Recently helped a buddy out fixing his sled.. its a 99 mxz600.. It needed pistons and a bore, so no problem... It had sat for the whole summer, half apart.. I put it together the other night.. it wasn't happy when first started... lots of smoke ( don't ya love it when ppl don't drain the water pump before pulling the jug off? then fill the crank with A/F ) ... anyway... bleed the cooler lines.. 5 min later...heat light comes on.. pull the water pump after troubleshooting.. discover the plastic gear is competely worn off... AND.. the oil tank has dropped about a liter.. go to pull it over.. cylinder is hydraulic'd almost rip the cord off it... SO.. find used water pump/oil pump gear, and oil pump, install, ( washed out the little hole - flushed plastic out ) start it up.. it is circulating! cooler is warm... running ok..... shut it off, top up oil tank... fire it back up.... 20 min later... heat light comes on... not circulating.. oil tank is down a liter ... what is up with this thing??? Possible crank or seal issues?? Does the gear that runs the pump fill up with oil for lubrication and the seals are pooched causing the oil to dump into the crankcase, then wrecking the gear? is the oil pump a pump or a gravity/suction feed? What would cause the gear to strip? Any insight would be appreciated before I split the crankcase...
