Coolant Situation ...AGAIN

[bigdog]

As many of you know from my "Coolant Situation" threads, I've had this problem since mid summer. I just picked it up from the shop again, as the new seals didn't take and it started leaking again. Mechanic relaced them again and said Ma Kaw told him it can take 500 miles to fully break-in the seals so they don't leak. Neither of us had ever heard that before, but the white piece is creamic, so anything is possible. I'm flat getting tired of this crap and hope it's fixed this time.

[ringadingh]

Exactly where are these seals located?

[AlabamaNomadRider]

It's funny that when I bought my Nomad it didn't have a coolant leak. Does that mean someone had already ridden it 500 miles before I bought it? Then install the odometer so it would show zero miles? I don't think so. I think someone is pulling someone's leg. Good luck.

[Cajunrider]

I can appreciate your frustration BD. Is this all warranty work?

[cnc]

I have to agree with Gene, as I was thinking the same thing. None of the new Nomads go through a break in period to seat / swell seals. Where are these seals?, If they are on say a shaft, it could be slight wear on it that is preventing a good sealing surface.

[rewindgy]

Okay - that is a total Crook of sh*te! The type of seal used is I believe a Type 21 with a ceramic face and there is no break in! It either seals or it doesn't! 99.9 % of the time if it leaks it was not installed correctly ( cocked to one side / face not flat / face not clean) Have been working on pumps ( all kinds ) for over 30 years and if therre are no defects on seal it will only leak if something esles is wrong! If you want to check for flat - make sure both parts of seal are clean ( no finger prints / no wiping with a wrag with lint? Take the Ceramic seat ( white part) and blow on it with your breath - imediately place the other side ( with the rubber bellows) face onto the seat and carefully see if they stay mated together - do not let it drop or be able to damage! If the two faces stay together then both faces are true and the seal will not leak past. Then inspect the rubber portions to see there is no flashings that could cause the seal to not seat properly and square when installed. Of all of the materials a seal will leak, Gycol it the friggin worst! Just the slightest defect from debris will cause the seal to leak!

[cocheese72]

Mine seems to puke up coolant out of the hanging tube, and possibly elsewhere. I am sure someone on here knows why. It did it when I got it at 20k miles, and still after I flushed it. Does it need to be burped, or does it have too much coolant?

[bigdog]

Sorry guys it took a while for me to get back to you. The exact placement of the seals, I don't know, but they are inside the water pump housing, behind the impellor, sealing the pump and shaft from the rest of the engine. When this seal fails, coolant will leak from the water pump weep hole hose that hangs down near the right floorboard as well as into the shaft bearing. That's why they had to pull my engine and replace the bearing and shaft as apparently it had been leaking for a while and the bearing had rusted.
All this has been under warranty, so while it's frustrating, I will keep them at it until I am satisfied. The mechanic at Sammy Whites had never heard of this "break in" either, but all he could do is follow Kawasaki's direction and monitor it until it stops leaking or gets worse. The weather's been to bad to get the rest of the break in mileage done so I still don't know if it fixed yet.

[cocheese72]

I was reading the shop manual and it said that if a drip is coming from those hoses, it was probably just as you say. If that is indeed my problem, I am going to live with it for now, as I am not pulling the engine.