650/X-2 Possible cooling issue while on trailer

[KawiKid]

Well I was able to finally get my 1989 650sx to the ramp on the trailer (it was 11pm so couldn't take it for a ride) and although I had the trailer backed up pretty far, the ski was still on the bunks.
I adjusted the idle, but before I can do anymore fine tuning with the lows/highs, I chose to shut it off, as the pipe, head were getting really hot.

My question is, just at regular idle (1400 while on trailer in water) nothing was coming out of the pisser. Once I gave it a bit more gas, it started shooting strong out of the pisser, although the water was VERY HOT.
I blew into the pisser when I got home and it IS CLEAR, so, do I have a cooling problem since it wasn't pissing at idle, or did I just not have the pump completely submerged? I could've sworn it was all the way in, but If it was still kind of resting on the bunks, maybe not?

What do you guys think? (Ps, when I rode it a few months back, pisser acted normal while riding, just never looked to see if it was pissing at idle)
Thanks!

Also, when on the hose, it pisses at idle immediately, if that means anything.

 

[bandit88]

Should dribble a little bit at idle. How hot was the pipe and head, enough to sizzle water? How do you have your water routed?

 

[KawiKid]

hey bandit88 thanks for the reply. I don't recall it dribbling at idle. but when id increade rpms by a few hundred, maybe even from idle at 1400 to about 2000, then id get a SOLID, STRONG stream.. once I let go of the gas, it would stop.
that pipe was getting pretty darn hot, as well as the head, but I didn't let it run long enough to see if it would sizzle water.. I cant afford to rebuild a cooked motor right now.
definitely got hot though.
as far as how the cooling is routed, not sure, hope this helps... the pipe is "dried out". and its not dual cooling, from what I know its a stock cooling setup.
does the "dried pipe" have any affect on it not dribbling at idle? heres a pic of under the hood if this helps

 

[bandit88]

There is a water fitting at the back of the pipe, stock it setup has it connecting to one of the through hull lines. Do you still have that connected or is it capped off?

 

[bandit88]

Also, I think you should move the water outlet of the head pipe. With how it is now, the head pipe is probably never filling with water and therefore getting hot. This is how I had my dried out pipe.

 

[KawiKid]

There is a water fitting at the back of the pipe, stock it setup has it connecting to one of the through hull lines. Do you still have that connected or is it capped off?

Hey bandit,
You say at the back of the pipe.. I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but this pipe now has a rear exit exhaust.the previous owner did the rear exit and dried it out. Are you saying there should be a fitting where I have this marked?

 

[KawiKid]

And, if it's capped off, should I reconnect it?
And having to tap that other spot and move the water line, does that mean the previous owner "dried it out " wrong? I got the ski like this... wondering if this is causing the no pissing at idle

 

[bandit88]

yep, there will be a nipple at the back side. You will want it capped off if it isnt. Check out the pic of this pipe. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawasaki-650sx-x2-exhaust-/122339990010

 

[KawiKid]

Ok cool, I'll check tonight. And if there is still a hose connected to that fitting, I should cap the fitting on the pipe AND the fitting on the other end of the hose, correct?
Thanks!

 

[bandit88]

Yep, you will want both plugged up.

 

[KawiKid]

Man, I've got a feeling this guy did it all wrong.
I'll take same pics and post. Thanks bandit

 

[KawiKid]

Okay @bandit88 , I think this thing is COMPLETELY screwed up. Let me ask you a few questions with pics so I don't get this all garbled..
1. Okay, the pisser, as you saw, is tapped directly into here. I'm assuming this is wrong, and should this be tapped into that center boss you circled earlier, or into a "T" somewhere?

 

[KawiKid]

2. You were right, the back of the pipe STILL HAS THE nipple AND the hose hooked up. But not only is the hose hooked up, it doesn't go to the bulkhead right there, it goes to the bulkhead on the OTHER side, by the ebox. If this was set up stock, is it supposed to go to the bulkhead right there on the exhaust side or the other side?

 

[KawiKid]

3. The fitting right on the exhaust manifold has a hose that runs to bulkhead fitting on the exhaust side (where I thought that pipe nipple would run) is that done correctly?

 

[KawiKid]

Let me know what you think so I can get this straightened out.
Thanks man!

 

[bandit88]

At this point, I would start from scratch if you want to modify the pipe. I would do it, its way better than stock. Check out http://www.pwctoday.com/showthread.php?t=148631. Right now it looks like it is stock set up, and the way things are, not having anything come out of the pisser is probably normal since most of the water is entering the exhaust and draining out of the back of the pipe. It should work fine and doesnt explain the high temp. I would pull the headpipe off the manifold and replace the gasket. If there are any holes in the gasket, that is definitely the issue. It should be solid so it does not allow water to flow from the manifold to head pipe. If all that is good, I would run it a bit and keep a eye on the temp. Splash water on the head and pipe, if it doesnt sizzle you are fine.

 

[bandit88]

Also, the stock pisser line/fitting is very small, 1/4" I think. If yours is larger and you keep the setup stock, I would make it smaller so it holds more water in and keep the pressure.

 

[KawiKid]

Yes I did notice that pisser line is a LOT thicker than the ones on my HX and spx.

Ok so yea I've got like 2 hours tray time total on this thing, so I think I wanna ride for a bit before doing any mods.
Just so ODD that the PO stated that he did the "dry pipe modification"...

Ok so all those bulkhead lines are correct the way they are now?
Thanks again bandit!

 

[Vumad]

2. You were right, the back of the pipe STILL HAS THE nipple AND the hose hooked up. But not only is the hose hooked up, it doesn't go to the bulkhead right there, it goes to the bulkhead on the OTHER side, by the ebox. If this was set up stock, is it supposed to go to the bulkhead right there on the exhaust side or the other side?

This has no impact on your cooling. That nipple is on the stainless part of the pipe. It is not jacketed there so there is no water flowing through it that is involved in the cooling of the head or the header pipe. Honestly, I'm not really sure the purpose of it.

Anyway, you have 3 lines that go through your bulk head. Of those 3, only 2 have nipples in the pump area. One is for your cooling line and the other is for your stock siphon.

The 3rd line in the bulk head is flush on the pump side. That exhaust nipple on the pipe connects to that one. On my X2, since I don't have the stock pipe with the nipple you do, I'm actually just using it as a pisser so I didn't have to drill a hole in my hull for the second dual cooling pisser.

 

[Vumad]

I'm not 100% because I had my 650sx with a stock pipe a long time ago, had AM pipes for the last many years.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure the stock 650sx pipe is wet. Water isn't suppose to go straight through the front of the pipe. The outlet hose was smaller because it keeps the pressure high in the head pipe, which forces more water into the exhaust stream. If you had the head pipe off the boat and hooked it up to the hose, water would come out of the inside of the black part, probably towards the back. This lets water flow through the head pipe and cools the exhaust gases. All of the wet pipes work in this way. No water injection and the gases get hot, making the motor hot.

With that said, nothing may be wrong at all. 140*-160* feels pretty freaking hot to a bare hand, especially that stainless. Harbor freight sells an IR temp sensor for less than $10. You probably wont be able to test the temps on that shiny chamber, but you can test the head and the head pipe just fine. My boats run about 140* or so. If in doubt, run it, test it, run it harder, check it again.

You aren't seeing water flow at idle because it's all in the chamber. My ski only flows water from 1 of the 3 pissers on the hose (unless the hose is set way high), and it will stall if I don't rev the motor out. All the water is sitting in the chamber / waterbox and eventually chokes out the motor.


I read very little of this thread but you may find it an interesting read. You shouldn't need to make any changes to a stock boat. http://www.pwctoday.com/showthread.php?t=148631

Also, if you go to BikeBandit.com, and look at the parts diagrams, you can probably see the stock cooling config.