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Posted by Troll
- October 23, 2012, 16:59:53 PMA little white smoke (water vapor) on start up is quite normal, especially as the weather cools off. Burning anti freeze has a very distinct smell, quite different from normal exhaust...catch a little with your hand and smell it. Oil smoke is heavy and blue, and also has a distinct different smell. Are you going through any oil? It's possible that the valve seals are failing in your cylinder heads, and the puff of smoke you see is a little oil that ran down the guides into the combustion chamber. This is an 800...You said you put the head gasket back in the groove...you must mean the valve cover gasket...It's also possible, with the electrical issue you had that some oil from the catch can has found it's way into the intake...
Posted by 49Reo
- October 23, 2012, 14:59:24 PMIf it is oil, you should see some serious blackish build up in your pipes; if water enough to be white out the exhaust, should be some wetness in the tips as well. Is your coolant level dropping? Is the bike using oil? Pull your plugs and "read" them;the color and deposits on the spark plugs can tell you a lot. While plugs are out, crank the engine over and see if any moisture blows out; do a compression test too; don't throw in the towel yet. If you have to rebuild the engine, buy a Kawasaki Service Manual and, like Chief says, tear it down, see what is needed for parts, buy them as you can and put it back together yourself. You can take your heads to a cylinder head shop for valve/seat grind, jugs to a rebuilder for honing/reaming, crank to a rebuild shop for grinding if needed, etc. Lots of options before selling, even looking for an engine from a wrecked bike.
Good luck on it and keep us posted.
Regards and such,
49Reo
Posted by chief
- October 23, 2012, 12:49:16 PMI'd get another opinion. Get a explanation of what the problem is. Get manuals, do research, get parts over time, and do the repair myself. You can't really hurt it at this point.
Or, if you don't wanna spend the time and effort.... sell it as is... ensuring the buyer knows the score. It will sell cheap, unfortunately. You might want to sell here.
I'm really sorry for your troubles. VDR might be interested in buying it for a project bike.
Posted by jmbo
- October 23, 2012, 12:43:51 PMBurning oil? How many mile do you have on your 800. These motor don't typically burn oil due to wear but if you have a bad head gasket, yes water could be getting into your combustion chamber but so could oil. I'd seriously seek out a second opinion before I'd consider scrapping the bike.
Posted by Mark
- October 23, 2012, 11:41:03 AMBad news, my mechanic says it smells like burning oil. Says it is going to take a few grand to fix. Can't afford the bill. Any idea's what to do with this bike? What is it worth for parts?
Posted by pcarrell
- October 16, 2012, 23:45:50 PMFurther riding could result in warped heads.......BAD NEWS!
You don't want to go there!
Posted by 49Reo
- October 16, 2012, 22:58:46 PMI have to agree with pcarrell; white smoke is usually water/anti-freeze. You need to do some major maintenance ASAP or you will have even more repairs to do. I would not ride it any farther until the repairs outlined by pcarrell are done.
Good luck and keep us posted;
Regards and such,
49Reo
Posted by pcarrell
- October 16, 2012, 20:15:02 PMWhite smoke in the exhaust is probably water/radiator fluid getting into the combustion chamber. That head gasket is toast I'd say. I'll bet your radiator is low too. Time to change the gasket, oil and filter, and flush the radiator is your best bet. I'd 'bout lay money on it......seen it in cars too many times!
Posted by Mark
- October 16, 2012, 19:51:07 PMHere is the story. Need some opinions. The drifter and I where out on a Saturday night when she started backfiring and cutting out. Had to ride her acrossed a bridge to get out of traffic and ended up in the ghetto. Pushed the bike about three miles to get her our of harms way. I then ran to Walmart got a new battery after exausting the bike bike battery. When I took the the seat off I noticed the negative wire was loose. Causing the whole problem. Got the bike home and noticed oil coming out of the front head gasket. ( Gasket was bulging out in front). I took the top head cover off and adjusted the gasket back to normal. I have road it very little since this happened. On my first time out since then I am having some white smoke coming out of the exhaust(not a lot) until she heats up. I am thinking of changing the oil tomorrow to look for water. Any other suggestions?
God bless the Drifters!