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Why Is Coolant Coming Out Of This Hole?


jay-d

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I've had this bike for 3 years, and got it with 5,500km on it. It's now got 25,000km and when I went to get it Spring ready, I noticed a really small puddle of coolant underneath after I did my oil change and started it.

Removed the right fairing (brake side) and I notice it coming out, very very little.. like a few drops, out of this hole that's in the engine block (exact centre of image.) Can someone explain to me what's going on?

post-4528-0-78362700-1431016005.jpg

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I think that's a drain for the "valley" between the two cylinder banks. You have a coolant leak somewhere that is pooling in the area under the throttle bodies.

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You have a leaky hose in the vee between the cylinders, around the thermostat housing.

First thing to do is snug up all the hose clamps on all of the joints, rinse the area with clean water, and watch to see if the leak reappears.

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There's like a small area between the V of the engine, below the throttle body. The big black coolant pipe goes into a housing that has the thermostat in there and then that goes further out into a few places. It's possible one of the clamps isn't too tight and you're leaking coolant in there somewhere. I had the same issue.

If you pull the airbox you may be able to tighten down some clamps through the throttle body depending on their orientation.

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They coolant hoses from the front & rear heads merge at the thermostat in like a Y, there are two further hoses that run from the thermostat, one to the coolant pump to recirculate head coolant before the thermostat opens & a thermostat bleed hose that goes to the inside front edge of the right rad, to vent air from the thermostat housing when filling the system or if any bubbles get into the system.

The head coolant hoses are now very old on your 6th gen, they were perished on my 5th after 10years. When I tried to tighten them the cords in the hose started to shear, so replacement was the only option. There are a total of 5 connections on the thermostat & one to each head. Plus the head has 2 bolted on 90degree ports, these are sealed with o-rings & have been known to leak due to alloy corrosion &/or o-ring failure, plus a couple have suffered hair line cracks of the port itself.

So any of those parts could be leaking. You need to lift the tank, remove the airbox & then remove the throttle bodies to access this area.

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The head coolant hoses are now very old on your 6th gen, they were perished on my 5th after 10years.

17+ years on, the ones on my 4th gen are still intact (and I was too cheap to fork out on SAMCO's...)

post-8974-0-12627600-1431084064.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

i'm having the exact same issue with coolant coming out of that hole. and its driving me insane. am i for sure going to have to remove the throttle bodies? if so does anyone have a link to a good thread about that? i assume a new gasket is mandatory?

then what am i even going to see under there? am i going to have to replace the hoses as well? i cant seem to diagnose where the leak is with the TBs on but god i really dont want to take them off....

and tricks or hints??

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You really cannot reach the hose clamps any other way.

Have a good look in there with a flashlight and you'll see.

I had a cracked coolant elbow under there and must have had the throttle bodies off 5 or 6 times trying to troubleshoot it.

In the end, I was popping them out of their boots and leaning the whole throttle body assembly 90 degrees up and to the left side (as opposed to removing it entirely) of the bike while leaving as much attached for wires and cables as possible.

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Ah.. ok awesome, seems like a simple fix then, thank you!

Methinks you may have spoken too soon. :wacko:

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Ah.. ok awesome, seems like a simple fix then, thank you!

Methinks you may have spoken too soon. :wacko:

+1...

any links to a thread on popping off the throttle bodies somewhat easily?

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I had the same problem on my '04 and it turned out to be pitting corrosion on one of the fittings. Tightening the clamp would not work. Don't remember which one it was but it was way down in the V and I did have to take the throttle bodies off to get at it. Cleaned up the part, filled the pits with JB weld, put a piece of tape over it while it set, then after it was hardened I removed the tape and made sure the part where the hose fits was nice and smooth. It has been working for I'd guess about 6 years now.

Look up threads for cam chain tensioner. One of them has pics and tips for removing the throttle bodies.

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Ah.. ok awesome, seems like a simple fix then, thank you!

Methinks you may have spoken too soon. :wacko:

Haha.. not at all. Took off the tank and throttle body in about 45 min, not difficult at all.. just a lot of shit to disconnect.

Now, there's so many hoses in there, finding the leaky one is going to be the challenge!

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RedRicer, I will be creating a tutorial with pictures once I get all my new parts on how to take the throttle bodies off, change coolant, as well as thermostat.

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Replace all hoses and with new hose clamps while in there. I had a reused hose clamp fail, not worth saving a few $ having to remove throttle boddies again!!

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RedRicer, I will be creating a tutorial with pictures once I get all my new parts on how to take the throttle bodies off, change coolant, as well as thermostat.

Still sounds like a pita to me. :blink:

But, do make a tutorial, they can be a big help. :warranty:

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Still sounds like a pita to me. :blink:

But, do make a tutorial, they can be a big help. :warranty:

Haha.. it's really not! There's just a lot of stuff to disconnect, and the only speciality tool you need is a super long #2 philips screw driver. The smallest you can use is 8" which is what I had on hand, but 10" would be ideal.

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Wtf Canada!

All hoses are back ordered until end of July! Such bullshit!

Does anyone know a place online I can purchase said parts? I can't wait until the end of July :(

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Wtf Canada!

All hoses are back ordered until end of July! Such bullshit!

Does anyone know a place online I can purchase said parts? I can't wait until the end of July :(

See if a USA supplier has them - and find a "friend" at TMAC that'll receive the hoses for you at the hotel, and bring them back for you. OR - look for aftermarket hoses - I believe SAMCO is a name that stands out.

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Wtf Canada!

All hoses are back ordered until end of July! Such bullshit!

Does anyone know a place online I can purchase said parts? I can't wait until the end of July :(

If those 6th gen coolant hoses are the same as the 5th gen right there, then there is no need at all to wait for the OEM parts. Just order or buy locally a piece of 19mm (3/4") ID silicone (preferably) or rubber coolant hose and cut to the same length as the old ones. There is a slight bend, but straight hose works fine here. I would recommend replacing the o-rings between the coolant elbows and the cylinder head while you are in there. They are cheap (if you can get them) and easy to replace while you have the whole TB assembly out.

Mohawk did it here: http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/33383-VFR800-5th-Gen-10-Year-Update-Project?s=37dcbfe4b7fd8e311ab6afd5a5d591ed&p=308499&viewfull=1#post308499

And I just did it on mine without any problem.

Edit - Those coolant hoses are identical on 5th/6th gens per the parts fiche.

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I would recommend replacing the o-rings between the coolant elbows and the cylinder head while you are in there. They are cheap (if you can get them) and easy to replace while you have the whole TB assembly out.

What do you mean by this? I didn't see any o-rings.. ??

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The stubs on the heads are the elbows, that the short hoses attach to between head & T-stat. The Elbow is attached with 2 bolts to the head & has an O-ring to seal it to the head. the advice was that as you are in there, you might as well replace !

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The stubs on the heads are the elbows, that the short hoses attach to between head & T-stat. The Elbow is attached with 2 bolts to the head & has an O-ring to seal it to the head. the advice was that as you are in there, you might as well replace !

Ah! I get it now.. hah!

Thanks for the write up Mohawk, however being in Canada, parts are such a bitch to find.

My hoses aren't dried or rotted in anyway, they're super soft, there's no corrosion on any joints so I'm thinking they just needed to be tightened up and I have a feeling it might be the thermostat gasket as there's a little dirt everywhere except this one part where it's super shiny.

I can get the thermostat gasket so I'm going to go ahead and do that and if it fixes it, great, if not, I don't mind ripping it all apart again as it was pretty straight forward for me.

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