So I think I screwed myself...

[Andrew87]

I went for a ride here in wonderful Hawaii...not so much, but anyways it rained of course and there was a fair amount of rocks and sand on the road. When I got home I found that there was a small hole in the radiator and it was completely empty. This was not before I rode about 30 miles with the engine overheated  . I let the bike completely cool and it started right up but not without the check engine light coming on and a not-so-good sounding noise when idling. So I'm pretty sure that whatever is wrong will only be fixed by taking the engine apart and replacing some expensive parts anyone got any ideas as to what might of happened?

[Sin_Tiger]

Oh dear, not looking great is it 

May I suggest the customer thing to establish is what caused the leak. I have heard of faults with the clips on the hoses coming loose and the occasional stub pipe weld leak. Not specifically on the 800 but it does happen. If it's not been a stone, you didn't say if you had the XC which has a sore guard as standard, and you are still in warranty you may have a case.

From your ride description i'm assuming you didn't see the warning lights from  concentrating on the road.

If your out of warranty and you can see the leak, I personally would try to put the leak, at least temporarily, refill the coolant, change the oil (have a good examination of what comes out,  both coolant and oil) Then give it a run and see how it goes. You never know you might be lucky, these engines are very robust.

I feel for you just the same and keeping my fingers crossed

[Andrew87]

Thanks for the advice, I am still under warranty but I think I will still try out what you mentioned. It is not the XC so unfortunately it did not come with the radiator guard. I have drained the oil and it came out a dark brownish color which I am not quite sure is normal for this bike as I just recently purchased it and this would have been the first time I changed the oil. When I get a chance I will drain the coolant, patch the hole and refill both oil and coolant and pray that by some miracle everything will be ok.

[Andrew87]

Well theres oil in the coolant so that sucks big time, guess im gonna have to wait until I have some extra money to take it to the shop and have them tell me the damage.   

[Mustang]

depending how much you overheated it ................sounds like you warped the head and / or blew the head gasket , sorry to say , but probability is high .

[Andrew87]

Well I know where my tax return is going, haha. At least the bike still looks nice, I can push it around and still try to look cool in the meantime. Ill let everyone know what the damage is as soon as I find out, thanks again for the feedback.

[cdubya]

So what was the extent of the damage?
Did you get 'er fixed? Hoping it wasn't too too extensive.