drz water pump smashed, 70+ miles no water?

[Python423]

Here is a pic of the water pump housing on my drz400, This had to happen on a previous ride when I droped it big time, I then rode rest of that day (another 30 miles), then another 54 mile ride last friday. I didnt notice it until now, or I woudlnt have rode last friday.
I took the hose off, and no water came out, so I poured some in the top of radiator and it came out the bottom, so theres NO WATER in the radiaotr, or at least this side? could there possibly still be water in the other side that kept it cool on the 54 mile ride? there is a little coolent in the overflow tank.
I rode it 54 miles last friday, and it's still running.. Looks like if there is no water in it, teh motor would have seized up? should I be concerned? anything i should check, other then replacing the housing, and filling it back up with coolent? is it possible the other side of radiator has coolent in it or had coolent in it? or if this side is empty, should I assume the other side is empty also?

[Seth S]

Did you look at the oil to see if its all milky? I have heard stories of people running their drz's without coolant to get out of the woods and not having any trouble. You may be ok. I would replace the water pump cover and check to see if you are getting proper flow. Also make sure you don't have the milkshake oil or white smoke billowing out the exhaust.

[Python423]

Originally Posted by Seth S

Did you look at the oil to see if its all milky? I have heard stories of people running their drz's without coolant to get out of the woods and not having any trouble. You may be ok. I would replace the water pump cover and check to see if you are getting proper flow. Also make sure you don't have the milkshake oil or white smoke billowing out the exhaust.

Just drained the oil, didnt see anything that looked milky. I rode it 54 miles friday and didnt notice any white smoky out of exaust, I'll check it once I get it put back together tho..

Tho on the day the wrecked happend, and I'm guessing when this happend, but not for sure, later on that day, I was notice a weird noise in the motor when it was under extra strain, otherwise didnt notice it. Then didnt notice it friday when we rode, but was on fairly easy ride friday.

[ekaphoto]

Another testmant to the toughness of the DR-Z. I killed a radiater last summer and rode it back to camp running out of water on the way. It was only about 5 miles, but it was in the mountains and I took it easy as I could. Bike still runs good. I recommend changing the oil, put some more coolant in ad test ride it. I think you will be OK, although I don't recommend runnig without water again.

[Python423]

Originally Posted by ekaphoto

Another testmant to the toughness of the DR-Z. I killed a radiater last summer and rode it back to camp running out of water on the way. It was only about 5 miles, but it was in the mountains and I took it easy as I could. Bike still runs good. I recommend changing the oil, put some more coolant in ad test ride it. I think you will be OK, although I don't recommend runnig without water again.

I hope it'll be ok, big difference in 5 miles and 75 miles (54 mile ride, plus another 20 miles that one day). I asked the guy who followed me friday if he saw any white smoke, he said he thought he did see a little from time to time. So I dunno. Ordered parts from ronayers, so have to wait on them to get here, then just put it back together and see if it's smoking any. If it is, dunno what my next step would be, I guess replacing rings, which didnt use to be an expensive job, but dunno about todays rates. I'll post results after I get it back together. If it's still running great after that, its one tuff motorcycle I must say.

from now on, I'm going over my bike with a fine tooth comb before ever ride.

[Seth S]

Originally Posted by Python423

but not for sure, later on that day, I was notice a weird noise in the motor when it was under extra strain, otherwise didnt notice it. Then didnt notice it friday when we rode, but was on fairly easy ride friday.

i would bet that the weird noise under strain was the sound of the engine knocking/pinging due to detonation. Since your engine was probably running on the hot side it would be predisposed to preignition and detonation. Its possible you might have incurred some piston damager. You could try to get your hands on a boroscope and have a look at the top of the piston...or you could just change the oil and filter, and replace the pump cover and fill it back up and ride.

If you have any big trips to the middle of nowhere planned you might want to double check the piston condition with the scope.

[Python423]

Originally Posted by Seth S

i would bet that the weird noise under strain was the sound of the engine knocking/pinging due to detonation. Since your engine was probably running on the hot side it would be predisposed to preignition and detonation. Its possible you might have incurred some piston damager.

I asked a guy about the noise when it was happening, and at the time I didnt know I had the damaged water pump inlet, he said it was probably a spark knock, and nothing to worry about. Guy riding with me was on a CRF450X, and said his makes alot of weird noises as well, and its nearly new. If I hadn't rode the 54 mile ride after that, I would feel better about it. But on that ride, I didnt hear any such noises, or anything, but it was a failry easy route, compared to the one we did the other ride.

If you have any big trips to the middle of nowhere planned you might want to double check the piston condition with the scope.

I called my mechanic, and he recommended just putting it back together and if it runs ok and no smoking, just ride it. I dunno if he has a boroscope, but I'll ask him, maybe get him to do a compression test on it ? dunno if u can do that w/o tearing it down or not? If I see any smoke at all even if just a little bit when I put it back together, I'll probably get my mechanic to tear it down and replace rings, and look everthing over.. Just for peace of mind.

[Seth S]

its probably ok. Most motorcycles dont knock/ping/preignite to the point of any real damage because of the load ratio of engine to weight of bike/rider. However in a 2 litre turbo charged car you can have some serious issues...like melted, shattered, and holes through pistons...but there you have a lot more load and much more likelyhood of a problem.

[viverrid]

Originally Posted by Python423

Here is a pic of the water pump housing on my drz400, This had to happen on a previous ride when I droped it big time, I then rode rest of that day (another 30 miles), then another 54 mile ride last friday.

It may well be okay.

I cracked that same area bouncing off of some rock somewhere next to the trail (not even a crash, but noticed the coolant smell shortly thereafter). I poured the contents of my Camelbak into it but it just poured right through. I rode home as gingerly as possibly, though I needed to get out of the deep woods first so rode a few miles of tight trail (hard on cooling) and then 15 miles home.

Afterwards I had slight coolant leak for a while as I theorize the heat disturbed the shaft seal. I was about to try the "RTV fix" when the leak stopped by itself.

You went an unusually long way on yours. No, coolant can't stay in one side radiator and not the other, the same coolant pumps through both. It is probably okay. So fix the cooling system, change the oil if it makes you feel better, keep riding and see if there is anything wrong.

If nothing is wrong, then nothing is wrong!

[adaycj]

The way I would approach this seems to go against the grain. I would change/refill the fluids after the repair. Then I would do two different cooling system pressure tests. Your mechanic friend should have a cooling system pressure tester.

The first test is just a simple leak test. Pump it up and wait 5 minutes while you look for leaks. If it leaks down fix it and retest. In your situation there could be internal damage, so if it leaks down be sure to justify the leak. It could go into the cylinder or the crankcase, which won't be obvious from a visual on the outside.

The second test is a "combustion to cooling system test". With the coolant full pump the system up to about 2 psi. Disable the ignition and crank the engine for 10 seconds. If the gauge on the tester pulses and climbs then you have a problem.

For me these two tests, which can be performed by any mechanic with the test equipment for .5 hours of labor, would be a huge piece of mind. For me it beats finding out that there are greater cooling system issues 20 miles out in the woods.

It is utterly amazing that these things can make it that far will little or no coolant.

[Sycamore]

good advertisement for the DRZ.

[daltonzach]

you won't have white smoke until the engine is warm and full of coolant, then it makes cooling system pressure and would force it into the combustion chamber if there is a problem. like some of the others said, i would change the oil and fix the waterpump and refill with coolant. ride and see if it is ok. be sure there isn't any white or blue smoke. cylinder damage from overheating will cause the engine to use oil even if it doesn't use coolant and oil smoke is blue. coolant smoke is white and fuel is black. it's amazing it ran that long with no coolant maybe just call it an airhead now?

[moe sizlak]

that is testament to a durable motorcycle ..

well done suzuki .

[jroy1219]

Hey guys, something a bit unrelated yet related to the waterpump issue. I am a bit of a paranoid person when it comes to starting a water cooled bike in the cold. (2 years ago I started my ducati 848 in below freezing temps as it was sitting in my unheated garage and it had antifreeze in it, but also watered down version and I was unaware, the liquid was so cold it froze due to not enough antifreeze and too much water, broke the shaft and I didn't notice at the time but in the spring I had overheating issues and coolant in the oil.) BUT, I checked before winter to make sure my stock drz had all coolant mixture and put it in the garage, I took her for a ride yesterday, it was about 17 degrees F outside, it started right up but made a bit of a cringe noise on the start, and while running it it seemed to be fine, but not quite as "peppy as usual, hoping because of the freezing temps, is it each to pull water pump cover off and see if it's still intact? I don't see any coolant in oil and again its probably nothing but with my past experience its stuck in my head, any thoughts? Thank you.

[jroy1219]

with stock jetting and what not, I figure it will run a bit differently cold blooded with it being so cold temps right?