Cooling problem on my 550, I know shes old but please help

[Sailin817]

Hey all,
So, probably like most of you, I am starting out with my 87 Kawasaki 550. (I know I know, go SJ, but money talks and it said Kawi 550).

My little tell tale that is suppose to be spittting out water to let stopped spitting water. Now it just blows steam. I have done the following.

Cleared lines from pump to hull interior. (Nothing there)

Blew through cooling from front of head to exhaust (blows easily)

Blew into the block from both sides (nothing seems to be blocked)

Compression Test reveals 125 & 125.

Any other ideas why my engine is not cooling?

Thank you all in advance,
Andre In Tampa, Fl

 

[550 SLUT]

do u have a flush kit installed

 

[onesojourner]

mine did that. it just sputtered out water. my problem was the gaskets for the exhaust I got had holes were it should have been solid and solid where it should have had holes.

 

[Mark Gomez]

mine did that. it just sputtered out water. my problem was the gaskets for the exhaust I got had holes were it should have been solid and solid where it should have had holes.

I agree thats a frequent problem

 

[Kwit]

Check out ur lines by the pump?

 

[LBE]

Sounds like a bad head gasket

 

[djyox]

maybe stupid, but just incase... are you letting it run long enough to get water to fill up the whole system? Mine would blow smoke for about 30sec and then water would come out... Your not just shutting it down before then are you?

I know its stupid, but someone had to ask...

 

[Sailin817]

Thats not stupid, but fortunately I realized she wasnt cooling after a 10 minute test run after installing a new throttle cable and tweaking the carb.

 

[Sailin817]

but let me ask this (I know its dumb, but she is my first ski and she runs, I have 3 project 550s and I dont want another one)

How long can I run her without fear of overheating?

Oh yeah I forgot, Inspection of impeller revealed a 6" piece of a tie down strap. (would this do anything?)

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I think LBE nailed it blown head gasket.

 

[pjsrider]

I think LBE nailed it blown head gasket.

If this is the case then wouldnt the compression be off a little? If it is a stock ski then 125 is about normal. It would have to be a pretty serious bad spot in the gasket to completly stop the water out of the squirter. I dont really know what I am talking about, but I have had my head gasket leak slightly and it only created a little poping noise out of my stinger because the air bubbles were so small.

Jay

 

[WFO Speedracer]

I doubt it would even be detectable on a compression gauge and may only show up when it heats up also,a head gasket leak will pressurize the cooling system and not allow water to flow or make it spurt out the pisser unevenly.

 

[extreemthrottle]

check the line from the pump to the hull, make sure its not split or hanging off. you might not see the split so be sure to look at it throughly, i missed that one last year and it took 4 trips to the ramp to figure it out DUH!!!
anyway, also try running it on the hose if water still does'nt come out then at least you know its not from the pump but further forward.. good luck

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Not to be a smartazz but wouldn't the simpliest thing be to take the cooling line loose from the manifold,fire it up and see if the pump is pushing water through the cooling line? If it is pumping water then you either have something clogging up the cooling passages in the cylinder or exhaust or a blown head gasket.

 

[djyox]

well, running it on the hose would do the same thing, if it was clogged by the pump it would flow though the motor, if the water just came out the pump, then you know its in the motor, and if it comes out the pump and the exahust, then you know the pisser is clogged.....

But if you don't have a hookup for a hose, then wedo's idea is the easiest...

 

[Sailin817]

Well, as of right now, I dont have a hose hook up, but its been on my list of "When I can" for a while, I'll put one one this weekend. When the ski is off and in the water I disconnected the cooling line and water started pouring into the hull from the connection from the pump, so no clog between pump and engine.

Thank you all for your input so far.

What would a bad head gasket look like?
And what would make it go bad?

Thanks again all,
Andre