[salc12319]

Greetings all, new to this forum, I would like to thank all help in advanced.

NOw on to the meat, I have an 04 tiger that seemed to always run hot even when the fans kicked in, I bought the bike with 1200 miles on it, this has been an ongoing issue. About 6 month ago the bike got real hot and I notice oil around the head gasket.

Question 1 could this be something else besides the head gasket?

Is replacing the head gasket that difficult

Is there a decent manual I can buy to assist in this?


Lastly if I resolve this issue if there anything I can do to keep the bike from running so hot(i now live in fl and it will be hotter then atl) I was thinking of removing the thermostat.

sorry to be so long winded, I miss riding the bike and now that I am settled in in fl I want to repaiur asap.


Again all help and advice appreciated

Sal

 

[The Kurgan]

I had a similar issue. A known problem with some girlies. I had mine replaced under warranty, no questions asked. Triumph went with the updated, all-metal head gasket starting in 2006. Prior to 2006,... there was a batch of later model Girlies, 2004+ (I believe) that got a faulty head gasket. Apparently, Hickley sued the gasket manufacturer to recoup some of the $$ lost from warranty claims. Easy/cheap fix part wise, but costly in terms of labour rates!

Its an easy fix, but does require some motor disassembly. I would suggest you have a qualified mechanic do the work if you're not particularly handy, and especially if you qualify for warranty work, which you may not. Sometimes Triumph will 'honour' a warranty claim for a known problem if the bike is just out of warranty and with low mileage.

I posted here and in the "other" forum on the subject. The "other" forum allowed me to post more pictures, so go here and read:

Before photos (and me bitching)
http://tigertriple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4798&highlight=&sid=b44a57461d2d101a7704606056dae9f8

Repair & After photos (and me happy)
http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5360

 

[Tiger-G]

Hi Sal,

Welcome to the forum

Is your coolant mixing with your oil ?

Are you losing coolant ?

Are you losing oil ?

Could be the head gasket if it is any of these

You don't say where you live, but if it's somewhere very hot, it could be just that ? (edit: if FL = Florida, isn't that hot ?)

I changed my head gasket on my year 2000 '900. I bought a Haynes manual and followed the instructions. It was a relatively straight forward procedure, if you are mechanically minded. Just make sure you don't dislodge the piston liners when you take the head off.

Check the colour of your spark plugs, do an engine compression test, and check your coolant lines aren't kinked or blocked, check your thermostat isn't damaged / not opening, check your water pump impeller ?

Keep us informed.

p.s. - if it is your head gasket, the replacement comes in kit form with all the associated gaskets and seals to do the full job.

 

[The Kurgan]

Hi Sal,

Welcome to the forum

Is your coolant mixing with your oil ?

Are you losing coolant ?

Are you losing oil ?

Could be the head gasket if it is any of these

You don't say where you live, but if it's somewhere very hot, it could be just that ?

I changed my head gasket on my year 2000 '900. I bought a Haynes manual and followed the instructions. It was a relatively straight forward procedure, if you are mechanically minded. Just make sure you don't dislodge the piston liners when you take the head off.

Check the colour of your spark plugs, do an engine compression test, and check your coolant lines aren't kinked or blocked, check your thermostat isn't damaged / not opening ?

Keep us informed.

yeah, and what Graeme said

Just don't do the work in your undies pulled over your shoulders, it might restrict your arm movements.

 

[salc12319]

Thanks for all the info, greatly appreciated. The bike is definitely leak coolant as well looks like oil as well that is why I thought it was the head gasket. I have performed major rebuilds of car motors but never tore a motorcycle apart( first time for everything). right now the bike is in storage and I will be picking it up this weekend. Once at home I can perform more analysis of the issue. One fear and am not sure if it is valid, with the engine running so hot could I have done any damage to the head?.

Bike is out of warranty so I will be doing the work myself(undies off of head

Any ideas of the overheating issue, I read some place the the hose routing on the 04 had issue and could cause overheatng, anyone heard of this and is there a recommended solution?

 

[miker]

Salc, welcome to the forum.

Before you go tearing it apart. It's worth checking a few things.

1) When you draw out the dip stick, is it clear oil? Or is it kind of brown and milky? If the latter, head gasket.
2) With the coolant, does it use a lot? If so how much?
3) You mention oil around the head gasket, are you sure it's not the tappet cover gasket? They sometimes seep around the half round rubber part of the seal. Some people mix up the tappet cover gasket with the head gasket.
4) How hot does it get? Did the gauge ever get into the red and stay there? Usually, with EFI bikes, the orange check engine light will come on if the ECU detects a problem, as in continual overheating. It will remain on for more than three starts if the problem isn't recitified. If it's got too hot, the ECU reader at your dealer will be able to tell you by reading the error codes.
5) If the guage didn't get into the red, you should be quite OK, providing the coolant system is OK. There have been odd occasions when the coolant system is re-filled, that there is an airlock, causing slighly higher running temps, but it shouldn't cause an over heat.
6) Replace the radiator cap with a new genuine, or same as genuine cap. Sometimes these fail and allow coolant to escape, making you think it's escaping into the engine.
7) It may also be worth doing a compression test to see if there is any compression leakage.

Usually my 05 Tiger runs in the middle of the gauge during heaving traffic and the fan stays on, even after I turn off the engine. Out on the highway it gets a little cooler, down to about 1/4 of the guage. I'd only be tearing things down if it really did get into the high-red mark and stay there, causing you to get towed home, but if it went up, then back down again, I'd not be overly concerned. Look for the simple things first.

Mick

 

[salc12319]

Hi Mick,

Not sure about the water in the oil, bike is in storage and I will be picking it up this weekend(just moved and had to get organized)

The bike has over heated and spilled out antifreeze a couple of times. but no major amounts. The leaking looks like the head I could be wrong but have work onn several cars in the past. It is at a point when this happened that it is blowing out enoug to get my pants wet with the antifreeze

it has hit the red zone on the temp guage, it has been a problem for awhile it is an 204 with only 2000 miles on hit. have checked all the basic items cap level etc etc and no luck, with such low mileage I was not expecting to be the thermostat. Very frustrating

I will try the compression test once I get the bike to the house and can work on it.

I am still concerned about the overheating I beleive if it is the head gasket I can repair myself I will be slow because of unknowns but should be able to handle. I need to find out more about the over heating, I need to get more info on the hose relocation I read about. I fine it hard to believe that routing of hoses would cause such a problem, but like I said very good with cars but have not perform a lot of motorcycle engine repairs.


BTW the reason the mile are so low and I have not been jonesing for the tiger is that I have a couple of other bikes to ride, but it is at a point that I am missing the bike it is a great bike to ride and I really enjoy it.


Thanks again and if you have any info or other recommendation on the overheating issue I would welcome all assistance and advice.
Sal