Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hey guys,

I have owned my zxr250c for about a year now and it has always run cold. It sits just above cold normally, in traffic it rises and the thermo fan kicks in as normal, however as soon as i get back up to speed it comes back down to just above cold again.

I would just like to get peoples opinions is this normal for my bike? I have read that other people have experienced this, or should i go about replacing the thermostat?

Will running cold cause premature engine wear?

Just curious thought i would ask the people in the know. I was thinking about changing my coolant as its a little brown and figured there isnt any point changing the coolant then fixing the thermostat and having to do the coolant again!

thanks for any advice
Pete

I would check the thermostat as that is the most likely problem. If that is it, it will be stuck open. A very common problem. And yes a cold running motor can be damaged by thick, slow flowing oil as well as bearing and ring clearances being not where they are supposed to be when the motor is cold. A Jim Beam will make all of this perfectly clear.

will definately need beam if i need to change the thermostat have to remove the fuel tank, airbox, fairings
wish there was a way to test thermostats without removing them

anybody else have a zxr250 here? where does your temp gauge sit?

mine used to sit around that,, does it take ages from dead cold to heat up on the guage??
if it takes forever to heat up from dead cold then replace it.
the thermo should be closed untill it starts to heat up then it open to allow more water through, so it should warm up pretty quickly then stay at the temp.
maby a photo of where your guage sits will help and how long roughly it takes to get to there

takes about 5-10 minutes on choke depending on the weather to get up to that temp. How long should it take? Also where do i find a thermostat? I know for certain kawasaki wont be interested in helping me owning a grey import and all would any locally sold bikes have the same part?

try getting ahold of southern cross sports, there in melbourne and they helped me out when i had mine (2 years ago) they should have the part.
they also had an ebay store...

dont forget the gasket also

that sounds ok to me for a cold day. but for a warm day more like 2-5mins .

You can test the thermo you have, take it out and inspect it first. if its open then its stuffed,,,,,,
If its closed drop it in some boiling water and it should spring open.
Or because there an old bike if youre going to the trouble of removing it you might as well change it

Do you have a manual for your bike?

yeah got the manual, fixing it shouldn't be too hard its just a crap job. Might as well just do it for piece of mind thanks for your help ill look into southern cross sports