Coolant leak - UPDATE

[waterman]

Originally Posted by macmac

Reaper good one LOL.... I do have a son, but he has his own tools thankfully.. However that does remind me I lent out a helicoil tap set to a snow mobiler friend and he hasn't brought the tools back yet...

And yeah waterman get that mess cleaned up. I take it you can ride in Co all winter, by the looks of it..

There should be room to see over any left side filter just to see, and you just might want to see for a few more rides...

Being a x foreign car tech I learned to triple check everything.. The one time I for got I lost all my acetelene...

I plan on starting tonight getting the beast back together. I bought some wire yesterday to run under the tank for an accessory plug on the bars. Just waiting on that part.

[waterman]

Back together and apparently no leaks. Took it out for a 20 mile ride tonight and didn't see anything. Thanks for the help.

[ponch]

Cadmann covered this awhile back. IIRC, he suggested to replace the O-Ring and even use silicone around the tune. IF someone wants to do a search, I think you an find out the exact advice and procedure. My rear one one leaked 6 months after I bought it. How difficult would it be to have a threaded hole with an AN fitting?

Originally Posted by waterman

Ok, this is starting to piss me off. Started the bike up a couple of weeks ago to warm it up and take a short hop around. Well, I parked it and now I have an coolant leak. Loosened the tank last night and took the left side air intake off. Couldn't really see much as to where the leak is coming from but I am going to have to take the tank off.

I remember someone saying that you can disconnect the fuel line from the tank and it will not leak much fuel. Is this correct?? Hopefully tonight and I can take the tank off since I am almost there already.

Ok, I found the culprit. It was the hose going into the water tube/jacket in the front cylinder. A couple of questions, the clamp seemed tight but I did have to loosen it ackwardly to get it manuvered so I could tighten it. There is a clamp on the tube or it is the tube that is bolted to the cylinder that the hose fits up to. When I loosened the bolt the whole assembly wiggled. Are there rubber o-rings on this that I should probably replace or does it even pull out? I have it torn down this far and would rather have it done right rather than tear it apart again.

[voyager]

Hang On!

don't let anyone tell you ( especially the dealer ) that they will change the o-ring and put silicone around it to help it. Using the silicone will be a waste of time and look crappy. The problem is the stand off pipes coming out of both heads are not supported will enough and vibrate, which causes the stock o-rings to break down and weep coolant. They should be replaced with a Viton style o-ring ( either get one to size or tell your Dealer that's what you want rather than replace it with the stock style) The Viton style ( usually brown in colour, but can come in black ) has better resistance to heat and vibration. I have to get mine replaced under warranty this season as well.

voyager

[waterman]

Voyager,

My bike is out of warranty. However, just cleaning it up and replacing it appears to have fixed the problem. Over 300 miles on it since the fix and no leak. However, I will keep this in mind if it leaks again.

[ponch]

THe dealer just replaced the O-Ring, CadmannQ used silicone.

Originally Posted by voyager

Hang On!

don't let anyone tell you ( especially the dealer ) that they will change the o-ring and put silicone around it to help it. Using the silicone will be a waste of time and look crappy. The problem is the stand off pipes coming out of both heads are not supported will enough and vibrate, which causes the stock o-rings to break down and weep coolant. They should be replaced with a Viton style o-ring ( either get one to size or tell your Dealer that's what you want rather than replace it with the stock style) The Viton style ( usually brown in colour, but can come in black ) has better resistance to heat and vibration. I have to get mine replaced under warranty this season as well.

voyager

[brendan]

LOL, every time I start any project here at home I have to stop and call or go to son's house" sorry Dad I borrowed and forgot to bring back" Lucky he only lives 5 blocks away!

[macmac]

Waterman LOL if you fixed it right and I think you did, when it leaks again, it will be something else...

I hope while you were in there you snugged the rest of ALL the clamps, and if you never touched the rad drain plug I am willing to bet money it isn't finger tight.

Don't go manhandling that drain plug but run it in a little more. And while yer at it get all the rest of the hose clamps snugged up too.

[waterman]

Mac,

While I was in there I did check all the hose clamps. The only ones I found somewhat loose were on the thermostat housing. I turned them about 1 1/2 turns. Everything else was tight. Even the plug was tight. I do plan on getting a couple of O-rings for the flanges just in case. Normally, if you have the part on hand you never need it. I just hope I never have to get at the flange on the rear head. Talk about a royal pain in the ass to get at.

Pulling the tank off anyway was good. It let me run some wires up to the front so when I put in an accessory plug on its there.

I think the dealer that I bought it from did a good job of assembly and checking everything they could get at. That is why I'm guessing that everything out in the open was tight and what was hidden was somewhat loose.