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In NEED of cooling system help

Ssky0078

Ssky0078

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Dec 8, 2012
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Scottsdale, AZ
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Hi guys,

It's been awhile since I've been on. I've been super busy and just grinding away

So, the current issue I need help with is I keep getting a coolant leak from the top (center of the bike). The bike will just start spitting coolant out and at one point I had it towed to the shop. The shop took it apart and said the top hose had blown itself completely off. The tech said he had removed the other end of the hose about 3 weeks before when they did the valves, plugs and cam chain tensioner. He said he didn't remove the end that had blown off.

I did an oil change a week ago and the oil filter was slightly different than previous filters, same part number but different inside (it had circular punched out mesh rather than the regular loose wire look).

Today I parked the bike and again it's leaking coolant, not blowing out but a good steady drip and probably let out maybe up to 2 ounces. It seems to be coming from the center of the bike again.

What is there in the system that could be creating the pressure to blow a hose off?

Do I need to just replace all hoses, thermostat and possibly radiator to make sure this stops happening? (this is my daily driver and I don't have any other transportation, other than a bicycle)

The bike has 34,000 miles on it, 29,000 by me in the last 15 months. I've done regular oil changes, chain/sprocket, valves, coolant was done at 18,000 miles I think.
 
There is a small coolant hose on the left hand side under the tank. It's just a quick clamp that could easily be forgotten during any moderate engine work. Might blow off under load. I pinched mine a while back and it looked like it was leaking from the center. Good luck
 
speeddemon2588 said:
There is a small coolant hose on the left hand side under the tank. It's just a quick clamp that could easily be forgotten during any moderate engine work. Might blow off under load. I pinched mine a while back and it looked like it was leaking from the center. Good luck
Click to expand...

Thanks, I was letting the engine cool down before I get my hands in there.

I opened the radiator cap and there is some black flecks in there. Maybe the hoses are breaking down. Is 34,000 miles a lot on a set of hoses?
 
Dustin said:
No.

Good luck with sorting this out. Strange issue for sure. Let us know what you find!
Click to expand...

I know strange. I've got a feeling the line might be kinked as suggested. It's the only thing that makes sense other than the inside of a hose has gone bad and is spitting debris through the system.

The AZ desert is getting to the bike.
 
Ssky0078 said:
Thanks, I was letting the engine cool down before I get my hands in there.

I opened the radiator cap and there is some black flecks in there. Maybe the hoses are breaking down. Is 34,000 miles a lot on a set of hoses?
Click to expand...
All depends on if you change the coolant regular or not, a faulty rad cap or thermostat could cause pressure build up.
 
Yeah, all these things are possibilities: hoses, pressure caps, thermostats, clamps ... and water pumps can fail... also the radiator itself could start to leak.
Should be easy eliminating them - one by one. First the cap. When the motorcycle is leaking next time, check for fluid coming from around the cap - then check all hose connections for fluid. - easy to do. A clamp may have gotten loose or weak. Or a hose my be getting old and soft. If so - replace all the hoses - get all new clamps ---no big deal.

If it is not coming for sure from those areas - hoses, clamps, cap -- check the radiator - looking for a trail of leaking fluid. If the radiator is dry - both top, bottom and middle (core) (and make sure, here, with multiple tries at this). Then maybe the thermostat is failing and running the fluid temperature too high - going past boil over point - so too high internal system pressure. This could be causing the fluid being pushed out at any of the previous points --- EXCEPT the radiator.

If it has killed the radiator - started a leak in the radiator - you've gotta replace it - the radiator. But it could have been started by an over pressure caused by a bad thermostat.

Even if the radiator looks dry, look for a "dried" trail of evaporated fluid . the radiator gets hot - has lots of air flow and so can disguise a leak pretty quickly by drying the fluid quickly. But if let go for a while - builds up a tell tale residue.

Carry on soldier ...
 
lindy said:
Yeah, all these things are possibilities: hoses, pressure caps, thermostats, clamps ... and water pumps can fail... also the radiator itself could start to leak.
Should be easy eliminating them - one by one. First the cap. When the motorcycle is leaking next time, check for fluid coming from around the cap - then check all hose connections for fluid. - easy to do. A clamp may have gotten loose or weak. Or a hose my be getting old and soft. If so - replace all the hoses - get all new clamps ---no big deal.

If it is not coming for sure from those areas - hoses, clamps, cap -- check the radiator - looking for a trail of leaking fluid. If the radiator is dry - both top, bottom and middle (core) (and make sure, here, with multiple tries at this). Then maybe the thermostat is failing and running the fluid temperature too high - going past boil over point - so too high internal system pressure. This could be causing the fluid being pushed out at any of the previous points --- EXCEPT the radiator.

If it has killed the radiator - started a leak in the radiator - you've gotta replace it - the radiator. But it could have been started by an over pressure caused by a bad thermostat.

Even if the radiator looks dry, look for a "dried" trail of evaporated fluid . the radiator gets hot - has lots of air flow and so can disguise a leak pretty quickly by drying the fluid quickly. But if let go for a while - builds up a tell tale residue.

Carry on soldier ...
Click to expand...

I'm thinking it's the hose on the top that was mentioned to get kinked. I've been checking around the cap and radiator the whole time. The leak started after the bike was worked on. At first it was just a drop here and there, then it started getting worse. It comes from the center of the bike and when on the kick stand runs what seems like internally and comes out just to the side of the kick stand. When I blew the hose it was directly under the seat just internal to the curve in the frame at the front end of the seat. I'm going to order new hoses, clamps, thermostat and radiator cap and replace myself. I'm kinda pissed at the shop that they did the work, seems like create the problem (moving cables, or I've seen him drop the radiator before and he really shoves hard on the it to move it, seeming to ignore the other end of the hose is attached to something), then spend another $60 to fix it and then it happens again. I've replaced hoses on my old Jeep and it's really not too hard. Worse case scenario I get it towed over and they fix up the job. I should have time this week and I'll hope for the best. The radiator is the only really expensive piece and every time I open the cap after it's cool the fluid level is low but there is no signs of leakage. I don't know if they just didn't feel it all the way and the extra air is causing the problem either.



speeddemon2588 said:
Do you run Engine Ice?
Click to expand...

Never have, only run Yamaha coolant premixed
 
Sounds like you've got a handle on it.
Mechanics can screw up a lot of things.
And radiators are relatively delicate.
 
So I was given the advice to flush the reservoir by my father because of the sediment I was seeing in the system. And while doing some research on how to remove the reservoir (Which how do you remove the reservoir from the side of the frame?), I came across this thread.

http://www.998cc.org/forum/gen-i-te...-side-engine.html?highlight=coolant+reservoir

What in particular caught my attention is that this all started happening after I had my valves checked. I just noticed a drop, here and a drop there and didn't think anything of it because I had been so busy and one day I had over filled the gas tank so I thought it was just a drip from there.

Is it possible when they were putting on the head valve gasket, that they made some mistake and it has caused this repeated failure and loss of coolant?
 
Oldschool said:
Valve cover gasket is only one touched during a valve set, not head gasket. No coolant in valve cover.
Click to expand...

If they did the cam chain tensioner and changed that gasket at the same time would that do anything to contribute to leaking coolant from the top of the engine, or the buildup of pressure that would blow off hoses?

Also they did the Roth AIS plates for me and they unplugged the hose out of the bottom center of the airbox, does that matter?
 
Ssky0078 said:
If they did the cam chain tensioner and changed that gasket at the same time would that do anything to contribute to leaking coolant from the top of the engine, or the buildup of pressure that would blow off hoses?

Also they did the Roth AIS plates for me and they unplugged the hose out of the bottom center of the airbox, does that matter?
Click to expand...

None of that should matter. Shouldn't be any leaks from head if they didn't remove the head, which isn't necessary for anything you had done.
Also if it was a bad head gasket you would PROBABLY end up with oil in the coolant which is very obvious because it sits on top of the coolant.
 
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