Hi all,

I have a ZZR1100 and after being out last night my third water pump has packed in,I have been through 2 pumps in 6 weeks,Anybody know what would cause pump failure.

If I rev the engine hard I can get it to circulate briefly but instead of a stream of what returning into the stat housing it gushs lots of water and spits backout the top of stat housing(this all done with rad cap off) Also the colour of the water is dirty brown and I have changed water/anti freeze several times now !!

[Edited on 26/5/09 by locosaki]

are you using the right coolant?

silicut free, or glycol free etc.

just an idea.

Is the radiator even getting hot? sounds like the engines overheating cos the thermostat isn't opening and the over pressure is causing the pump seal to leak.

I have run car with just water this time,Didn't bother with the anti freeze,The rad is getting hot !

Sounds very odd.

I understand you have changed the anti-freeze a few times. Have you flushed the cooling system each time? I have just flushed my system one item at a time, radiator / pipework / expansion bottle / block and then all together. There may be a blockage somewhere.

The water pump is pretty simple affair, the keyway on the back goes into the drive shaft off the oil pump. The impeller is fixed to the shaft. How are they failing?

Can you drain down the coolant, take off the inlet or outlet pipe from the pump then turn the engine over? You should be able to see if the impeller is spinning in time with the revs?

What sort of thermostat are you using? Is it worth taking it apart and testing with boiling water?

It sounds like an airlock. Try jacking the car up at the front or back and bleeding it again.

HTH

Mike

I've drained the system on my ZX9 loads and use deionised water and anti freeze but it still comes out brown.

I've just removed the thermostat run it up to 102 degrees,I then bridged the fan out and the temp dropped away down to what I would consider normal,I assumed the water pump as I could not see the water circulate yesterday and when I did rev the car the water shot out of the filler from what I have gathered tonight the over heating problem could have been caused by a faulty stat but I have only checked when the car is ticking over,I don't have a header tank on mine,Is it a better idea to plumb one in ?

Mike

Only a passing thought but perhaps the radiator is still full of rust sludge and as this circulates its causing problems with the pump bearings.
Only solution is rad flush and hose it untill it runs clear.
Once you get clear water it should be fine

quote:

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Originally posted by locosaki
I've just removed the thermostat run it up to 102 degrees,I then bridged the fan out and the temp dropped away down to what I would consider normal,I assumed the water pump as I could not see the water circulate yesterday and when I did rev the car the water shot out of the filler from what I have gathered tonight the over heating problem could have been caused by a faulty stat but I have only checked when the car is ticking over,I don't have a header tank on mine,Is it a better idea to plumb one in ?

Mike

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The way to check a thermostat is suspend it on a piece of string in a pan of water with a thermometer in bring to boil and see if thermostat opens at desired temperature, I would have thought a header tank was essential with all bike engined installs also ensure cap matches blow off pressure of original bike one

tony

I have the c model stat also,I have the 6mm expansion pipe but it just overflows onto the ground I also have another expansion pipe on my rad but if I'm going to fit a header tank I could get away with blocking 6mm pipe from rad and just use the expansion pipe from the stat housing I should imagine.The pipe coming from the bottom of the header tank,Where have you got this plumbed in about ?

Cheers Mike