The dreaded oil gear problem...

[cablemn]

Well, I guess i'm part of the 8% of vulcan owners that has the defective Plastic Oil Gear. Driving along havin a nice ride and all of a sudden i see my oil light flashin. The valves sounded thristy and i promply took her back home about a half mile the most. My next step was trailering her to the local Kaw dealer and after telling the service kid what was wrong left it up to them to diagnose the exact problem. The phone call came yesterday to tell me that it was as i expected, the POG lost its teeth. He said the tech gave it quick look and went on to tell me that the engine had to be removed, torn down and the gear replaced. He also said that other un named bits and pieces have to be replaced due to the teardown and it came to about 15 hrs labor and $340 for the gear for a total of $1600$!!!! I only paid $3500 for the entire bike. He said he wasnt familiar with any other way of fixing it ie; the judge gear or the special tool mentioned here at the forum and other forums to do the job without pulling the engine. So not having that kind of extra scratch right now im sort of stuck for the remainder of the season. Aside from the wife having cancer this summer and me having to have a partial knee replacement in a couple weeks, wouldnt you know it? my son starts college in august. I'm gonna have to get pretty creative with a fix to this problem.
First thing is a shop manual for the vulcan 1500e. If anyone knows where i can find one of those on the cheap (free) even just to borrow it would be greatly appreciated. Second, if i can get a P O G wholesale that would help also. I dont think i want to use the JOG due to the whine and clearance tolerances. I think i'll be upgrading the bike way before it has another 20k miles. Id really like to move up to 2000cc once my money situation gets under control. Third, an inexpensive source for the other parts i'll need to do this job. And Fourth, try as i might i cant find out what the "special tool" is that allows this job to be done without taking the engine out. A definitive explaination of where the details of this urban legend can be found and maybe a step by step "how to" preferably with pics wouldnt hurt either.
All suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[ringadingh]

I wouldn't install another plastic gear, you probably can't get one anyways. I'd use a JOG and follow the instructions, I don't think the motor has to come out for that install. If you follow the instructions you should have no problems, a few guys have done it and had them running fine.
Your other option is to replace the entire motor with another but that will cost about the same.

[rolfe]

There is another option which I did. The oil pump gear is now metal which can be replaced by the method you stated but only cost $50.00 at the most. Your dealer is price gouging you.

So the option I did was finding a fellow Kawasaki rider who takes the OEM metal oil pump gear and machines it to fit your bike.

You still then would have to remove JUST THE PLASTIC GEAR whatever remains on your bike. You leave the metal shaft in place.
Once this is done you slide the machined METAL GEAR on the Metal Shaft. then using a MAGNET to stablize the gear on the shaft, you spot weld the back side using a mig welder. The cost was $100
I am concerned however about your bike in the shop and torn down and whether and what condition you will get your parts back. Send me an email if you need additional information.

[crazygene49]

Maybe this will help.

http://www.vroc.org/faq/jopg/jopg.html

[cactusjack]

You've been riding on borrowed time. I was under the impression that once the gear fails, you are looking at more or less a top end rebuild? I could be wrong, but I thought the JOG was supposed to be a pre-emptive repair, before a POG failure occurs?

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by rolfe

There is another option which I did. The oil pump gear is now metal which can be replaced by the method you stated but only cost $50.00 at the most. Your dealer is price gouging you.

So the option I did was finding a fellow Kawasaki rider who takes the OEM metal oil pump gear and machines it to fit your bike.

You still then would have to remove JUST THE PLASTIC GEAR whatever remains on your bike. You leave the metal shaft in place.
Once this is done you slide the machined METAL GEAR on the Metal Shaft. then using a MAGNET to stablize the gear on the shaft, you spot weld the back side using a mig welder. The cost was $100
I am concerned however about your bike in the shop and torn down and whether and what condition you will get your parts back. Send me an email if you need additional information.

Thats a unique way of installing the steel gear, I,m not sure if I could weld carefully enough in those tight quarters. As long as you get the gear on level it should work well.

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

You've been riding on borrowed time. I was under the impression that once the gear fails, you are looking at more or less a top end rebuild? I could be wrong, but I thought the JOG was supposed to be a pre-emptive repair, before a POG failure occurs?

I bet most guys have no idea that the oil gear is plastic and prone to failure.
If you shut the motor down as soon as you notice the oil light it should be ok, however riding the bike with no oil pressure can do a lot of damage in a hurry.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by ringadingh

I bet most guys have no idea that the oil gear is plastic and prone to failure.
If you shut the motor down as soon as you notice the oil light it should be ok, however riding the bike with no oil pressure can do a lot of damage in a hurry.

Okay, that makes sense. I guess I was thinking that this has been a well-known problem for years and '99 owners were replacing the plastic gear with a JOG to prevent the eventual failure. I suppose some have done that, but most have probably had the gear fail. If the bike was shut down immediately, no damage would likely occur.

[jandreu]

Welcome to the forum. Boy, that's a lot of questions and problems for your first post but the folks on here will help ya out. This is the place to be for help.

[macmac]

1/2 mile with no oil psi is asking a lot, but it might be ok.... I would be concerned about the cam blocks that have no replacable bearings of any kind first.

Never the less, the way to go is to replace the POG with metal, and then pray there is no more damage.

At this time as soon as the metal gear is installed, run the engine on a topped off oil add if need be for several hours, and then drain the oil thru the screen in a pan checking for metalic sheen in the oil. With a clean other drain pan inver the filter and read that oil too as best you can.

With the oil changed ride as normal, but at 1,000 miles repeat this oil change looking for metalic sheens in the oil and the filter.

Alloy engines really don't like no oil pressure....

These are indeed hard times fopr some people. The cancer thing is just plain hard. The kid, well kick him out and make him pay as he goes....

[cablemn]

Originally Posted by macmac

1/2 mile with no oil psi is asking a lot, but it might be ok.... I would be concerned about the cam blocks that have no replacable bearings of any kind first.

Never the less, the way to go is to replace the POG with metal, and then pray there is no more damage.

At this time as soon as the metal gear is installed, run the engine on a topped off oil add if need be for several hours, and then drain the oil thru the screen in a pan checking for metalic sheen in the oil. With a clean other drain pan inver the filter and read that oil too as best you can.

With the oil changed ride as normal, but at 1,000 miles repeat this oil change looking for metalic sheens in the oil and the filter.


Alloy engines really don't like no oil pressure....

These are indeed hard times fopr some people. The cancer thing is just plain hard. The kid, well kick him out and make him pay as he goes....

Sounds like a good strategy to clean out whatever may be lurking in the engine. Thanks ill try it.
BTW this is my first KAW and i bought it a couple months ago so this POG problem was news to me. If i wouldve known i probably would have done the Judge gear. Or not bought the bike in the first place.

[macmac]

The killer is Ma Kawii had this covered under a warrenty, but that time is over. I know what hard times are and I can understand this and mixed up with the rest exactly how you feel.

I just can't do much for you from here. Unless you are in NH USA.

[deacon]

Does this apply to 99's only? I have a 06 and was wondering if I need to be concerned.
cablemn, sending prayers for your wife.

[poppy]

Originally Posted by deacon

Does this apply to 99's only? I have a 06 and was wondering if I need to be concerned.
cablemn, sending prayers for your wife.

From the link provided above....

From 1987 through 1999, all Vulcan 1500 models, except the Drifter, were built with a plastic oil pump gear. Several Vulcan 1500s have experienced failures of these plastic gears, causing varying degrees of damage to their engines. To date, Kawasaki has repaired every Vulcan, in the United States, that has experienced a failure of the oil pump gear, whether in or out of warranty. Our international brethren have not faired as well as it seems Kawasaki has not been consistent in it's policy, country to country. Failure rates have varied from model to model. Few failures have occurred on 1500A models, while the 1500 Classics have experienced a higher failure rate. It seems that Nomads are probably experiencing the highest failure rates. In total, the percentage of Vulcan 1500s experiencing the failures has been low, but, significant enough to cause serious concern among owners. Failures have a tendency to occur at inopportune times, many miles from home. The fix for the oil pump gear (OPG) failure is very complex requiring engine disassembly and the transmission cases split to repair a failed OPG. Beginning in 2000, Kawasaki changed the design to a metal gear on the 1500 Vulcan models.

[minst7877]

I changed out the plastic gear on my 99 with a judge's gear a couple of winters ago. It is not a terribly hard job you just need to be very exacting in how its done. Let us know where you are located and maybe someone can give you a hand.

DC