mysterious coolant leak... help please
10-14-2006, 05:41 PM
#1
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SuperBike
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,011
mysterious coolant leak... help please
ok so I went to go ride with denmah today (former superhawk owner and now current member riding team green). Well we were riding hard (have it on tape... will post later) and get to his buddies place. chill out for a few. Take his 636 out for a spin (um... I'm in love and want the older version of this...). Then get back, decide to take mine out to do a few wheelies with the camera on. Notice that my shifter is slick and get back in and notice coolant is all over my left boot, down the case, and dripping onto the ground... uh wtf... 
try hard to figure out where it is coming from. We think maybe a hose is cracked around by the thermostat. We look around some more and notice my TPS wasn't plugged in... um... oops?? Guess I forgot last time when I put it back together. take off the tank and look around and don't see anything really... Well decide to ride it the short distance home to his place with some paper towels shoved around the hose we thought was leaking. get to his place, park the bike. coolant spills out as soon as it goes onto the kickstand... I'm still confused as can be, I have a 90mile ride home in the COLD and if this is leaking it has potential to go all over my rear tire... Well we go hang out for awhile, get back I dunno 2 hours later and time for me to go... Start her up, ride home and not a single drop came off... so uh wtf... Was this maybe overflow somehow? Could the TPS not being connected affected it? Honestly it ran fine without the tps plugged in. lol
try hard to figure out where it is coming from. We think maybe a hose is cracked around by the thermostat. We look around some more and notice my TPS wasn't plugged in... um... oops?? Guess I forgot last time when I put it back together. take off the tank and look around and don't see anything really... Well decide to ride it the short distance home to his place with some paper towels shoved around the hose we thought was leaking. get to his place, park the bike. coolant spills out as soon as it goes onto the kickstand... I'm still confused as can be, I have a 90mile ride home in the COLD and if this is leaking it has potential to go all over my rear tire... Well we go hang out for awhile, get back I dunno 2 hours later and time for me to go... Start her up, ride home and not a single drop came off... so uh wtf... Was this maybe overflow somehow? Could the TPS not being connected affected it? Honestly it ran fine without the tps plugged in. lol
10-14-2006, 06:30 PM
#2
Senior Member
SuperSport
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Thornwood, NY
Posts: 817
Do you still have fluid in the overflow? Sounds like it might have leaked from there (maybe hose fell off or broke/cracked) then once it emptied out, stopped leaking on you.... Just a thought.
J.
J.
10-19-2006, 02:23 PM
#7
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SuperSport
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Sunshine Coast, Australia
Posts: 963
Mine was leaking coolant like this too, down the left hand side near your boot. It turned out to be the hose running from the thermostat housing to the rear cylinder head. In my case I was able to see it with a small torch when I was testing the system. I would suggest some careful testing will show you where the leak is before you pull it apart.
10-19-2006, 02:54 PM
#8
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SuperBike
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,011
well I could see some stuff dripping down off of the same hose that I believe you are talking about. real short one. but when I tried plugging some paper towels around that it didn't pick up anything... now maybe it just didn't get in far enough but we'll see. I'm gonna go ahead and adjust my carbs again (jet up) and put the k&N back in while I'm at it...
10-20-2006, 07:56 AM
#9
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Superstock
Join Date: May 2006
Location: New Jersey USA
Posts: 284
You can use presure tester to put the system under 15psi pressure and look where you think the leak is, should be visible, also spray soap slution on fittings and hose ends and look for bubbles. If not you can add a dye to the coolant and use a black light to show where it is. The dye is available at auto parts store. If you need to clean the coolant off any thing use boiling hot water.
10-20-2006, 09:01 PM
#12
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Springpatch, Flatland, Illinois
Posts: 114
I spent $260 at a bike shop, one day before my last track day, to find a loose hose clamp. I flat didn't have the time to mess with it, so I paid it, but, if I had had the time....
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