T3 overheating???

[3WheelsForever]

Allright guys, this T3 is overheating bad. I go outside and ride for around 10 to 20 mins after letting it warm up, then Ill come back and the cylinder is really hot. This thing shouldnt get hot this fast should it? Im scared to ride it anymore because I dont wanna melt the new piston. I checked the plug and it is running a perty nice brownish color. Since your not supposed to open the radiator cap when its warm, I let it cool down fully yesterday and started it back up. Then I pulled off the cap and there are tons of air bubbles coming out of the antifreeze. Could any one help me out here??

[JMiller]

Is alot of white smoke coming out the exhaust?

[3WheelsForever]

Yah a perty good amount of it actually.

[JMiller]

Might be a bad head gasket????

[tecatecrazy]

the gasket itself might not be bad but it is definatly leaking. what I mean is, your head or cylinder could be warped. dont ride it or ever start it anymore until you have checked everything out. good luck---Joe 8)

[JMiller]

Is your cylinder sleeved?

[3WheelsForever]

Thanks guys. Yes the cylinder has a steel sleeve in it. I was told the torque specs for the head should be 25lbs, any one else have some input on this? What are the torque specs for the cylinder? Because when I first rebuilt this engine it had no problems what so ever with it overheating and the other problems. The T3s vibrate a lot anyway. Should I try retourquing the head and cylinder nuts first? Thanks again.

[84250r]

Hey Virgil,

Did you put new gaskets on the top end? (Had to ask) How much did you torc them down the first time? Ask waterpumper about the cylinder and head nuts.

[3WheelsForever]

Yes I put in all new gaskets. The first time the head was torqued down to 25 and so was the cylinder.

[86waterpumper]

I'll look in my manual tonight and see if I have torque specs in there. 25 sounds about right though. One thing I always do is spray both sides of the gasket with copper kote, and also on the t3 it woulnd't hurt to put some lock tight on the studs since it vibrates so much. I'd always make sure the head and the clyinder were both pretty flat, do the sandpaper trick on the head, and then retry, maybe you'll get it ironed out. I haven't actually ever been into my T3 cylinder lol sure you're surprised there....maybe MIK6 could give ya some more tips on it

[TeCaTe_MaN]

torque specs :-P i never do that...just go in a star pattern untill you dont feel comfortable tightening it anymore cus it might strip...with of course...threadlocker...exept of course for internal engine parts...dont want any of that going on with the things falling apart inside...

...that'd be my luck too, it'd happen 5 miles from home at 2am in the snow...

[tecatemantodd]

the torque specs in my manual say 18 ft-lbs for the head mounting studs, not sure about the cylinder though. I have the same leak right now and am pulling mine apart this weekend to iron it out. Pro Design still makes a 290 kit so I called them. The guy mentioned that sometimes the old Kawi cylinder studs start to pull out of the base material and that can cause that pesky head gasket leak too.........on a sidebar, if you see bubbles in the radiator, you need to open the bleeder on the water neck going into the head until coolant comes out....that takes all the air out of the motor which is where it'll get trapped.....almost sounds like I've had to work on this beastie before huh?

[DuneRunner]

After mine has run for a few minutes it starts spewing coolant out the overflow tube every time I rev the engine. I've replaced the head,which was warped,with a new one but it still does it although not as bad. Can the cylinder warp? Has anyone ever cracked their cylinder?

[mrman550]

my tecate spits antifreze out of the overflow too when im runing it 5th wide open or almost wide open it runs great and only does it in a wheelie or really flying could my plug be too hot?? Whats the problem??

[TRI-Zbrian]

id take it apart and deck (plain) the cylinder and head to make sure the sufaces are perfactly flat.... im going through this with my tri z as we speak.