07 Busa Internally blown head gasket??? Please Help

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Busa Phil

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Ok here we go:

Busa Stats
Year: 2007, bought new from dealer 04/2008
Mileage: approx. 5000
Completely Stock bike

Story: I took a weekend trip from NYC to Delaware back in April of this year. On the return home, I was at the Holland Tunnel and traffic was moving slowly. I get through the tolls...look down...and go "WTF!!!" my bike is overheating. The warning light was on. I'm sure it had not overheated during the ride...it was like 45 degrees out as well. Since then it has been in and out of a local shop and they have yet to solve the problem. They replaced the following with new parts courtesy of Suzuki: rad, rad cap, thermo, & fan relay and the not even a dent in the problem has been made.

Observations:

  • The bike is not smoking and the oil is not milky or discolored.
  • The bike cools down at 40mph and cools quicker at higher speeds.
  • It will maintain temp well below the halfway marker on the temp gauge where the fan is not needed at 65+mph.

Upon Starting Cold:

  • Coolant approx at lower mark on resevoir bottle

  • Fan cycles on and off cooling the bike approx 5 times in traffic conditions.

  • 6th cycle, fan will not kick on until slightly above halfway mark on temp gauge (should kick on right underneath halfway)


  • 7th cycle will began higher temp than 6th cycle on and the fan will not cool as effectively

  • 8th cycle temp higher and fan less effecive...at this point the fan will be turning on about 3/4 on temp gauge with less cooling power. Bubbles can be noticed rising through the resevoir from the lower bottle hose and the bottle will be well over the FULL marker.

If stuck in traffic at this point and not able to move the bike must be shut down otherwise it will travel into the red and the warning light will come on.

I have been taking the bike to a Suzuki dealer in my area and they cannot seem to figure the problem out. The first time I took it there they pretty much thought that I was crazy I think because everything works fine initially. They just flushed the old coolant, inspected and ranw who knows what diagnostics. The symptoms returned. Second time I demonstrated the problem so that they actually realized that there was one in the first place. They kept the bike and returned with the conclusion that the radiator had a slight bend in the neck and was not holding pressure??? In two more trips back to them, they have now replaced the rad, rad cap, thermo, fan relay, checked the fan motor, and waterpump...both fine. They've said that the bike has been done every time and I have had to bring it back and forth. Every time I get on it I begin to overheat after awhile of riding in city traffic conditions. If you stay moving a good clip your fine. Please help! Let me know if you need anymore info but I tried to cover everything.
 
I had the same issue on my 07 make sure you fill the overflow and the radiator the bike won't otherwise your temp sensor won't read the actual coolant temp and your fans won't go on. It didn't damage anything that I could see but I got the 4 year extended warranty too just in case.
 
Sounds as if you have covered just about everything other than a cracked head or head gasket. A cracked head is extremely rare so I'd guess you have a headgasket problem? GregBob had that very same issue and it was a headgasket leaking between cylinders.
 
If they burped the system correctly every time then the sooling system seems in order. That leads to the strong possibility of a problem with the head gasket. Have you ever seen any bubbles in the overflow tank once the bike is warmed up and running?
 
yes...when the bike gets hot after the fan has gone through say maybe five on and off cycles...bubbles can be seen rising through the overflow bottle from the lower reservoir bottle hose. The coolant level in the overflow bottle will rise dramatically as well.
 
Hey Welcome!

:welcome:

Sad to hear about this problem.
My thoughts are:
If the head gasket was leaking antifreeze or oil into a cylinder, it would smoke and the levels would go down.
If the head gasket was leaking oil into the antifreeze (or back and forth), the oil would be milky and the antifreeze would be oily.
The only thing left for the head gasket is a leak between 2 cylinders.
You should be able to check this with a compression check.
I am not completely sold on the head gasket theory. (not enough to run out and change it yet)
It sure sounds like air in the cooling system.
After it cycles a few times and cools down, is the rad still full of fluid, or is it down some?
If it is full to start with, it should be full whenever you check it.
Coolant goes into the overflow and back to the rad as it heats and cools and expands and contracts.
You could also try a cooling system pressure check.
 
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just want to say also that there is no difference in performance. if i never had to deal with traffic then i probably would have never noticed the problem. the bike runs and sounds completely normal with no other problems accept for this overheating issue.
 
I don't like that the fan doesn't turn on after it is hot.
That sounds like air somehow in the system.
As a last resort, you could do the second fan mod, so don't give up, but it would be nice to find it.
It would be interesting to put a coolant temp gauge on it so you could see the exact temp and not just the OEM needle gauge.
 
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Mike1180....the shop has done a compression check...passed. they have also pressurized the cooling system...then they replaced everything with new parts. the whole cooling system is new. isn't it possible that exhaust gases are entering the cooling system through a leak in the head gasket between the two passages then the pressure gets all messed up and the cap opens causing the bike to overheat? From what I have noticed the radiator level decreases but that fluid end up in the reservoir bottle. It's not burning it I don't think...like I said no smoke or weird exhaust. Thank you for your concern.
 
oh mike...and the fan does turn on when its hot but it turns on like 3/4 on the temp gauge.sometimes it doesn't turn on and then when i shut the bike down because its too hot...the fan will turn on as soon as i turn the bike off. weird stuff...but like i said before...when starting from cold the fan will cycle on and off normally but then after some cycles start to turn on and higher and higher temps. it seems to definitely be air...but where its coming from i have no clue.
 
Busa Phil said:
Mike1180....the shop has done a compression check...passed. they have also pressurized the cooling system...then they replaced everything with new parts. the whole cooling system is new. isn't it possible that exhaust gases are entering the cooling system through a leak in the head gasket between the two passages then the pressure gets all messed up and the cap opens causing the bike to overheat? From what I have noticed the radiator level decreases but that fluid end up in the reservoir bottle. It's not burning it I don't think...like I said no smoke or weird exhaust. Thank you for your concern.
Click to expand...

On the compression stroke, or the ignition (power) stroke the gas could go from the cylinder into the coolant via a bad head gasket, but then when the pressure drops (intake and exhaust strokes), the pressure of the cooling system should force coolant into the cylinder (assuming the cooling system pressure is more than the empty cylinder) through the same area of the gasket that is bad.
It would be possible to only go one way (cylinder to coolant) but I figure that would be really rare.
Has anyone tried to retorque the head bolts?
If they are loose it could cause the above leakage.
I am just concerned if you let some hack get at your motor and start taking off the head and associated stuff that you may cause more grief.
If he is good and it fixes it then that is great but what if it doesn't?
Do it as a last resort as you eliminate other possible causes. IMO

Do me a favor and look at the level of the coolant when cool and see if it is still full.
 
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Ok i will do as you suggested and check the coolant level the next time i get the bike back. it is actually at the dealership right now...suzuki has been paying for all of this so i am kind of been sitting back and letting the shop do their thing but nothing done so far has seemed to work...they've had it since monday and i'm assuming they've been looking at the head gasket issues now. this would not be my first choice of shops to pull my engine apart..but the warranty claim has already been approved there. i will suggest to them to retorque the head. thanks a lot for your comments. i hope i can get this puppy fixed the right way.
 
need to check the coolant for any hydrocarbons.. (there is specific test gear for this) if the head gasket is leaking into the cooling system at least 2 thing happen

cooling system pressure goes up and will continue to go up until pressure pushes past radiator cap..

fuel goes into cooling system.. any cooling system that has combustion gases going in has a very distinct smell to it.. hard to explain but it is a rather acrid/sweet odor.. A shop with an exhaust gas anylyzer should pick up HC/CO in the over flow bottle while it bubbles...
 
I had a similar situation on a gsxr1000, and it turn out the head was warped!
 
It's normal. Busas overheat while sitting in traffic. Install another radiator fan and put it on a switch to run while in heavy traffic.
 
I don't know it seems quite abnormal to me. I mean any bike should be able to operate normally for more than 40 minutes (70-80 degree weather) in city traffic right?. It overheats real fast...something is definately not right. Its still at the dealership now. I talked to them yesterday and they ran more head gasket diagnostics as well as tested the coolant with the litmus type paper test...not sure of the technical name...everything so far has came back that there is no exhaust leaks. Everyone involved in diagnosing this thing is scratching their head. Is there any minor/major thing that could be hard to detect that could cause this problem that someone knows of?
 
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Busa Phil said:
I don't know it seems quite abnormal to me. I mean any bike should be able to operate normally for more than 40 minutes (70-80 degree weather) in city traffic right?. It overheats real fast...something is definately not right. Its still at the dealership now. I talked to them yesterday and they ran more head gasket diagnostics as well as tested the coolant with the litmus type paper test...not sure of the technical name...everything so far has came back that there is no exhaust leaks. Everyone involved in diagnosing this thing is scratching their head. Is there any minor/major thing that could be hard to detect that could cause this problem that someone knows of?
Click to expand...

Ask any Busa owner that has tried to ride in a slow moving parade or has been to bike week in March that gets caught in traffic. Busas will overheat. Change the radiator fluid to distilled water,dexcool anti freeze,water wetter,install a 160 degree fan switch and add another radiator fan.
 
Agree, the thing should run without overheating in 70-80 degree weather all day long..

Perhaps you a fan problem not pulling enough air? partially plugged radiator (air or fluid)

does sound like it is 'heat soaking' and just keeps creeping up.. I wish I had more faith in the bike shops but I dont....

you did not perform any maintenance on the bike prior to the issue? nothing at all was changed, touched or otherwise "fiddled" with?

am sure a second fan will help or fix but seems something else is screwed up here..
 
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