Symtoms of a blow base or head gasket(o-ring)..I'm having issues

[snowmanx]

My coolant hose blew off of the head while up in the mountains, and I can't get it to circulate. This machine (1150 cutler) has always been a pain to burp, but it seems to be building up pressure in the bottle.

I've raised the front of the machine as normal, but nothing. It does not circulate to the rear coolers, once I let it cool down, I try taking off the coolant cap and LOTS of air blows out..this has never happened before when trying to circulate, then, it starts to overflow and then the bottle is empty.

At one point, when I took the coolant cap off it blew all over the place, it was room temperature. At times, the coolant will start to run out of the pressure relief spout on the coolant bottle.

When I try to take the thermostat cap off the head, lots of air blow out.

The system seems to stay pressurized even after several hours, as when you let the cap off of the coolant bottle you can hear the air come out.

Possible base gasket? Or is it the head??? Could it be either one?

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

 

[sledbert]

It sounds like head o-ring(s). Generally if the base gasket is the problem the sled will eat the AF, or leak. If you have a coolant psi tester, install it on the system & start the machine. Watch the guage to see how much & how fast the presure increases. If it jumps really fast it is likely showing a leak from a high presure source, such as a head oring. With respec to the air lock in the system it could be the o-ring blowing air in. Or a water pump problem. Or, I have seen it where you actually need to 'burp' the hose at the rear cooler.
hope this helps. e-m me if you need more info.

 

[Weekday Warrior]

possible a warped head, sounds like blowby into your coolent what sledbert said

pop the head off see if you can find the carbon trail into your coolent port

 

[Beels]

Either an inner head o-ring or cracked head.

 

[sledmanhof]

i had that exact thing happen to me this last fall. i took my head off and when i put it back on the head inside o-rings were all messed up and shot. i could never get the antifreeze to stay in the bottle and air would always build up and shoot antifreeze through the bottle. also if you run the engine does it smoke real bad because mine did as the coolant was going through the cylinders and through the exhaust.

hope that helps if you need anymore answered just shoot me a pm

 

[diggerdown]

Usually if the o-rings leak you will not hold pressure in the bottle very long after you turn it off. Pull the thermostate and try that before you pull the head.

 

[Beels]

If it's doing this while riding, I guarantee it isn't an airlock.

 

[snowmanx]

Already tried circulating without the thermostat, same thing. I had to ride it down from the mountain like that, stopped every 500 yards or so to throw snow on the heads, I know it's probably not the best thing to do, but I was so pissed at the time I really didn't care.

Going to pull theheads tonight and have a look.

It does hol the pressure, checked it this AM after running it last night and it was still pressured up!

 

[diggerdown]

Usually a o-ring will let it flow both ways. I hope that is what it is. Heads and waterpumps are more expensive.

 

[EventsInTheChamber]

I had these exact symptons with my machine, was the waterpump.

 

[snowmanx]

Water pump

I had these exact symptons with my machine, was the waterpump.

Was that on a 900 cat? ON the Cats it is gear driven with an impeller, does it have a water pump?

Anyways, I go to pull the heads and low and behold, THE HEAD BOLTS ARE LOOSE!!! WTH???

I rebuilt it and I KNOW I torqued them....but whatever, if I didn't it's done. No other apparent damage, I had 4 rides on it without problems. No warpage, no cracks in the head.

Trying to get it to circulate, any chance I damaged the impeller or something else from the high pressure built up in the system?

Thanks again.

 

[Beels]

I guarantee you didn't hurt the water pump. It's at the lowest point of the cooling system, and you'd have to run it dry to take the seals out.

 

[snowmanx]

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[hobbes]

Cracked dome or o ring Allen. Make sure you check the domes VERY close, I lost one on my 1080 once and had the head off 3 times before I found it. Also, if any of the orings look even remotely suspect, replace it. It doesn't take much to come up with the symptoms you are having. If you haven't been, make sure to tighten the head bolts from the inside bolts (between the cylinders) to the outside in an alternating (right to left, left to right) fashion. Good luck.

 

[snowmanx]

Cracked dome or o ring Allen. Make sure you check the domes VERY close, I lost one on my 1080 once and had the head off 3 times before I found it. Also, if any of the orings look even remotely suspect, replace it. It doesn't take much to come up with the symptoms you are having. If you haven't been, make sure to tighten the head bolts from the inside bolts (between the cylinders) to the outside in an alternating (right to left, left to right) fashion. Good luck.

Thanks AL, I'll take a close look, I do always tighten the head bolts inside to out.

 

[freak58trio]

I had these exact symptons with my machine, was the waterpump.

I don't believe the waterpump can put out that much pressure to blow the coolant back. Afriend had the same problem and it was the o-ring.

 

[sledbert]

Hey fellow sledders, just an idea to keep in mind with these coolant issues. Sometimes a blown inner o-ring will not show up when pumping up the cooling system manually. You can only pump it safely to 15-18psi. The cylinder will pump from the combustion chamber anywhere up to 300 psi or higher depending on engine design & RPM. )