Morewood Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 My '00 VFR has 77,000 trouble free miles on the clock... until last Sunday. I rode about 60 miles of curvy mountain roads and when I stopped, there was a coolant leak and lots of steam coming from under the body work. I peeled the body panels back far enough to see that the radiator and overflow tank were both empty. I topped off both and rode home slowly. When I arrived, there was a coolant leak and lots of steam coming from under the body work. I removed both side panels and discovered that the radiator and overflow tank were both empty. No surprise there. I refilled the system with water and discovered that the coolant was leaking from the forward bolts that hold the left and right crankcase covers on. Strange... I immediately assumed a head gasket issue, but when I drained the oil, there was no sign of coolant in it. Now I'm thinking the problem is with the water pump seals. The operating temp of the bike never exceeded 208 on the way back home. Your thoughts? I'm sure you have some... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highsider989 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I have a cooling system pressure tester. There is no better way to evaluate a cooling system. You need one right now. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/snn-12270?seid=srese1&gclid=CjwKEAjwpaqvBRCxzIGoxs6v2TkSJADel-MI9pY3Ojw04YTq5-IbL9booFJTgnCR6TyRxyZpECilWxoCAcLw_wcB Try this. For a small investment you will save yourself a huge amount of time. It will allow you to locate the leak without having to work on a hot bike, and potentially damaging it. Pull off the body work so you can take a good look at the huge number of hoses and connectors on the 00 VFR. Also check my post about coolant hoses, there are a few pictures that could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morewood Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Thanks Highsider, I've been meaning to buy one of those. I believe I have located the leaks, but what puzzles me is why coolant would be coming from the left and right crankcase bolt holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted September 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 5, 2015 By crankcase covers, do you mean the clutch and stator covers? Or valve covers? Coolant leaks have an insidious way of migrating along contours or components to find a lower point to drip from giving the impression the leak is where it's dripping when the source is higher up. The leak could be under the throttle body or a rad hose and it's finding its way to those points. It seems unlikely that you would have two leaks appear at the same time on opposite sides of the motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted September 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 5, 2015 If you see *continuous* temps higher than 220ºF or below 180ºF thentrouble shooting is in order:Continuous engine temps above 220ºF or 104ºC is also a problem and the properorder of items to trouble shoot are:1)Faulty radiator cap... system should hold 1.1 pressure ratio...2)Insufficient coolant...3)Passages blocked in the radiator, hose or water jacket...4)Air in the system...5)Thermostat stuck closed...6)Faulty temp meter or thermo sensor...7)Faulty fan...8)Faulty fan switch...Engine temps below 180ºF or 82ºC is an problem... it means that themoisture produced during combustion is not getting hot enough toevaporate out the pipe as steam... instead that moisture will migrateto the oil and produce a milky white contamination...Note normal by products of combustion is water... . Every gallon of gascreates roughly 8 pounds of water vapor... we all have witnessed waterescaping out of tail pipes on cold mornings...The sequence of events to trouble shoot are:1)Faulty temp meter...2)Thermostat stuck open...3)Faulty fan switch... (stuck on)Leaky Head Gasket Check...You can visual inspect for a leaking head gasket by pulling the sparkplugs and peering down each hole... if the top of the piston is blackthen no leak that cylinder... if the top of the piston is a brightshiny aluminum then leak detected... because a leaky head gasketallows coolant in and that produces steam under the heat ofcombustion... the net effect is a super clean piston dome and no nastyblack...On bike Thermostat CheckTo check if the thermostat is opening start the engine at its lowesttemp... open the rad cap... observe at what temp the coolant begins toflow... if the temp rises above 180F and the coolant does not flowthen your thermostat is suspect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morewood Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 By crankcase covers, do you mean the clutch and stator covers? Or valve covers? Coolant leaks have an insidious way of migrating along contours or components to find a lower point to drip from giving the impression the leak is where it's dripping when the source is higher up. The leak could be under the throttle body or a rad hose and it's finding its way to those points. It seems unlikely that you would have two leaks appear at the same time on opposite sides of the motor. As unlikely as it seems, the coolant was finding its way out of the forward bolt holes on the clutch and stator covers. In the case of the stator cover, it was the holes between 9 and 12 o'clock. In the case of the clutch cover, it was the holes between 12 and 6 o'clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted September 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 5, 2015 Wow - no wonder it left you puzzled. I don't recall hearing of anything like that previously. You mentioned you think you have located the leak(s). If you can share some photos, it would probably be helpful to the community if someone else ends up with the same issue. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morewood Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Great info. Thanks for taking the time to respond Busy! Leaky Head Gasket Check...You can visual inspect for a leaking head gasket by pulling the sparkplugs and peering down each hole... if the top of the piston is blackthen no leak that cylinder... if the top of the piston is a brightshiny aluminum then leak detected... because a leaky head gasketallows coolant in and that produces steam under the heat ofcombustion... the net effect is a super clean piston dome and no nastyblack...On bike Thermostat CheckTo check if the thermostat is opening start the engine at its lowesttemp... open the rad cap... observe at what temp the coolant begins toflow... if the temp rises above 180F and the coolant does not flowthen your thermostat is suspect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted September 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted September 5, 2015 After 10 years its a good idea to perform preventive maintenance under the throttle bodies..This Mr.RC45 at 50K mile mark before and after... Before AfterNot only were all the throttle bodies boots replaced but also all the hoses andO rings were also replaced for obvious reasons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morewood Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 At 77k miles and 15 years, it's probably time. Great winter project. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morewood Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Success! Coolant was NOT coming from the crank case bolts, it just appeared to be. The culprit was a small blow-out in one of the short hoses that attaches to the top of the thermostat housing. Thanks for all of your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted October 12, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted October 12, 2015 Glad you found it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thx113 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Still worth the effort to replace all the seals and orings between the V. I recently completed this on my RC36 and the V looked very much like the before photo posted previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I have a small leak around the thermostat somewhere. I am about to put in a new thermostat and all new hoses and O-rings on my 5th gen. Do you think it is necessary to buy new clamps? They are $7-$10 per clamp. Kind of expensive if you ask me. I was assuming I could just re-use the old one since they are made of metal. What's the best thing to do in this situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer paulmeisterpk Posted November 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted November 2, 2015 I re-used mine with no ill effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspanglish Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 reuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RobF Posted November 2, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted November 2, 2015 Off-topic rookie question: How did you achieve this kind of clean in this kind of area (i.e. too sensitive for a power washing, too awkward and topologically complex for a rag)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BusyLittleShop Posted November 4, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted November 4, 2015 Off-topic rookie question: How did you achieve this kind of clean in this kind of area (i.e. too sensitive for a power washing, too awkward and topologically complex for a rag)? First I hit the area with a Shop Vac and paint brush next I used an acid brush and gas and finally a 1 inch Scotch ball spun in a Dremel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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