Water Pump probs

[HondaRider250]

Has anyone ever had a problem with the water pump on their z/kfx? i slid mine off to check the water pump intake hole for corrosion and i also changed the coolant. now i think my water pump isnt circulating coolant through the engine because my radiator steams after every ride. what drives the water pump? a gear? also, could i have messed up the pump when i tried to take it off? also, is there a way to see if coolant is circulating through the radiator? thanks

[HondaRider250]

bump

[redrunner]

Yes it is a huge problem for all 05's and later...the magnesium cover is reacting to water in the coolant similar to what the cannondales went through.
There is a few big threads and a petition going on over at Z400central.com.

Suzuki has not issued a recall yet and if you want to protect your engine from blowing up you need to fix it yourself. If the case is not tocorroded and the oring will still seal you can use the old cover but you need to flush and swap out your system wih Evans npgr coolant (waterless).

[HondaRider250]

yeah i know i already did that. i got evans in it. now it steams after every ride. i dont think the coolant is circulating. i cant think of any other reason y the radiator would steam

[redrunner]

Ahh I see, you cannot take off pump impeller unless you take off the entire cover. It has a gear on the back. go to ronnies.com and you can pull up a schematic.

[HondaRider250]

thanks. one more question, do u know why my radiator would be steaming after a 20+minute ride?

[redrunner]

Well if your pump ain't turnng then I would have to say that your boiling off your coolant...

[HondaRider250]

yeah thats what i figured but i cant figure out y my pump wouldnt be turning

[400exrider_ed]

The water pumps are driven by a plastic gear that sits on a pin that goes threw the impeller shaft. The pin may have came out at some point which means the shaft isnt turning your water pump. Also a faulty pressure cap on the radiator may not be holding the psi built in the system or at extremes a possible blown head gasket.

[redrunner]

Originally posted by 400exrider_ed
The water pumps are driven by a plastic gear that sits on a pin that goes threw the impeller shaft. The pin may have came out at some point which means the shaft isnt turning your water pump. Also a faulty pressure cap on the radiator may not be holding the psi built in the system or at extremes a possible blown head gasket.

Yep, pretty much what he said. When you mentioned you tried to get the pump off you could have cracked the gear and the pin fell out.

[HondaRider250]

aight thanks a lot guys. one alst question, is there any way to check and see if the coolant is circulating?

[redrunner]

Sorry not sure on that one.

[huffdaddy_400EX]

When it is overheating does the radiator fan come on? I am asking this because I buddy of mine had a similar issue. His problem was that he drained the colling system, refiiled it, and after 20-30 minutes it would start steaming. We thought it was the fan not coming on. But the fan was fine. It turned out that he had not filling the raditor completely. After he filled it the first time he and cranked it over the collant circulated. He never went back to check the level (he just assumed it was ok), but the level had dropped...I lot. After topping the radiator off the issue went away.

If you take the radiator cap off do you see coolant?

[HondaRider250]

yeah thats probly my problem...i just put evans in it and probly didnt fill it up enough. ill check it this weekend when i go out to my lake house. thanks a lot

[400exrider_ed]

You can purge or prime the radiator when filling it by squeezing your lower hose by the water pump that will compress most of the air allowing the coolant to settle down. Also when your motors runing squeze that hose agian when its firm (noticable between engine running and off) then its pumping and not air-locked.

[J-man67]

Originally posted by HondaRider250
yeah thats probly my problem...i just put evans in it and probly didnt fill it up enough. ill check it this weekend when i go out to my lake house. thanks a lot

Did you use the Evans prep fluid after draing the stock stuff? That is supposed to get all over the water out.

[HondaRider250]

yeah i did all that i ran prep fluid in it at idle for about 5 min, flushed, then put npg+ in it. i just didnt know what was causing the radiator to steam

[HondaRider250]

PROBLEM FIXED! thanks for all the info guys, all i hatda do was top off the radiator, the level went down after i ran the engine

[redrunner]

;)