caddydaddy

Supercharged
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
218
Location
Wilson, North Carolina
Ride
2017 Roadster
I just had the front of the engine torn apart to replace the detent spring. Now after 313 miles, the oil looks horrible! I changed the oil and it’s getting dark again after 6 miles. I’ve also noticed that the coolant level in the reservoir is going down.
Since I just had the water pump off to pull the front cover, could the shaft seal of the pump leak coolant into the engine? Just seems like weird timing to have the head gasket pop right after fixing the detent spring! The oil looked great when I drained it to fix the spring.
 
I have a oil leak from there because I didnt change the seals
Simple enough to take it off, swap the seals out...they re just orings would say it's very likly that this is the issue.

About a month ago I had a coolant hose burst at the water pump. I of course installed new hoses and a new o-ring for the pump.
I can’t imagine the o-ring would be bad so soon, unless I damaged it when reinstalling it when I fixed the detent spring.
I thought that large o-ring was only to keep oil from leaking out of the engine?
My thoughts are maybe the shaft seal of the pump is leaking, so the coolant is going into the engine?
 
If the shaft seal fails, there should be a witness hole under the center section of the water pump to visually warn you of the leak. It also prevents coolant from flowing into the engine. Make sure the hole isn't plugged.
This 100%
There are seals... orings I presume on the inside of the shaft that seals the water side. The big seal is for the oil on the outside of the big shaft ... lol
 
About a month ago I had a coolant hose burst at the water pump. I of course installed new hoses and a new o-ring for the pump.
I can’t imagine the o-ring would be bad so soon, unless I damaged it when reinstalling it when I fixed the detent spring.
I thought that large o-ring was only to keep oil from leaking out of the engine?
My thoughts are maybe the shaft seal of the pump is leaking, so the coolant is going into the engine?
So did
you get the problem fixed & what exactly was the issue? Inquiring minds need to know?🤓
 
So did
you get the problem fixed & what exactly was the issue? Inquiring minds need to know?🤓

I installed a new water pump, just incase that was the issue. Nope, still getting milky oil. Dang it!
So, I guess it is the head gasket. Still can’t believe it’s bad after 34,000 miles!
I’ve just been riding it locally and commuting to work until I can read up on what’s involved in replacing the head gasket.
I just took ownership of a Suzuki V-Strom 650 from my Dad. It’s been sitting for 10 years, so I’ve been working on getting that running again. That’ll be my ride while I fix the Rocket.
 
I installed a new water pump, just incase that was the issue. Nope, still getting milky oil. Dang it!
So, I guess it is the head gasket. Still can’t believe it’s bad after 34,000 miles!
I’ve just been riding it locally and commuting to work until I can read up on what’s involved in replacing the head gasket.
I just took ownership of a Suzuki V-Strom 650 from my Dad. It’s been sitting for 10 years, so I’ve been working on getting that running again. That’ll be my ride while I fix the Rocket.
Keep us informed if you would please.👍
 
I thought I would offer my expertise may be a little help.
I have dealt with many water contamination situations.
Mostly on automatic transmissions when the transmission cooler ruptures inside the radiator . When the radiator gets hot and pressurized it puts water into the trans and usually in the morning the transmission pressure puts atf into the rad.
Once this happens you have a strawberry milk shake and it is extremely hard to get clean up.
A story
I had flushed out a van transmission and thought i would take it for a good ride and when it got hot the water in the fluid started to steam and blew out a lot of atf and left me walking.

So i usually do two to three complete fluid changes (24 plus quarts of used atf) then drive it hard to steam out any water that is left (DO NOT DO THIS WITH MOTOR) then i do the another complete fluid change with new atf.
On the rocket is there a coolant tube that runs through the motor that could be damaged?
If i were doing this job i would find a way to pressurized the radiator to about 15 pounds and pull the bottom plate from the motor (you are going to have to do that anyway to get rid of the water and maybe a couple of times)
Anyway with the radiator pressurized and the bottom plate off maybe you can tell where it is leaking.
 
Ps
Water/antifreeze will destroy the glue that holds the clutchs to the steel in as little as 3 weeks it is important to move on this problem asap.l
And if the clutches dissolve it will plug the screens and restrict oil flow.
The water in the oil will take out the rod and main bearings
Sorry for the bad news.
 
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