Coolant Leak

[redjay]

Hi All.

I started the bike for the first time tonight after being in storage since October. It started right up but I noticed there is coolant dripping from the drain tube at the front right of the radiator.
There was about 6 drops in about 5 minutes of running the bike in the garage. Is this the water pump drain ? Will it likely quit after a while ?

Thanks.

[macmac]

HUH? There is no rad drain with a hose. Is this on the engine?

[redjay]

Hi Mac.
There is a hose near the front right of the engine ahead of the water pump. Too dark now for me to see what it is attached to. It is dripping a green watery liquid.

[macmac]

Yeah, but you said off the rad...

Since the bike is out of cold storage, run that engine easy with only short rides and monitor this over just say 4 days. If you can't ride at all run the engine till the fan comes on, and watch this leak closely.

If it won't stop soon, order a water pump gasket and water pump seal, also get brake cleaner, fine emery cloth, single edge razor blades, a drain pan, and a light chassis grease in a pot. I assume you have metric wrenches.

It just might be the seal sat too long in a place and needs to get warmed up to seal, or it might be a dead seal. This part isn't that much of a problem, so long as it stays at this level.

What you don't want to see is engine oil with coolant and that green fluid is coolant.

[oldbikers]

Mac you may remember we were just talking about this about a week ago well I guess mine has stopped as I have not lost any coolant since the first couple of times I guess the 770 mile trip to the gulf coast and back stopped it.

[ringadingh]

My bike doesn't have a drain tube where your talking either.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Ringadingh

My bike doesn't have a drain tube where your talking either.

Neither does mine. Any drain tube would be from the filler neck to the recovery jug.

[redjay]

Mines an 05. Look closely at the right front of the engine near the the bottom of the rad.
I think it comes from the water pump area ? Maybe a water pump drain ?

[oldbikers]

It is a small hose right behind the right front frame rail if your water pump seal is bad it will leak from this hose are as Mac said if it sets up for a while it may leak mine has stopped leaking.

[trosco]

That hose attaches to a cavity in the water pump housing. As the pump drive shaft passes from the inside of the engine to the water compartment where the pumps impeller is there is a oil seal in the engine case then the cavity and then a water seal in the pumps case. Purpose of the dual seal with isolation cavity is to prevent oil in your radiator and/or antifreeze in your oil if a seal goes bad.
The "drips" of antifreeze is a warning. Your water seal is not sealing, that's why there is antifreeze in your cavity. If the drips were oil you don't see them (my experience) until the leak is very bad as the oil bakes/becomes sludge before it ever makes it out the tube.
So my advice is you need to disassemble the pump housing and examine before you know if one or both seals have gone bad.
The seals can be replaced with out disassembly beyond the water pump but examine your shaft carefully. I have had to replace mine (only real problem I have had) and that requires pulling and complete disassemble of motor. In my case the hardening process on the shaft had failed and the shaft was grooved and leaking at both seals after 11,800 miles.
Side complaint here; A little year ago I'd seen the occasional drip for several months. Had assumed it was a over flow hose. Had asked the dealer about the hose and drops and was told that because I had topped off the tank when I noticed it was down a bit that bike might have been overfilled or it was probably from the extremely early hot spell that year and nothing to worry about. Another rider brought the possibility of the bad seal to my attention. When I went back to the dealer about that it was 21 days after the 2 year warranty expired, the dealer and maw kaw customer relations hung their hat on no record of my previous inquiry and no extended warranty so they could only repair the bike on my dime. Needless to say, I did it myself and deleted the dealer from my memory. He has not and will never receive another penny from me. Had to complain, sorry!
Anyway, ignoring this condition may not be a problem in 99 out of 100 situations. Cause most likely it is just the beginnings of the water seal failing and that process could take years. However, in my case it was the shaft that was the problem and it was taking out both seals and had I waited my motor would have be toast!
So each must decide what they must do. But if you start with drips of antifreeze, then it stops, the seal could have fixed itself? Or the oil may have plugged the hose?

[macmac]

Oh yes they do, trosco has it.... There is a kollow space between the water pump and the engine, behind the water pump. That drain hose more or less come off the engine just behind the water pump.

It can drain either coolant or engine oil, depending on which seal says good bye.

The book says the engine has to be split to replace the oil side seal, but the book is wrong.....

There is a cheat. If and When the water pump seal says good bye, when you fix it, it is a real wise idea to clean that hollow really well. make it bright and spot less and grease the alloy to keep air off it. A thin film of grease, NOT pack the entire hollow!

The idea is for to be able to yank that engine side oil seal backwards out thru the hollow, and save on a total engine tear down. You do need a bag of tricks, but the point is it can be done with some care.

That shaft needs to be spotless cleaned as well.

Inside the engine is a chain driven cog i think. It turns a shaft in the case where oil is to turn the water pump. So it has a oil seal. The shaft engages the water pump thru it's own coolant seal. If either seal leaks which ever liquid leaks will emitt as drops from the weep hose.

That weep hose can possibly leak both oil and coolant at the same time. The coolant leak is the easier to deal with.

I am not sure if a blast of 'Brake Kleen' up that weep hose is a good idea or now. It might be.

The last thing anyone wants to do is cap that weep hose off.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by macmac

Oh yes they do, trosco has it.... There is a kollow space between the water pump and the engine, behind the water pump. That drain hose more or less come off the engine just behind the water pump.

It can drain either coolant or engine oil, depending on which seal says good bye.

The book says the engine has to be split to replace the oil side seal, but the book is wrong.....

There is a cheat. If and When the water pump seal says good bye, when you fix it, it is a real wise idea to clean that hollow really well. make it bright and spot less and grease the alloy to keep air off it. A thin film of grease, NOT pack the entire hollow!

The idea is for to be able to yank that engine side oil seal backwards out thru the hollow, and save on a total engine tear down. You do need a bag of tricks, but the point is it can be done with some care.

That shaft needs to be spotless cleaned as well.

Inside the engine is a chain driven cog i think. It turns a shaft in the case where oil is to turn the water pump. So it has a oil seal. The shaft engages the water pump thru it's own coolant seal. If either seal leaks which ever liquid leaks will emitt as drops from the weep hose.

That weep hose can possibly leak both oil and coolant at the same time. The coolant leak is the easier to deal with.

I am not sure if a blast of 'Brake Kleen' up that weep hose is a good idea or now. It might be.

The last thing anyone wants to do is cap that weep hose off.

Interesting...I didn't know this. I'm going to go look for this hose as I don't recall seeing it.

[redjay]

Thanks to all that replied. I will keep an eye on it to see if it is still leaking after a few miles.
First ride of the season tomorrow !!!! Hopefully it will stop leaking by itself.

[socwkbiker]

If it doesn't, and I learned this from the good folks here, have the water pump seal checked and then some. I finally got mine back and they had to replace the seal, the shaft, clips, all of that because the rings that hold the shaft overheated and let the shaft go too far through the seal.

That was the first repair.

[macmac]

Cj find it yet?