Cooling problem... STUMPED

adet16v

No like winter
TXJ and Mouth, thanks, that is something I will keep in mind.

I guess If i cant diagnose a problem with it on a trailer in the water than I will remove the pump and possibly impellar for inspection.

:banghead: dam it i want to ride
 

Proformance1

Liquid Insanity
Site Supporter
Vendor Account
Location
New York Crew
TXJFrosty said:
This may not apply however; my buddy had a similar problem, and here is what ended up being the problem.

He sucked up a rock which in turn bent one of the blades of the impeller. That seemed to have airated the water so much that it caused not only reduced waterflow but also ran the airated water through the cylinder (much of it became steam). His cylinder and pipe were running extremely hot. Hot enough to cause some minor cylinder scoring and slight melting of cooling lines. Being an SXR the temp sensor was disconnected to install the b-pipe.

Sounds fantastically rediculous however, once we replaced his impeller with a nice new shiney one the problem completely went away.

BTW, the bent impeller piece of the blade was the size of a quarter and bent and quite a serious angle.

Anyway, good luck, and keep us posted with your results.

He is right, here is the pict of the impeller blade. I'm not saying that this is your problem, but I could not tell it was bent untill I took it out. The bend was so slight the from the rear it looked less drastic than it was. My cooling issues are now over.
 

Attachments

  • DSC00911-01.jpg
    DSC00911-01.jpg
    92.5 KB · Views: 36
Last edited:
My vote is HG. I just went through this with my 93 SJ. I thought I had water line routing issues. I "fixed" them, but the pissers always steamed @ low throttle. I thought maybe that was caused by the B pipe...Wrong.

It overheated for the final time 2 weeks ago. And started running very rough after a long cool-down. Compression test revealed 160 Psi in the front and 90 in the rear. While the plugs were out I blew air thru the water supply line into the manifold and heard air leaking out the rear spark plug hole. Teardown revelaed a copper HG that had fatigued, and broken apart. A new HG got me 170 front and rear and more performance than it has ever had before, which makes me think it has had a leaky HG since I bought it.
 

adet16v

No like winter
I think I may have found a clog in it in the plumbing where it runs through the bulk head. I back flushed the hell out of it and am going down to the river this afternoon to test.

Im so stressed out about it cause Im going on vacation for the next week to Lake Winneupesaki in NH (however you spell it) and am planning on taking my ski. If it doesnt run right this afternoon I am going to stop by home on the way and put in a new head gasket. Thanks all for the help
 

Watty

Random Performance
Location
Australia
Yep, I had this same problem recently (well, before I had major engine failure)...

I found a crack in a riva head I was using, and this caused the o-ring on the head to blow out. Apart from the fact that the pisser was spluttering, the engine would run like crap. Because I don't use a temp sensor, I knew it was an o-ring, but are you sure that your engine in hitting the thermal cutout, rather than ingesting water through the cooling jackets into the combustion area?

The thermal cutout and a blown head gasket o-ring feel VERY similar, so as some of the other guys have said, I'm going with a buggered gasket. You may find one of your sleeves have dropped enough to breach the seal.

Also try backflushing for a few minutes, remove the plugs and hit the starter switch and see if water is being pumped out of the cylinders. This may not work too well if not under load/warmed up, but if it's a big leak, it will show.
 

adet16v

No like winter
Found my problem. Down at the river I tied the ski to my truck and ran it at the launch. I disconnected the hose coming out of the head and monitered the flow for a few seconds at varrying throttle, then repeated and did the same but disconnected the hose from the exhaust mani.

I found a big drop in head between the exhaust hose and the water coming out of the head so i knew it was inbetween those two points. I realized the ONLY thing i had not checked when I had it all apart was the brass elbow on the top of the head.... i popped it out and found a rock wedged in there so tight that i had to put it in a vice and bust it up with a nail/hammer to get it out.... NO wonder it wouldnt come out with backflushing.

Now I just wonder how that thing got in there.

Anyway, Thanks to all who helped with suggestions. Its fixed just in time to leave for vacation tomorrow after work!
 
Top Bottom