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Author Topic: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**  (Read 29219 times)

Offline Daytona_Mike

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #20 on: December 28, 2012, 10:23:52 PM »
Quote from: Irish-14 on December 28, 2012, 05:43:05 PM
Have an '11 with 10,000 miles on it, just had my head gasket fail. Covered by warranty, I had them adjust the valves while they were in there for $250. Tech said that the gasket was faulty from the factory, "had a crease in it." Go Irish!
Are you sure it wasnt a  'valve cover gasket'  issue and not a head gasket.  A  bad head gasket means they tear down the top end and you most certainly would never pay for a  valve adjustment since that would have to be part of the tear down to fix a 'head gasket'. I dont think you could ever get a wrinkle in a head gasket. Valve cover gasket , yes.
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Offline stevewfl

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #21 on: December 29, 2012, 08:24:35 AM »
Thats why I sold my ZX14....   went in for warranty many times.  On a few occasions, they even tried extremes such as perma sealer and shaving the head and other things. Couldn't stop the leak.  They could stop it for a few thousand miles, but it would always reappear.  What a pile of shyte for a bike, even Hardly-Ableson fixed their leaks.




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Offline rush2112

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #22 on: December 29, 2012, 09:46:27 AM »
Quote from: jimmymac on December 28, 2012, 03:28:29 PM
A leaking valve cover gasket wouldn't scare me off. Just replace it and enjoy the savings after pointing it out to the seller.

Yeah, hoping it's just this, and that my antifreeze leak is just from a bad hose clamp or something.


Quote from: Irish-14 on December 28, 2012, 05:43:05 PM
Have an '11 with 10,000 miles on it, just had my head gasket fail. Covered by warranty, I had them adjust the valves while they were in there for $250. Tech said that the gasket was faulty from the factory, "had a crease in it." Go Irish!

ROLL TIDE!!!!!
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Offline Cheesecake

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2013, 12:04:54 AM »
Quote from: stevewfl on December 29, 2012, 08:24:35 AM
Thats why I sold my ZX14....   went in for warranty many times.  On a few occasions, they even tried extremes such as perma sealer and shaving the head and other things. Couldn't stop the leak.  They could stop it for a few thousand miles, but it would always reappear.  What a pile of shyte for a bike, even Hardly-Ableson fixed their leaks.
Whoa say it ain't so, is the Kawasaki lead cheerleader calling his ZX a bad word? I have heard nothing but good about ZX14's. After three tries the dealer should have replaced the head. And then the whole engine.
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Offline rush2112

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #24 on: January 05, 2013, 09:19:10 AM »
I'm really questioning this dealership now... :banghead:

Dropped the bike off yesterday for the work described in the OP. Got a message from them this morning, that I didn't leave them a key to get into the side bags or seat to take them off. They sounded perturbed about it too!

I understand that this dealership focuses on watercraft and ATV's, but they sell bikes too!!!!!!!  :o
 
This isn't even the closest dealer to me. It's about 30 miles away. I actually have a dealer within 5 miles of me, but even though they sell bikes too, they don't have as they say a "street bike certified mechanic" on staff to work on them!!!!! :banghead:

Rant done...

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Offline gPink

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #25 on: January 05, 2013, 09:57:13 AM »
So these people not only have no knowedge of the Concours 14, they are also not smart enough to check to shop manual, given that they even have one. Be afraid...be very afraid.
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Offline Shoe

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #26 on: January 05, 2013, 10:51:55 AM »
Be afraid. Another dealer at work.  :popcorn:
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Offline stevewfl

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #27 on: January 05, 2013, 12:26:23 PM »
Quote from: BleedingEdge on January 01, 2013, 12:04:54 AM
Whoa say it ain't so, is the Kawasaki lead cheerleader calling his ZX a bad word? I have heard nothing but good about ZX14's. After three tries the dealer should have replaced the head. And then the whole engine.

I'm a KiPass cheerleader. I have NEVER EVER been a Kawasaki cheerleader.  My Zx14 was junk.  it was thwe first run, 2006, but it was junk.  Poor fit finish, junk plastics, leaked like a hardly-ableson, etc. And mine wasn't the only one  heh =)

Of course since my Connie (KiPass equipped) has been rock solid and problem free >66,000 miles I haven't bashed Kawi in a while, but perhaps think a bit or visit old posts of mine before calling me a Kai fan-boy.

Mark at Kawasaki USA customer care - his job performance is how I feel about the whole company  ::)
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Offline rush2112

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #28 on: January 17, 2013, 10:56:11 AM »
Quick update. Really scared now!

Dealer has had it for 2 weeks now. Said today that it was on the rack but waiting for parts.  :popcorn:

Couldn't tell me what the issue was at the time.  :banghead:
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Offline rush2112

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**UPDATE** Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #29 on: January 19, 2013, 04:58:19 PM »
Got the bike back today. The head cover gasket needed replacing. Also had the front TPS replaced. Total bill came to $1001. Thank goodness for the warranty! That's making me really think hard about getting the extended warranty now!!!!

Head gasket parts/labor was $579. That seems crazy to me for just replacing the gasket!  :o

TPS parts/labor was $336. That too seems outrageous to me!!!!  :yikes:

Question to y'all. Do they normally remove the gas tank to do any work to the head? I had close to a full tank of gas when I dropped it off. It was practically on empty when I drove off. Stopped to fill it up, opened the cap and it smelled like turpentine! I'm wondering it they drained it then put what gas they had around back in it. Not happy about that!!!

Got to find another dealer! Sure seems like it shouldn't be that hard in a city like Houston!!!!!!  :banghead:
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Offline Shoe

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Re: **UPDATE** Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009)
« Reply #30 on: January 23, 2013, 08:16:13 PM »
Quote from: rush2112 on January 19, 2013, 04:58:19 PM
....................................................

Question to y'all. Do they normally remove the gas tank to do any work to the head? I had close to a full tank of gas when I dropped it off. It was practically on empty when I drove off. Stopped to fill it up, opened the cap and it smelled like turpentine! I'm wondering it they drained it then put what gas they had around back in it. Not happy about that!!!................ :banghead:

The quick answer is yes. Normally most people run the tank down close to empty before they leave a bike for servicing. The bike is covered with plastic, all of it has to come off, plus a rat's nest of hoses and wires have to be disconnected and/or moved out of the way. Check the forum older post ( what's left of them ) and you might see some photos of what the bike looks without all the dressing.

Glad it came out okay.
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Offline rush2112

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) UPDATE AGAIN!!!!
« Reply #31 on: February 09, 2013, 11:38:41 AM »
UPDATE AND RANT!

Well, it's back to the dealer today! Since getting the bike back from the head gasket replacement, It's been burning off oil at every start-up. Haven't ridden much this past week because of weather, but cranked it up this morning and it's billowing oil smoke from the headers! Gave it some time thinking it might have been just burning off residual oil from them working on it. Not a chance...

Since this current dealer is the one that worked on it originally I feel compelled to take it back to them. But they obviously are an incompetent (based on this and other things that have occurred) service department. Wondering if I should find yet another dealer instead.

I'm worried that since I'm weeks away from my warranty ending, that this might be an on-going issue with this bike! I will be demanding some type of guarantee that this issue will be resolved even if the warranty ends, or even demand that they extend the warranty free of charge.

Any opinions from the experts here?

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Offline tjpgi

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #32 on: February 09, 2013, 03:58:50 PM »
Buy the extended warranty. Are we talking head gasket or valve cover gasket leaking?
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Offline Rhino

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #33 on: February 09, 2013, 04:10:42 PM »
Quote from: tjpgi on February 09, 2013, 03:58:50 PM
Buy the extended warranty. Are we talking head gasket or valve cover gasket leaking?

Ditto. Sounds like a valve cover gasket. Huge difference.
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Offline russell420

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #34 on: February 09, 2013, 04:14:32 PM »
My brand new 2008 ZX14 had mismachined cases at the left rear head area from the factory, which caused an antifreeze leak.  Kaw replaced both cases, and completely rebuilt the motor with a couple hundred miles on it.  It never had another problem afterward. The Kaw dealer had never rebuilt one before, but the mechanic built race engines & luckily did good work.  Sucks though.
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Offline tjpgi

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #35 on: February 10, 2013, 08:08:22 AM »
Quote from: russell420 on February 09, 2013, 04:14:32 PM
My brand new 2008 ZX14 had mismachined cases at the left rear head area from the factory, which caused an antifreeze leak.  Kaw replaced both cases, and completely rebuilt the motor with a couple hundred miles on it.  It never had another problem afterward. The Kaw dealer had never rebuilt one before, but the mechanic built race engines & luckily did good work.  Sucks though.

How long did it take to get your ride back?
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Offline rush2112

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #36 on: February 10, 2013, 01:57:43 PM »
Quote from: tjpgi on February 09, 2013, 03:58:50 PM
Buy the extended warranty. Are we talking head gasket or valve cover gasket leaking?

Head gasket.
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Offline rush2112

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #37 on: February 10, 2013, 02:17:33 PM »
Dropped bike off. Service guy wasn't pleased it was back in. He said that Kawasaki didn't pay for the labor on the last head gasket warranty job. Can't understand why they wouldn't.

Told them I wasn't pleased that the first gasket didn't solve the problem, and that I no longer had confidence in this issue being fixed. You replace a faulty gasket, how hard is that? I have the feeling it's something bigger. Told them of the warranty running out but they said that since it's documented that it would be fixed if problems continued. I'll be picking up the extended warranty anyway. Didn't think I'd have to deal with these kind of things with my first non-American bike...  >:(

Also brought up the issue of them leaving me with just enough gas to not trigger the low-fuel warning, and that this gas smelled like turpentine. They claimed that they never had to drain the tank. Well it was full when it went in!   :banghead:
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Offline lather

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #38 on: February 10, 2013, 09:59:56 PM »
Actually, replacing a head gasket on an inline 4 is a pretty big pain in the ass. I have done two (on autos) both failed. Turned out the heads were warped.
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Offline stevewfl

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Re: Head Gasket Leaking! (2009) **UPDATE AGAIN 1/9**
« Reply #39 on: February 10, 2013, 10:08:39 PM »
This is the exact same head cover gasket crap over and over that compelled me to dump my ZX14
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