03 ZX6 Smoking Bad!! Help!! : Kawasaki ZX Forums: Kawasaki Ninja Forum

tjd2003 · 11-06-2009, 03:26 PM

I recently bought an 03 zx6. I was riding today and it apparently ran out of oil. The oil light came on and the temp was around 230. It cut off so I pushed it into a parking lot. Went to the dealership and bought 3qts of motorcycle oil the technician recommended. Filled it up, showed full in the clear "window" at the bottom of the engine. Started it up, let it idle for 5-10 mins, it ran fine. Drove it about 5 miles, and it started blowing a large amount of white smoke out of the exhaust. The tip of the exhaust looks wet like there was oil coming out. The "window" is solid black, cant see the level anymore. What is going on? Thanks for any help!

Hammerhead · 11-06-2009, 03:31 PM

Sounds like you have either galled a cylinder or broken a ring or possibly both. The black coloration of the oil is carbon from combustion which results from severe blow-by. The overheating probably caused the piston(s) to expand and ruin the cylinder wall plating and after that, the resulting high friction fooked up the rings.

tjd2003 · 11-06-2009, 03:39 PM

Think I might have f'd it up pretty bad. Just went and tried to start it to see if it still smoked and it wouldnt even start. Wouldnt turn over at all. Sounds like it's locked up. Funny thing is, it ran fine for several miles after I put the new oil in.

ZX6RCT · 11-06-2009, 04:09 PM

Uh oh. Ebay time!

tjd2003 · 11-06-2009, 05:19 PM

Ok so I tried to start it again just to see.. and it fired right up! No smoke no noise it just ran. I turned it off after just a sec because I didn't want to mess anything up any further. Also, when I propped it up on the stand I could see through the window on the engine.. It was the oil that was making it look black. That oil is black as sh*t! I'm thinking I put too much oil in and maybe that's why it was smoking. Still don't know why it wouldn't start before though. I'm gonna take it to the dealer tomorrow. Any further comments are still appreciated though!

zaneyzrex · 11-06-2009, 07:05 PM

was it WHITE SMOKE...... kinda sounds like you got it hot enough to cause a coolant leak at the head gasket... go ride it and get it at operating temp and see if it smokes again... if not then change oil/filter and ride it till it dies....

tjd2003 · 11-07-2009, 10:02 AM

It was A LOT of really white smoke. I think I put too much oil in it from what other people have told me.

zaneyzrex · 11-07-2009, 05:47 PM

WHITE SMOKE IS NOT OIL ! WHITE SMOKE IS COOLANT....... go ride it again and get it up to op temp... and see if you get the white smoke again or before OP TEMP.....i think ya may have a head gasket starting to go since ya overheated it...
oil burns blue
fuel burns black
coolant burns WHITE...

Moscap87 · 11-08-2009, 09:36 AM

probably blew a piston ring. now you say it also got to 230 degrees. check your coolant. run the bike for like 15 seconds. and then drain it. if it looks like a milkshake you have blown a head gasket.

zaneyzrex · 11-08-2009, 02:27 PM

actually 230* is pretty much where most fans kick on. still sounds like ya pumped a bunch of coolant thru the system but at that temp ya shouldnt have hurt anything.... like i said go ride it hard (AFTER ya fill it with fresh oil/filter) and see it still smokes/starts smoking again....