G650 head gasket ??

[Losttheplot]

I've just stripped the radiator out of my xchallenge.

On a recent trip out to the shops in the recent warm spell (first time this year), the fan was on almost constantly, so i decided to strip the radiator out and have a look.

As expected the radiator has a lot of rubbish in it, and a lot of the fins on the front are folded over.

however, more concerning is the colour of the coolant. I thought this was always supposed to be clear with a blue tint.

I take it from the sooty apppearance this means the head gasket is blowing from the combustion chamber into the cooling system?

So far there hasn't been any noticeable water loss, white smoke, power loss etc.

And there are no signs of water in the oil..

Any pointers as to where i might find a copy of the workshop manual for stripping down and re-assembling, including the required torques?

many thanks,


nathan

 

[rossi]

Not necessarily the head gasket. I would have thought that a little bit of alloy corrosion somewhere in the system would also have a similar effect on the coolant. Flush and renew the coolant and monitor it would be my bet.

I would be more concerned about signs of oil in the coolant or significant amounts of water in the oil. Remember that any bike with a separate oil tank is prone to condensation in the oil so a little emulsion in the filler neck is not unusual, especially if you are doing short journeys in damp conditions. With the current weather it should be fairly clear though, particularly if you are doing some longer rides.

I might be able to help you with a workshop manual

 

[viv]

The coolant on my Xcountry is also very dark if not black. It's been like that since I bought it last year and hasn't used/lost any coolant since then. Done about 3k miles since I've had it and it now has 7k on the clock.

I had assumed that it was just the colour coolant that was used and have no intention of changing it at the moment - since there seems to be nothing to fix!

Viv

 

[Timpo]

I doubt it's the head gasket, just old coolant.
If there was no water loss or over-pressurizing of the coolant system then there is no worries.....


T.