2009 TE510 head gasket?

I was riding the supermoto setup to work this morning and started losing power at high rpms. It wouldn't pull itself, so I downshifted and it did the same thing, was only able to reach about half throttle before it would bog and start decelerating. When I reached the first hill, it began slowing dramatically and popped, causing oil to flood the air box and coolant on the front of the motor. It died as soon as I pulled over with smoke bellowing everywhere. Motor still turns over fine, but I can turn it with the kicker easily by hand. I'm guessing blown head gasket. Anyone know of a good source for rings/jug/gaskets?

cut 'n paste:

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I finally got around to draining the oil and there was no coolant in it. Not completely covered, but a good amount of metal "splinter-sized" shavings on the drain plug. The smoke I saw when coming to a stop was mostly oil dumping out of the air box onto the drive chain. In the dark, it looked like smoke, anyway. It's starting to look more and more like bad rings. The kicker still yields some compression, but I can turn it over a full rotation by hand without using body weight and stiff arming it. Seems terribly weak and with the loss of high-rpm power, rings are the likely culprit. I hope I can get it torn apart soon. Working lots of overtime, so it might be a bit.

Crap. That doesn't sound good.

rings: maybe... ....probably.

....but let's do some diagnostics first, before jumping to conclusions. why was it out of water? (stupid human tricks or bad head gasket or what? one major overheat may not have done a lot of damage, btw). what's the compression? is it burning oil? water? does the oil look "frothy"? or does the exhaust smell/feel wet? Again, what's the compression? is the auto-decompress sticking? are your valves within spec? got oil pressure?

BTW, your first post is probably describing a major overheat.

You're an A&P, right? same shit- look for the obvious, the simple, the easy... and progress from there.

good luck.

Oil and coolant didn't mix at all, oil looked burnt, but not frothy. My compression tester broke, so I just had to guess. Cranking by hand with and without a spark plug was only slightly different, so I imagine compression was very low. Piston looks dry through the spark plug hole, as does the exhaust and carb throat. Valves a little out of spec, but still had some clearance. Other than oil pouring out of the air box upstream of the filter, nothing else visually bad. Pulled the cams last night and the cap bolts were severely over torqued. Stripped the heads on 2 of them, but was able to drill the heads off without pulling the engine. That's as far as I got.

With the cams out do a differential comp check first.(leak down)
Water pump impeller still attached?
Pull ign cover off, remove clutch turn motor over to see if can feel anything lumpy in motor alone without trans turning.
Later George

Again, don't have a compression tester at the moment, other than a calibrated elbow. This is the carnage I found today:

And this:

Scraper ring is completely gone. As is always my luck, worse case scenario with the given symptoms. Needs new piston, jug, everything top end. Head seems fine, though.

I'm thinking the dreaded Y-pipe on the radiator took a crap, or the water pump. I'll change them both just on principle.

oh no problem- just a little light polishing with some emery cloth will take that right out.

okay, all kidding aside. yep- upper end; and think about doing the valves while you're there.

this is why I wanted you to do as many diagnostics before taking things apart. I also would've recommend filling it with water and watching the cooling system performance (George's question about the impeller is thinking along the same lines). Maybe check the oil flow/pressure if possible. And compression testers are cheap, too... if you can't borrow one.

Now you know what happened... it's time to figure out why?

Don't do a patch job split the cases, rod kit , mains, oil pump housing and rotors,pull head down.
You have some deeeeeep issues.
Later George

Found the issue, I think. Water pump is fine, but left radiator took a good whack back in March. It didn't look like much at the time, but once the desert tank and shrouds were removed, I can see that 2 of the vertical ribs on the inboard side are just about crushed together. Strange that the outside edge that took the hit looks fine, but the damage is more toward the inside edge.

I'd love to bore and stroke the motor and change everything in it, but that's close to the cost of a newer bike. If it ain't broke, can't justify fixing it. To say I'm on a budget right now would be an understatement. Working overtime just to pay for this. So far, I've found the alternate part number cylinder kit and EBay Chinese radiators for just over $500. Cams and valves are flawless, and in my experience, they would be the first to go if the oil pump had an issue. I'll flush the oil and filter a couple times after rebuild to clean out any remnants.

you should be able to find chinese radiators for a lot less than that (I'm thinking <$90 delivered. ....wait- you talking cyl, piston etc AND radiators for under 500?... okay, that's good). But if the core didn't have any leaks, I can't see that restriction causing huge problems cooling problems. Have you had to add coolant a lot?

Think about a valve job.

good luck.

Yes, everything for $500ish. I've had to add coolant a couple times since, but just the occasional drop when parked. It must have been leaking when riding and not leaving much of a trace.

welp, you cooked your motor pretty good- and maybe more than once. With any luck, your bottom end might be okay. (the next time you start losing power rapidly, I might suggest pulling over- rather than downshifting and soldiering on, too. you might've saved a few things)

btw, doesn't your bike have a coolant overflow tank? 'cause it would be an instant warning sign having to add coolant straight to the radiator but not the overflow tank.

keep a sharp eye out for other heat damage.

good luck.

Very late update:

Replaced the top end (including cylinder), radiators, hoses, and T-fitting. Crushed radiator had little-to-no flow, so overflow tank still had fluid in it, but it wasn't circulating much. Top end kit came from Austria, Chinese radiators.

All is like new now. Ran for an hour and changed oil twice until it came out clean. It has about 300 miles on it with no issues.