Oil in Coolant

Hi All, I bought my '90 VR a couple of weeks ago. The guy I bought it from only had it for a couple of months and said he was out for a ride when it blew a radiator hose. He thought it needed a new head gasket. Anyhow I bought it not going. (I like making things work). I have tested the compression and got 90,100,110 and 165 psi. Added a bit of oil and all four went to 240psi (pretty high isn't it??) I pulled the motor out and have got the heads off. A fair bit of carbon build up on the pistons, top of cylinders and heads. I noticed that the line to the coolant drain was full of sediment and so was the water jacket around Number 1 cylinder. I guess it has been a long time since anyone has given the old girl a good flush out. I've ordered new rings, gaskets and hoses plus anything else needed and now waiting for them to arrive in Australia. I have had a good look around this site and I'm trying to figure out how the oil got into the coolant system. I suspect that the oil seal near the water pump shaft may have let the oil into the waterpump area. there was no water in the oil sump. I've ordered a new seal and mechanical waterpump seal. The bike is faded blue so I hope it'll go fast when I get her back together. It's got 46K on the clock and was imported to Australia from Canada about 6 years ago. Is there any other areas I should check before I start the rebuild??

I think I would order new plastic water pipes/orings between the heads, think they are called joints. Will likely break them trying to remove, and could be the source of oil in water.

Check the old head gaskets,,, if the oil came from that location it should show. Also check for cracks in the heads, have never heard of that happening, but if it's been overheated, you never know. It'd be a big pain to get it all together and then find out it ain't fixed as figured.

Hey Ian,

Welcome to the VR.ORG Forum! I have attached a pic of the other area that has coolant and radiator water passing thru the same area. We here on the site call this area the "Twinkie" because of it's shape. This area is exposed to a lot of heat normally, and when a motor is overheated can cause problems if the gaskets and O'Rings are not replaced. Since you have the motor removed, this is a perfect time to address this issue. I have a yellow arrow pointing to the Twinkie area, and this pic is from the parts manual. You will find a listing of parts for this area under "Radiator, Hose" when searching for parts. If you need help with part numbers, please feel free to contact me.

This is a very ambitious project, but I am glad to see that you are willing to keep one of these fine bikes on the road. You will not be sorry.

Earl