hi all - hope someone can help or point me in the right direction.
When I pressed the starter my bike (K100rs) the other week it just clicked and engine didn't turn over - thought strange as battery was fully charged - tried again and was fine. Took the bike out (to its MOT) and it was chucking white smoke out the back for a few miles and then temp gauge headed for the red. Sod's law, it passed MOT ok
On chatting to a local bike mechanic he thought it sounded like water in cylinder, and I should remove plugs and turn it over - sure enough water spat out of cylinder no.3
I can't confirm whether antifreeze was in the system beforehand & am assuming gasket has gone or head/block cracked??
from what I have read on forum gaskets very rarely go?

So questions are please
1. assuming it's just the gasket - is this a big job on these ?
2. does anyone know of a k100 mechanic in south stockport/Manchester area - be good to have someone on the job who has worked on these bikes if possible
3. could water get in from the injector seal?

any help /thoughts appreciated
ta
kev

I doubt its going to be "just the gasket". The head has probably warped from overheating causing the gasket to leak.
Not been in there myself but I'm sure there's someone here that can give you a heads-up on what's involved.

Won't have anything to do with the injectors. They're nowhere near the cooling system.

If you have coolant in a cylinder then the head will have to come off. then you will find out for sure what is wrong.
Its not a real big job, about the same as any other DOHC engine and lots easier than in a car.

Your post doesn't state the year or any engine information, as in age, 8 or 16 valve engine.

Very early K engines weren't set up for unleaded petrol, but seem to manage fine on it. Exhaust nuts studs are notorious for not coming off cleanly but with head off can easily be sorted.

Due to the engine configuration head off is a very accessible job.

Would it be worth having another known good head to go on instead, as in checked and ready to go on? Just a thought.

thanks for the replies - head will have to come off - i'll get local bike MOT place to have a look and see what they find.
Unless anyone knows of a K100 specialist in around south Manchester??

mine is a 1990 K100RS 16 valve
cheers

The good thing about removing the head on a K100 is that yo can do it without removing the engine from the bike. It only takes a couple of hours.
If you have a minimum of mechanical skills and basic tools (+ a torque wrench), you can do that on your own and save a lot of money.
Just look at the Haynes or Clymer manual and see if you are up to the task.
You can always expect help from people on this forum.