I have a 2003 cbr 600rr and i noticed coolant in the oil. The bike starts right up and no smoke out of the exhaust, and the temp is fine. most say head gasket, but I had a friend that had this happen and it ended up being a bad water pump. Would I be correct to assume this? any help would be appreciated thanks

 

Hey and welcome to CBRF!! :-)

Sorry to hear about your problems ... milky oil or water in the oil does generally indicate head problems ... I don't see how a water pump can put water in the oil, unless it stopped, causing the bike to overheat and thereby giving head problems ... someone else may be able to advise better than me :-)

Jules

 

Hi,
If you live some place that is quite cold and humid and the bike has not been used for a while or has only been used for short journeys white milky traces in the oil is quite normal.

I live in the UK and it happens to most bikes here this time of year.

The simple solution is to take the bike for a good ride so it gets up to normal operating tempreature and the white traces in the oil will disapear.
It may well be nothing is wrong with the bike.

 

if the oil is very milky, yer prolly rite , the bike could have overheated bad enough to blow the head gasket...

 

i have seen coolant in oil on car engines from seals going bad on oil coolers that are cooled by coolant. like said above, short trips in cooler weather will cause moisture in oil. get the bike hot, change the oil and filter and top off the coolant. ride it and check it often and see if it reoccures

 

or worst case, headgasket.....

 

thanks for the feed back I bought the bike on december 1st. So I guess it could be from the cold weather I'll oil change it and see if it happens again. If it does happen again then I guess I'll go straight for the head gasket. Does anyone know of someone who could fix a head gasket because the local dealer here in cleveland wants 6-8 labor plus parts to fix it. which would cost around $800.00. I thought if it were a head gasket would'nt i get a constant white smoke from the exhaust?

 

The headgasket or head problem could be allowing the water to "track" across from a water passage way to an oil passage way without going into the combustion chamber ... hence water in the oil but maybe little to no smoke .. also you may need the head skimmed if it's distorted from an overheat at some point


Jules

 

Paul,
If it is only a trace of white often seen on the dip stick plug and white streaks in the oil when you look in the engine with a torch it is cold weather/lack of use that is all.
Even if you put fresh oil in the engine it will still happen if you do not use the bike.
I have sometimes stored my bikes over the winter months in the past with fresh oil put in the engine before storage and the white streaks in the oil still occur until I give the bike a good run.
If the oil was fresh in December I would not bother changing it as the moisture will soon be gone once you run the bike and get it good and hot.
I am assuming it is just a few white streaks in the oil.

If the oil looks like a chocolate milk shake well you may have a head gasket problem or it could be just old oil.

If coolant is getting in the oil your coolant level will drop continuously so run the bike and see if the coolant is dropping.
If it drops a little (about 0.5 cm)then stops that is normal due to expansion off the engine when warm,the coolant level will move up and down a little due to expansion/contraction of the engine but it is a small amount.

Normally with a blown head gasket the tempreature gauge will climb rapidly and the bike will belch out lots of smoke all the time and it will have a sweet sickly smell to it.

The other tell tale sign is have a good look at the coolant in the expansion tank once you have run the engine up to temp.
If the coolant is contaminated with small blobs of oil in it you have a head gasket problem for sure.

From what you have stated I suspect you have no problem with the bike.

This is only my opinion and is provided in good faith, I am not a pro mechanic but I have run and maintained my own bikes for a lot of years now.

Hope this helps.