Jamie
Parking Attendant
Posts: 2
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posted November 19, 2001 08:02 AM
ZX11 oiling cures?
What cures, if any, have the 4 wheeled guys found for the ZX11's oiling problems? I imagine you guys hold your engines at high RPMs for long periods. I've lost a rod bearing just tooling around with the occasional top end run.
Jamie
  
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dougmeyer
Needs a job
moderated
Posts: 2713
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posted November 20, 2001 03:56 PM
Jamie,
The ZX-11 oiling "issue" has been flogged for many years and most "experts" had it all wrong. The short answer is oil level (or quantity). We learned that the ZX-11 has a tendancy to accumulate a lot of oil in the head. This can be as much as 2 quarts at high RPM. The bearings have no tolerance for zero oil pressure and you might imagine that with only a 3.5 liter capacity, if you accumulate 2 liters in the head you've only got 1.5 in the sump. It will tolerate that, BUT, if you get only a little low (1/2 liter) you will quickly run the pump pickup dry. This is avoided by the external oil drainback that we put on the right side of the cylinder head. This, along with careful attention to oil system needs (due to the addition of larger lines, coolers, etc.) has pretty much eliminated any bearing problems on the ZX-11. The ultimate solution on the cars (and our drag bikes) is the dry sump conversion which puts all the oil in an external tank with a pickup that can't un-port as well as a much larger capacity. A ZX-11 will not fail bearings as long as the pump gets oil. It's that simple.
Doug
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It's not that I think you're dumb, it's just that so much of what you know isn't true....
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