Jump to content

'97 thermostat housing leaking


Recommended Posts

  • Member Contributer

Was doing my "it is too hot to ride so might as well check the bike over" today, found some harden coolant on the bottom of the water pump thermostat housing and stains going down....appears pump housing is leaking.  A quick search shows the water pump assy is no longer available and have yet to find a gasket kit.  Any recommendations as to where to get either a  gasket kit or water pump?

 

Thought I would correct this here as well.

 

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Nevermind....I typed water pump when in reality it is just the thermostat housing that is leaking....oh bother.....some days the brain is just not hitting on all cylinders!!

 

Soooooo....now that I have corrected that.....I want to replace the two short hoses at the thermostat and find out that both are discontinued.  Are they a special diameter or anything?  Any happen to know what diameter they are?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
56 minutes ago, RC36Rider said:

Did @Dutchy sell his ?

 

It got send stateside so that redslut will live on through others yes :goofy:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Yep going to replace that O ring and those two hoses.  Good to know that the hoses are a common size.  I might just go ahead and replace all hoses with Samco silicon hoses since I will have the cooling system apart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My leak was coming from the cross-over pipe in-between the V. The o-rings on both ends were completely flattened. It's a real pain, but possible to get to, and remove, the cross-over pipe without removing the carbs. 

Those o-rings, if I recall, were also a standard size picked up at an auto parts store, or possibly Lowes. 

 

Paul in SoCal 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Well I got the coolant drained and thermostat housing removed.  I quickly gave-in trying to get to the hose clamps and removed the carbs.  This way I could tell that it was just the front hose leaking.  Removed both hoses and the thermostat housing.  I measured the diameter of the two tubes on the housing and appears to need a 18mm hose.  Auto parts store around me have 5/8" and 3/4" hose, 18mm is pretty much right in the middle of those two sizes; 5/8" i doubt would go on, 3/4" to large and would leak.  Decided to just go ahead and get the Samco HON-92 7 piece hose set....which is coming from the UK...so that is going to be awhile to arrive.

 

I ordered new O rings for the cross-over pipe, but did not order the O rings for the two blocks that bolt to the engine, so not able to remove the cross-over pipe until I get those O rings.  I have the time since I will be waiting for the Samco kit to arrive.

 

Wonder what else I should do?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Welllll......I removed the right side PAIR valve in order to remove the thermostat housing and have been looking at all that PAIR plumbing.  Going to call TKO Parts today and see when they are going to have the PAIR kit back in stock, if soon I will remove.

 

I did order the two water pump gaskets and wondering if I should leave well enough alone or go ahead and remove the water pump and replace the two gaskets.....hhmmmm????

 

I have not drained coolant out of heads yet....on my list for this weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would replace the gaskets while its all apart.

You have the time and access to the pump is quick, and most of the coolant is drained at this point, right?

 

I might have an extra set of PAIR block-off plates, I sold my '95 before removing the PAIR system last year.

Let me know if interested.

 

Paul in SoCal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Heck yes I am interested in a set of PAIR block-off plates.  TPO Parts...(not TKO)...does not appear to be in business any longer.

 

Tell me more about these plates....my direct email is deanvette@comcast.net.

 

And yeah coolant is all drained now, and to my surprise the Sumco hose set arrived from across the Pond....that was pretty quick.  But alas I am still awaiting additional parts from PartZilla....O rings and sealing washers.....so might as well take the water pump apart....the two gaskets are just laying here on my desk.

 

And it is still above 105°F here....so just too HOT to ride anywhere.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Quick Question: are there coolant drain bolts for the rear head similar to the front head?  Partzilla list three sealing washers, but not 100% sure I found the one(?) drain bolt for the rear head.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Service manual says 3 drain locations - 2 on the front bank as you've identified, and the 3rd on the water pump by the shift lever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Yep, the water pump drain was the first one I removed.  I looked at the Service Manual and all I found was a note to refer to the Common Service Manual...which I did, but it did not show any drain bolt for the rear head/cylinders.  Still wondering what the exploded view at PartZilla.com is trying to show me?????

 

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

That's odd because I have the model specific manual, not the common service manual. Here's the page on coolant draining.

IMG_1455.PNG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

Right you are...I was wrong....I was remembering the NOTE in the box below Coolant Draining which is coolant replacement....see Common Service Manual.  I also got my paper 97 VFR Service Manual off the shelf and looked at it, which is different from the 90-96 VFR Service Manual that I downloaded from here.

 

So my next question is regarding removal of the water pump....does the engine oil need to be drained in order to remove the entire water pump?  I know I can remove the water pump cover without draining the oil, but since there is an O ring for the water pump driveshaft that mates to the oil pump, not sure if oil has to be drained or not.  I would rather not drain the oil at this time as I would rather have the engine warm first and then drain the oil.

 

Also....have removed all the PAIR stuff!  Awaiting the cover plates to arrive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

I had to change out that O ring to fix an oil leak but I already had the coolant and oil drained. According to the manual you don't need to drain the oil, just the coolant. But I'm not sure if that's for removal or disassembly only.

 

IMG_1457.thumb.PNG.ac2cdb227044f68416e96e04f72149ec.PNG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

I got to spend most of Sat (7/1) in garage working on the bike, did get to 107°F according to the thermo on the wall....so a tad bit warm.

 

My plan was to just removed the water pump cover but removed the wrong two bolts and got oil...so I was going to do an oil change soon anyways.  Good thing I had the tub that I had drained coolant into right there to catch the oil.  AND a good thing I did take the water pump apart....actually I took every coolant joint apart and found that most of the O rings had signs of coolant getting pass.....especially on the two small fittings that the hoses from the thermostat go to and the two for the water pipe....these were ready to go.

Appears that these were all original so guess one can not complain about 20 year old O rings leaking.  The O rings that were still good were the three on the two chrome pipes.

 

I also removed all the PAIR stuff, installed the blocking plates and capped the vacuum ports on the front carbs and the two at the airbox (thank you once again otmaximus).  I did remove the exhaust header to get access for the rear and then had to completely removed the rear pipes as I had to re-thread the three welded-in bolts at the rear joint.....that took about two hours to do itself.

 

Oh and one odd thing...the rear shock that I had Jamie (DMR) rebuild two years ago, the spring preload adjuster had come apart and was all jammed-up against the frame.  I needed to remove the rear shock anyways to get to the rear PAIR lines...another GOOD thing I was doing all of this work.

 

Have not filled with coolant or oil yet....getting close to getting bike all back together....another couple of hours of quality time.

 

 

Later

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer
1 hour ago, Lannyl81 said:

I did remove the exhaust header to get access for the rear and then had to completely removed the rear pipes as I had to re-thread the three welded-in bolts at the rear joint.....that took about two hours to do itself.

Plans usually don't go as, well, planned. 

 

Anyway I have to remove my exhaust on my 95 to find and fix an exhaust leak coming from the rear. Any advice or tips? Did you remove the centrestand?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member Contributer

The Honda manual says centrestand removal is required. I haven't checked what the Clymer says. But I was looking for some real world experience. I have a thread started elsewhere for this discussion.

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/85887-4th-gen-header-removal/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.