K11 Owners Group

John H. · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

Since my last visit regarding the R&R of the steering head bearings the bike has been great. I've been to Wyoming and back to Texas, then Glacier Nat'l Park and back again. Good riding.

A week ago I rode with my brother on his K1200 to Monahans State Park (Texas) where we camped for a couple of days. When I got back I changed the oil. It looked like chocolate milk. Antifreeze in the oil! 104 plus thousand showing, well maintained, I think. One owner. Sure am curious what might have caused this. Top speed on this trip was maybe 115. I rode her moderately hard, but she never complained. I guess she saved it up for the afterword. I have an appointment May 1 to fix the problem, which I guess, is a blown head gasket.

Ernie-NH · Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:22 pm Post subject:

Good evening John...

Sounds like a great trip you had !! .... and your "water/oil" problem sounds more like a water pump situation rather than a head gasket.. Look first in the area of the combo 'water/oil" pump for a water/oil crossover.

Good luck and best regards.....// Ernie-NH
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Scott_Anderson · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:21 am Post subject:

Like Ernie suggested, check the bottom of the oil/water pump.

There is a drain hole/cavity that is supposed to separate the oil shaft seal area and the water shaft seal area.
If the seals have failed and the drain hole is plugged you will get crossover and contamination.
It's pretty easy for the chamber/hole to plug up with road grime and such.

This problem is much more common than a head gasket. NOT that a head gasket can't fail, right Rydor?.
Trust me, it's cheaper to repair that oil/water pump, or even replace it, than to pull the head and repair that. BTDT
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Ted · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 8:25 am Post subject:

First thing to check is the water pump weep hole, though when this gets plugged it is usually oil in the coolant. Stick a pipe cleaner or something like that in the hole (bottom center of the pump) to make sure it isn't plugged. If a bunch of crap comes out you might need a water pump rebuild - if not, then there may be more complex things at work (ie, as you mention, a head gasket.)

EDIT - LoL, what Scott said Smile

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John H. · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

Wow, that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks a lot people. I'll let you know what I find.

Ted · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:18 am Post subject:

Make sure to spend some time in the tech section if it is the pump, there are several excellent pieces on how to rebuild the pump (including videos.) It is not hard, just a bit exacting. Also search for "U-shaped groove" before putting it all back together Smile

Ted
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John H. · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

I found the weep hole to be clogged. Pipe cleaner wouldn't go in, so I used a small straight slot screwdriver. Nothing came out except dry caked crud. Screwdriver bottomed out at about 2 1/2 inches.

I looked in the coolant overflow reservoir and see no oil floating on top. Just green antifreeze.

I also looked at the oil I drained after it sat overnight. The chocolate color was gone so I thought when I poured it off I'd see a little coolant in the bottom, but I didn't.

Yesterday when I took the oil filter housing cover off I saw green in the oil and the oil in the filter itself was the most chocolate looking.

Just guessing but if it was a head gasket it seems to me that the fluids would readily exchange and that the coolant would quickly get so low as to cause over heating, which never happened.

Having cleared the weep hole, I guess running the bike will result in a leak there, if the seals are bad. Is that correct?

Rafal · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:09 pm Post subject:

John H. · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

Rafal, I don't store my bikes and ride them every week at least ten miles or so through the winter.

Been busy all day but tomorrow I'll get back on here and give you the result of the test suggested by Rafal.

Thanks all of you.

Scott_Anderson · Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:20 pm Post subject:

John H. · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

Scott, You hit on something that just occurred to me too. Here in Cntrl Texas we usually have mild winters but this winter it was unusually cold, ten degrees was one overnight low. Bike sits in a tight garage, BTW.

So, I ran it up to op speed just now, let the radiator fan come on, and shut it off. Weep hole is dry. Oil in sight glass does not look like chocolate milk. I reach into the engine with a long q-tip and pull up clean oil. Later I'll drain a bit of oil from the pan and from the oil filter housing into a glass jar and see what happens.

Update: Next day now, I don't see any contamination in the oil sample I collected just now. Case closed, I guess. I'm gonna ride, and treat her to a new rebuild of her shocks.