Leaking Coolant
 

My VTR has been leaking coolant off and on for a while now but is getting worse. It has been sitting unsused for about a month and yet when I came out the other day there was a trail of coolant across the ground. I have taken the fairings off and it is running down from somewere around/under the overflow tank area. It is hard to see into that area to see if it is coming from the tank itself, or just in the vicinity. Has anyone experienced a similar problem or has any advise?

Cheers
Dale

yeah, me too. Let me know how it turns out. I can't find it yet.

you may have to pull up the tank,take off the air box and check underneath the carbs,there is lines from the cooling system that flows thru the carbs.
you might have to pull the carbs off to see any wetness/holes,cracks in lines,check the water jug to.could be dry rotted but i doubt it.
there is several lines around there for the cooling system.the only way to check them all is pulling the air box and carbs.the thermostat sits on the left side of motor or behind the water jug,be sure to check that too.

Thanks. Doesnt appear to be around the thermostat but will have a good look. I have looked at the workshop manual and wasnt all that excited about what was involved to pull the carbs off but may have to go there.

I do have a problem when doing track days under hard braking and dropping into a hard left handing going down to one cylinder so probs is about time to get the carbs off.

I have brought a new Daytona 675 that I now use for track days but the Honda is just great for two up riding which my partner and I do a lot of. The trumpy definetley not a two up bike. Need to find the coolant leak so we can both get back out on her!

Thanks for the advise Saige

once you get the air box off,it will be a better view of the lines,there is the carb boots with clamp screws,just undo the top screw of each boot.
make sure nothing is in way or any wires of such,and disconnect the throttle cable before pulling.leave all cooling system hoses on the carb.
pull up on carbs,but just enought to get off boots,you wanna leave the cooling lines on,if you unscrew or loosen before carbs are off,everything will get wet,than it will make harder to find leak.
you will have some wiggle room with lines attached,just take your time and make sure nothing will get damaged while pulling on carbs.
check,double check and check again before moving forward.its the small stuff thats a pain to replace. good luck.


p.s. it is best to pull the tank off completely,dont forget to turn off petcock and mark all hoses on tank so they go back in right place.

Yep been there done that. Last time put the vacuum hose on a blank and wondered why would only go about a km at a time without it dying :D

I had the overflow tank split a few years back, so if you can't find any loose lines you might want to check the tank itself.

As for the running one one cylinder after hard braking, what year is the bike?

It is a 2000 model.

Water pump weep hole is worth checking. Mine will leak at the first few start ups after it has been parked for a year (3 deployments in the last few years, so it's a reoccurring issue :lol:) Once I run it a few times no more leak. I also had a small trickle of coolant this last week.. caused by a leaking carb coolant line. Replaced line and used new clamps, no more leak. Hose had just gotten hard and would not seal.

Cheers. Have checked the water pump weep hole and all dry so lools like I am heading down the path of taking the fuel tank, aircleaner etc off so I can check the hoses in that area as has been suggested. Oh well, it is a nice sunny day to be doing that sort of thing but ... I would rather be out riding!!!

Pull off the shark lower, and look at the inspection hole near the water pump, make sure its not coming out of there, if so you need to replace your mechanical seal!

I was just asking because the '98s had a problem with that very thing. The service bulletin from Honda had you remove the bowl vent lines from the carb stays (where they end up crossing between the carbs) and route them down on the outside of the carb stays.

This might work in your situation but I belive they made the holes in the stays a bit larger in the '99 and later models so it might not help in you situation.