts bill will be in tomorrow, But I am getting a few things (tools) for doing the valves myself at the same time.

The first seal went at 67,000 km. I will do a replacement after the next 65,000 (or about 3 years) just to be safe.

The water pump seals on the original (950) carburated models were prone to failures usually from casting sand contamination. The casting sand issue has been dealt with over the years and you don't hear about that anymore. The shafts used to be too soft and have been re-engineered and hardened in more current models. The seals are of a different material now as well and more durable. One thing about KTM, they do respond and improve any flaws that are found in their models.
 
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Oldschool said:
I have put a lot of HARD use miles on this bike, and it has only had 2 issues that stopped me. The first was a fuel pump. Typically they fail because of running the tanks too low and overheating them repeatedly, and the previous owner may have done that. It uses the same pump as Toyota Corrolla, but they don't like to be uncovered(without fuel to cool them).

This (The Water Pump seal) is the second. I just diagnosed the issue wrong. Fairly easy fix, especially if you let the shop do it.:nothing:

I am amazed at the quality of components and workmanship on this bike, especially since I get to see a lot more of it right now. :waiting:
Click to expand...

KTM definitely is better than Ducati.. and probably more value ..
 
Brands

Hail said:
For some reason I thought you bought it new.
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One year old when I bought it. The day of the U2 concert up in Edmonton. Went to see a band with the whole family and rode a new (to me) bike home that night /morning. All in all a great day!

CrazyBiker said:
KTM definitely is better than Ducati.. and probably more value ..
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Well I won't debate brands too much. I wanted the 990 Adventure because of its capabilities on and off road and loved the iconic looks of the machine (and it was my favorite color). I won't be running out to get a tattoo or anything like that.

I won't buy (or not buy) anything just because of brand. Ducati, I love the look of most of their line up , but they are generally out of my price range, and for me the dealer network in Calgary is shaky at best. We just lost one, and now have a new one with no history.

It was mostly happenstance that I was owning Yamahas for my first 5 bikes. They just happened to be the bikes that I liked at the time, better than the other options available at each moment in time that I was buying "the next bike".
 
I'm still on the fence about Ducati. I think I'd really love a Hyperstrada but I'm just not convinced, yet. If I give it a few years, let's see what the used market produces!
 
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I always wanted a 1993-96 SS/SP before they put the ugly notch in the bottom fairing

http://www.complex.com/rides/2011/03/the-50-greatest-motorcycles-of-all-time/ducati-900ss-sp

Ducati-900ss-SP-1.jpg
 
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