All that maintenance was a waste of $$$.

[Chris142]

My 01 Kawasaki Mojave has developed a rod knock! It's never been low on oil or overheated and has always had Synthetic oil or HDDEO in it.

Local shop wants $800+ to put a new rod in it if I bring them the engine out of the frame.

This really has me bummed. I bought a larger ATV 2 weeks ago to replace the smaller one and I planned on selling the old one to recoup some of my $$ I spent.

I took the old one to work, washed it up, put new tires on it....As soon as the "For Sale" sign went on it the knock started.

 

[penzdude]

chris, i know this sounds a little far fetched, but could the "washed it up" and this new sound have something in common? water in the air filter housing or the like? maybe start it up, let it run after making sure there isn't any water in places it shouldn't be, and letting it just sit and warm fully. then see if the sound goes away. maybe change the oil and filter again to see if this helps. maybe a valve adjust or does this model have hyd valves? i'd check these before giving the stealership 800 large.

 

[Chris142]

No it's definatly a knock. It actully shakes the whole ATV as soon as you give it a little throttle.

Definatly not a valve click.

We listened to it with a stethescope and it's worse on the left case. Possibly a main bearing, regardless it can't be ridden w/o causing more damage. We ran it about 30 mins.

Very, very audible and since it uses roller bearings thicker oil won't mask the problem.

Right now I have not decided what to do. Fix it and sell it or sell it "as is" and take a huge loss.

With no problems it's worth around $2K. So putting $800-$1K or more is dumb just to sell it.

I could probly get around $1K for it as is but I don't want to sell it to anyone even if they know it has a problem.

Funny thing is I change the oil and filter every 200 miles at the most and have never seen any metal in the oil or in the filters I took apart.

 

[Cujet]

Hi Chris, Do you have an estimate of the number of hours on your machine. I remember you had done some work on your engine before. Maybe you have simply used up the engine's life. Maybe there was a previous problem with lack of lubrication you do not know about (guessing here)

In any case, you might be surprised to read the TBO that Kawasaki publishes on that engine. I do not know for sure, but I would guess they have you changing pistons and rings far nore often than you did.

Chris

 

[Chris142]

I bought the thing new and it's never been ran low on oil

Whats a TBO? I've had the cyl bored once and I put new rings in it about a year ago.

As for hours or miles. It's got alot! A 100 mile ride is a short day for me. But it's never been abused. It just wore out at the worst time. I had planned on selling it to get some $$$ back into my bank account since I pretty much emptied it out to buy the new one. But broke it's not going to fetch as much as I had hoped for.

Right now it's on Ebay with a complete description including a description about the knock. In the description I said it 2 times so hopefully any buyer will see it and not be suprized if they win the bid.

 

[Cujet]

TBO is time between overhauls. Most of the modern 4 stroke motocross bikes have very short TBO's. Many of them require top end overhauls (including valves) at less than 20 hours. Some are as short as 5 hours. I know your engine is not a modern motocross 4 stroke, however the motocross bikes are a good example of how short engine life can actually be.

250cc 4 strokes are always working hard and revving high. Put one on a 4 wheeler and it's life is probably cut in half.

If I were to take a guess, I would say that Kawasaki would have you changing pistons every 50 hours, crankshafts every 100 hours on that bike.

As a crust old dirt bike rider myself, I have learned that the big bore bikes have always lasted much longer. The CR500 is a great example. Many folks can go 5 or 6 seasons of racing before overhaul.

Take a look at the Kawasaki KLR650 for example. Those things never die. Kawi even made a KLX650R using a hoppped up version of that engine in a dirt worthy frame. Guess what, they last forever also.

Chris

 

[sands]

Chris...$800 is tooo high! I would not trust your Kawasaki dealer to do the work correctly either.

You can get a TOTAL engine rebuild for $300 from Eric Gorr. He's been in the industry for years and does alot of performance modification work...Very reputable and has built engines for tuff racing back in the day.... Here's the price list:
http://www.ericgorr.com/services/prices.html


Engine Rebuilding Services (Plus parts)
Total Engine Rebuilding $200 2-Stroke $300 4-Stroke
Crank Rebuilding with Hot Rod Kit $140 parts and labor
Crank Rebuilding labor only $50
Total Engine Rebuilding Includes: Disassembly, cleaning, inspection, measuring, part replacement, clutch polishing, crank rebuilding, cylinder bore honing, powervalve cleaning, and valve adjustment on 4-stroke engines.


Engine Shipping Crate FREE!

 

[Chris142]

Right now the thing is on Ebay with a complete description including the fact that is has a knock.

If it doesn't sell I'll call that Eric guy.

 

[tom slick]

5 hours?
does that mean I have to stop on the trail and swap a piston and head? carry a daily set in my backpack all weekend long?

 

[Steve128]

Thanks sands, good info for the future.

 

[Cujet]

Hi Tom. Of course I know you already know the answer to your question. However I will try to clarify my statements.

Certain bikes (In particular, certain 250cc 4 stroke motorcross bikes) have a short published TBO in the shop manual. That does not mean the engine will not live many more hours. It just means Honda (oops) wants you to take it apart and inspect/replace worn parts. This helps to ensure that the bike does not DNF at the next race.

Of course, some of us are no longer racers, and our engines last much longer. All I ever do is trail ride anymore. My bikes seem to last for years now!

Chris