[Shaun500]

Hi there. My name is Shaun and I am from Cape Town, South Africa. I own a 2007 Kawasaki KLE 500 and it has 107 000 km on the clock. It has not given me one bit of trouble since new until now unfortunately. My rotor magnets delaminated recently and I managed to get a second hand one and install it. The bike was running perfectly and the oil light never came on and went out quickly after startup. I only noticed the rotor problem because I had to remove the starter motor to replace the brushes. I drained the oil and removed the sump pan. I removed the oil pump sieve and cleaned it as there were some bits stuck to it. I reassembled the sieve made sure all the sump seals were in place and installed the sump pan. I filled with oil and checked level. I started the bike but now all of a sudden the oil light does not want to go off and there is no oil pressure. I primed the filter and oil channel with some oil and still nothing. I replaced the oil pressure switch and I checked the wiring. Everything is ok. I burped the system by cracking open the oil filter and still no oil pressure. When I crank the motor the oil in the sight glass does not fall all indicating that there is no oil pressure.

I am at a total loss as to what to do now. The bike was running perfectly prior to disassembly. The oil pump can simply suddenly not fail surely? Essentially the KLE 500 motor is exactly the same as the EX 500 except for cams, ignition and carb set up. Is there perhaps anything I am missing? I would be extremely grateful if someone could assist.

Kind regards, Shaun, Cape Town, South Africa.

 

[fog]

OK easy. Your oil pump is full of air, it can pump air but only at very low pressure. the oil filter is a greater restaince than the pump can overcome with air loosen it to let the air escape as you crank it until the oil flows. Then your good

FOG

 

[Shaun500]

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried that but it does not help. I tried burping it through the oil filter to get the air out. I've cranked the motor so many times for so long and nothing works. ???

 

[fog]

Take off the oil pressure gage sending unit and force oil into the pump from there then crank it with the pipe open . if that doesn't prime the pump .you may have to remove the engine split the cases and remove the oil pump. A common fault is for the fiber distance piece inside the pump to fail ,this allows the drive to disconnect replace the washer with a steel one.

FOG

 

[Shaun500]

Ok so I primed the oil system and cranked the engine. Still no oil pressure. I removed the sump plate and strainer. I turned the rotor slowly with a socket wrench and carefully looked inside to see if the oil pump was turning as I thought perhaps the fibre washer inside the oil pump had farked out thereby moving the shaft and disconnecting the drive but it was turning on the inside and looks ok. I noticed two of the oil o ring seals on the sump appear to look flat so I'm thinking it's loosing pressure through those o ring oil seals. I replaced one of the smaller 13mm o ring seals on the sump plate and that one seems thicker and not so flat on the top compared to the other two bigger 18 mm ones. I have ordered new ones from the local Kawasaki stealer. I replaced one 10 mm o ring seal on the small pipe that leads from the oil filter to the oil pump. They could only give me one in the meantime. The sides on the new one is rounded and gives a nice firm fit when inserting the pipe in the hole. The sides on the old o ring seal are flat on the side and the fit feels loose and not as firm as the other one. See picture. I'm going to replace all the o ring oil seals.

Remember the engine has 107 000 km so just maybe those o ring seals are shot and need replacing. I'm really hoping that this is the case. It's the only logical thing i can think of. The thing is I only took off the sump and logic tells me that a oil pump cant simply fail while the bike was standing. The oil pressure light never came on and went off instantly even on a cold start up prior to taking the sump plate off. I'm just hoping that it's just the o ring seals. Roll Eyes

 

[Shaun500]

Re:

Better close up pictures of the o-rings on the oil feed pipes. The one is a new one for comparison.I freakn hope this is the problem. Just waiting for new o-rings from the stealers.

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[fog]

Those O rings are not the problem.
I'm pretty sure you need to replace the distance piece in the pump.
See the attached pic. the washer shown keeps the drive pin engaged with the impellar The stock one is fiber that breaks and get chewed up by the pump. replace with a steel one.


FOG

 

[Shaun500]

Re:

The strange thing is that I can see the impeller turning if I look up inside the oil pump when I turn over the rotor slowly. I'm giving it one last try with the seals on the weekend before I commit to a strip down to get the oil pump out.

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[fog]

Try putting some grease in the impeller to seal it so it can pump air long enough to prime itself.

FOG

 

[Shaun500]

Re:

Ok cool. Thanks FOG for the advice.

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[Shaun500]

Re:

...and so I wait for o-rings. One and a half weeks to go...ex Japan :-\

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[bpe]

I live 30 miles from a Kawasaki distribution center and have to wait a week for an o-ring.

 

[jackal]

I just buy a 500 piece o-ring kit for $15 and save the hassle.

 

[fog]

You can by all the O rings you want. They ain't gonna fix it

FOG

 

[Shaun500]

Re: Re: Kawasaki KLE 500: No oil pressure suddenly.

You can by all the O rings you want. They ain't gonna fix it

FOG

I really hope the o-rings sort out the problem. I'd rather start with the easy thing like o-rings than committing to tear down the motor. I'll just change it as a matter of course. If it doesn't work then I'll have to commit to splitting the motor. The mechanic at my local Kawasaki dealer said he has also encountered this problem of worn o rings on the sump causing total loss of oil pressure. Typically on high miler motors like mine. He has rarely encountered a oil pump failure. He says the KLE (and most Kawasaki) have a huge problem developing a air lock in the oil system. It's definitely still possible in my case and probably part of the problem. It seems like a poor design from Kawasaki. A lot of people complain about this.

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[Shaun500]

Re: Re: Kawasaki KLE 500: No oil pressure suddenly.

I just buy a 500 piece o-ring kit for $15 and save the hassle.

I got some Viton o-rings from a local distributer. They seem a bit hard. They have a 90 shore. The OEM o-rings seem to be softer, probably about a 70 shore.

.

 

[Shaun500]

Re: Re: Kawasaki KLE 500: No oil pressure suddenly.

I live 30 miles from a Kawasaki distribution center and have to wait a week for an o-ring.

My local Kawasaki dealer is less than half a mile from where I stay.

http://www.kawasakisouth.co.za/index.asp

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[bpe]

The closest Kawasaki DEALER to me is also about 1 mile away, but they stock almost nothing (except new bikes), cant even get a $.10 o-ring that they will charge $2.00 for without ordering it. Kawasaki DISTRIBUTION center that stocks most if not all parts is 30 miles away (public not allowed to buy direct). Takes as long for parts to come from there as it would to come from California more than 2000 miles away.

 

[jackal]

Re: Re: Kawasaki KLE 500: No oil pressure suddenly.

I just buy a 500 piece o-ring kit for $15 and save the hassle.

I got some Viton o-rings from a local distributer. They seem a bit hard. They have a 90 shore. The OEM o-rings seem to be softer, probably about a 70 shore.

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For that application I really wouldn't sweat it. Just use plenty oil or grease to lube them for installation.

 

[Shaun500]

Re:

A bit off topic...Kawasaki South Africa has dropped a lot of models recently. A huge disappointment was them not importing the Kawasaki KLR 650 anymore. It was a hugely popular and affordable bike in South Africa. Apparently it didn't comply with the new homogolonation regulations. Something to do with emission control. It's crazy.

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