It seems all is not well with my Tiger :(
I had a good look at it when I viewed it and again when I picked it up but didn't see the problem I found this morning. I was looking around the engine and noticed 'fresh' brown water on the head that was definitely not there when I looked it over yesterday. It looked to me that the head gasket was leaking so I decided to check out the forum to see if anyone else had suffered the same fate with their Tiger. What I found was the last but one owner's issues with it (Tomski). He had apparently twice changed the gasket and it's obviously still a problem. He also decided to move it on to the guy I bought from who probably decided to do the same thing!
Having called the local Triumph dealer and got a rough price (£650 - £750) to change gaskets, oils, filter, coolant etc and £1500 to replace the head if warped I now find myself with a bit of a dilemma and a little deflated!
With not enough knowledge or inclination to start stripping engines down myself and having things machined I need to find a way out of my predicament. I don't really want to pass the problem on to an unsuspecting buyer - not my way - and I'd quite like to keep the bike but I don't really know what to do for the best.
Any suggestions?
:?
ebay ...........used head .......cheap money ............theres a thread on here by jetdocx how to change the head
it's really not that hard .
Hey Mustang, thanks for the reply.
Is the 885 engine used on any other Triumphs do you know that I could get a head from? Just checked ebay uk and although there's a complete engine there are no Tiger heads currently available.
I could be about to embark on a whole new learning experience!
Sprint with carbs
Daytona with carbs
Trophy 900
early speed triples up to 1997 I believe might be 96
I think a Trident 900 head will work also
Cheers Mustang, appreciate it.
Need to find a supplier of gaskets other than Triumph if I can. I'm sure the guy at the Triumph place said the set is £190
here's one ...even though the seller says it's a 750 it's really a 900 speed triple head same casting as tiger head
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-750-S ... 4cf4aad22f (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-750-SPEED-TRIPLE-1996-COMP-CYLINDER-HEAD-/330522350127?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item4cf4aad22f)
here's a daytona head same as steamer
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-DAYTO ... 415ef47d54 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-DAYTONA-900-885-TRIPLE-ENGINE-CYLINDER-HEAD-VALVES-1997-/280765955412?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item415ef47d54)
here's another
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-900-d ... 2eabbe46ef (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-900-daytona-cylinder-head-1993-/200449869551?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2eabbe46ef)
I saw the Daytona 900 head with valves but hadn't looked any further. All this is new to me so I really appreciate your time and help.
Is there anything I should look for in particular? For instance is there a benefit in going for the £125 one instead of the £40 one or is it all going to be a gamble? Are there any questions I should ask before I look to buy?
Thanks again.
Looks like World of Triumph are cheapest with the full gasket set at £169. Does anyone know of anywhere offering good pattern equivalents or should I avoid pattern and stay original?
How many miles are on your bike. It might just be easier to replace the engine with a known good unit.....anywhere between £250 and £450........when you take into account the gasket set, and anything else you might find it's not such a silly idea.
ROB
It's only just done 20500 (all documented with 7 MOTs) but I see from Tomski's posts it has had a bit of work done internally already. Whole engine swap may not be a bad thing. As you say, by the time I've thrown gaskets onto a new head it could be anything from £250 up to maybe £300? Having said that the engine seems to be fine otherwise, no sign of DAR and it starts brilliantly. How do you go about making that kind of decision?! :?
you'll always have a spare engine to either fix, or have as spares........6 speed gearbox would have a value, so would the clutch assembley, engine covers etc, so you'd claw some cash back.
ROB
motor swap is really quick and easy 1 day job
any of the 309/409 motors will bolt right in , worst case you have to change the shift drum to get the shift pattern to be correct
and going down the head swap road
the only gasket you "need" is the head gasket . they are around 50 bucks US
Maybe I should offer the old engine as payment for taking it out and putting a replacement in?! Minus any bits that don't come with the new one - alternator, starter etc. Supply and demand I guess.
Local places are asking stupid money to do the head. One guy quoted me 10 hours minimum which was even more than the Triumph dealer - although I think the labour rates were cheaper so it evened out.
Am I right in saying that the 309 engine could be from a Trident, Thunderbird, Sprint, Speed Triple or Trophy? 409 is the Tiger engine?
yep
So, taking a step back here, you are confident from reading the past posts on your bike that this is not just a leaking head gasket that you could just replace? Yes its been done before but did they torque it up in the proper sequence? Perhaps it was not torqued properly the first time, or they neglected the re-torque after a few hundred miles(?) It just seems like you jumped straight to needing a new head or new motor pretty fast. The first thing I would do would be grab a torque wrench and check the head bolts.
And if its easy to remove the head, then its easy to haul it down to a shop and have it surfaced. FWIW Good luck.
Hey nightrunner
Thanks for your view.
You're right, the past history has coloured my judgement somewhat and it was after a few hundred miles that the OP's problem reappeared with no mention of a retorque. I'm in no hurry to spend loads of money at the moment after only just buying it so I'm going to take a little time to sort out a few minor niggles. Whilst doing these I'll check the torque on the head bolts.
If it transpires to be just a head gasket then happy days but TBH if I'm at a stage where the head gaskets off I'll probably get the head checked anyway. Neither gaskets or time are cheap enough to try just the gasket and hope there isn't a problem elsewhere only to have to take it all off again.
Its definitely 'chicken soup' (couldn't hurt). I do not know your skill level so I'll suggest you check the factory manual, if you have one, for the proper torque pattern and spec. I would post the diagram if I had a photo hosting site. Perhaps one of the gurus here could help.
Yeah of it started leaking a few hundred miles into a new head/base gasket, there is a very good chance that simple tightening is all it needs. We'll keep our fingers crossed for you bro!
http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/msg,38160
My skill level isn't very high mechanically - I'm better with technology - so Tiger ownership is going to be a challenge whatever!!
I did get a Haynes manual with it though and I'm fairly sure I have an electronic Triumph manual too so they'll help too.
That's the link I need Jet thanks!! I need to get some Hylomar, ebay has it so I'll get some sorted.
Thanks for the help and the support guys.
My local auto parts store has it, FWIW.
Quote from: "TigerTastic"I was looking around the engine and noticed 'fresh' brown water on the head that was definitely not there when I looked it over yesterday. It looked to me that the head gasket was leaking so I decided to check out the forum to see if anyone else had suffered the same fate with their Tiger. What I found was the last but one owner's issues with it (Tomski). He had apparently twice changed the gasket and it's obviously still a problem. He also decided to move it on to the guy I bought from who probably decided to do the same thing!
Having called the local Triumph dealer and got a rough price (£650 - £750) to change gaskets, oils, filter, coolant etc and £1500 to replace the head if warped I now find myself with a bit of a dilemma and a little deflated!
Any suggestions?
:?
I had my head gasket changed a while ago, 885i Girly, it used to weep on the left rear of the engine just below the injectors. This only happened when the temperature dropped, and from what I could tell was not leaking into he motor.
As its big sevice was due and the valves needed to checked I got them to the head at the same time, cost around £300 but would need to confirm this.
Aint had it re-torqued? so maybe they ran the engine for a while then did it?
Might be worth giving this guy and gal a ring
http://www.twowheelworkshop.com/ (http://www.twowheelworkshop.com/) :D
Bit of trek but if you realy feel it needs sorting it might be worth it.