I have found 4 drops of antifreeze if the bike is on side stand sitting on bike the front cylinder down on top of the transmission case on the chrome is where it has been I have looked and looked i can not see where it is coming from anyone have an idea or ran into this before it is not low on water not running hot and I know it is antifreeze it has a sweet taste.
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Antifreeze
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 ace20021956 |
Antifreeze |
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Posts: 169 09/18/05 6:15 AM Road Captain |
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bamaTrider |
Re: Antifreeze | #1 | ||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 3706 09/18/05 6:58 AM |
The best way I have found to find a hard to spot leak whether it be coolant or oil is to purchase a small tube of flourecent dye (about 2 bucks from Auto Zone) and add it to the radiator. The next time it leaks it will leave a trail of neon green dye. Just follow the trail to the highest point and you have the source. If it is such a small amount that it still does'n t show up then a blacklight will help illuminate it more.
I had a Suzuki that did this last year and it turned out to be the cylinders coolant drain screw on the side of the head. It had loosened up and all it needed was re-tightening. Stan |
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alans 98t |
Re: Antifreeze | #2 | ||
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HSATF Road Captain
Posts: 353 09/18/05 7:39 PM Second Officer |
A common place for the T to leak is at the tube between the cylinders. There are two O-rings that tend to leak a bit.
The anti-freeze will dripple out the cylinder and you won't see it until it accumulates on the tranny. 
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ace20021956 |
Re: Antifreeze | #3 | ||
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Posts: 169 09/19/05 6:09 AM Road Captain |
any fix for this or do i need to worry about it
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alans 98t |
Re: Antifreeze | #4 | ||
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HSATF Road Captain
Posts: 353 09/19/05 2:54 PM Second Officer |
Simple fix. If you're sure that is where it is leaking from.
The two O-rings run $5-6 at the stealer. Check around the tube with a Q-tip after running it hot and see if it's really leaking there. |
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imrocky25 |
Re: Antifreeze | #5 | ||
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Posts: 31 11/05/05 2:51 AM |
I noticed a leak this last Friday and laid the bike up for a week. I needed to rebuild the front master cylinder also. If it was one or the other I would probably have driven it.
Anyway. I have found (thanks to this forum) the leak is in that tube between the cylinders. You say it is an easy fix...let me ask you this. Do you have to take the tank off to get to those seals? My hands are not that big but they are obviously bigger than the space to get between the fins on the engine to put the seals on by hand. It is too dark now to look at it again...I scrambled during lunck to rebuild the front cylinder and glanced at the seals...I am thinking...remove the tank...possibly the carbs to get to where I need to be... Am I making this too hard? Help. A. |
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alans 98t |
Re: Antifreeze | #6 | ||
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HSATF Road Captain
Posts: 353 11/06/05 10:28 PM Second Officer |
Don't make a simple repair hard, that's my job.
You don't have to take the tank off but if you take the cooling fins off the right side you can get in there a little easier. A set of extra long needle nose plyers will R &R the clips and can be used to slide the tube around. A gasket picker ($2) makes it easy to remove the o-rings. 1 - Drain the coolant if you don't want to make a mess. 2 - Pull the fins off the right side. 3 - Remove the 2 retainer clips off the tube. 3 - Slide the tube forward to R & R the rear o-ring. 4 - Slide the tube rearward to R & R the front o-ring. 5 - Center the tube between the cylinders. 6 - Replace the retainer clips, fins and coolant. 7 - Clean your mess (if you're like me and forgot step 1) Good luck |
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BigAlsDaMan |
Re: Antifreeze | #7 | ||
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Posts: 77 03/09/06 4:28 AM Tail Gunner |
I have the same initial find today. Two small droplets of green coolant on the chrome tranny case, left side while the bike has been sitting on the side stand. I gather the most probably cause is the tube between cylinders so I will check this after I ride it tomorrow and get her warm.
How hard is this fix? the "truth" lol Thanks Big Al |
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BigAlsDaMan |
Re: Antifreeze | #8 | ||
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Posts: 77 03/09/06 4:31 AM Tail Gunner |
My coolant appears GREEN. I bought the bike used and it had been serviced by Honda of Jacksonville. Is green bad?
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bamaTrider |
Re: Antifreeze | #9 | ||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 3706 03/09/06 4:58 AM |
I'm about to do this myself. I already bought the O-rings and coolant. Yes, the coolant is supposed to be green. I hope to replace the O-rings on this tube this weekend. It's fairly simple, I'm told, if you have a good set of needlenose pliers. The local wrench says to put rubber vacuum lines on the tips of the piers to give them grip. This will help in getting the tube to move without damaging it.
Stan 1999 Ace Tourer (Silver over Black)
2000 Ace Tourer (Black & Chrome) 2000 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 (Custom) |
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BigAlsDaMan |
Re: Antifreeze | #10 | ||
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Posts: 77 03/10/06 3:28 AM Tail Gunner |
Just checking on the color thing. I read in some other discussions that it should be orange and wanted to make sure. How long has yours been leaking? Doesn't seem to affect the bike just a nuisance at this point but I know I'm gonna have to fix it before it gets hot outside
Big Al |
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bamaTrider |
Re: Antifreeze | #11 | ||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 3706 03/10/06 3:47 AM |
Al, it has leaked a few drops at a time on some days, and none on others for about 6 weeks. In fact, the weather has warmed quite a bit this week and I have'nt noticed any more leaking. More of a nuisance right now, but like you I know I've got yo fix it before hot weather sets in for good. I have not had to add any coolant yet, but I can see that the level is dropping slightly in the reserve tank. It's now down to the add mark and I don't plan to waste any more coolant by re-filling to the top. I'm going to have to fix it this week for sure. It's just hard to put the bike down with all this warm weather we are having lately. I'm trying to save all the work that needs doing on it until a rainy weekend day comes along. It's storming pretty good right now with a slight chance of tornados tonight.
 Stan 1999 Ace Tourer (Silver over Black)
2000 Ace Tourer (Black & Chrome) 2000 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 (Custom) |
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BigAlsDaMan |
Re: Antifreeze | #12 | ||
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Posts: 77 03/10/06 8:25 PM Tail Gunner |
Stan,
I know the feeling. I live in Central Florida and even though the weather is normally good, it has been extraordinarily nice lately. The wind has picked up in the last couple days but you can't ask for more than sunshine, 80 degrees and low humidity. The down side is the huge fire watch we are under because no rain this year (50% below average) and the breezes tend to help fuel the brush fires. Let me know how the repair goes. I'm gonna look to be doing it soon as well. Figure I will finish wiring my LEDs while I fix that leak. I've been installing LED's to accent the engine and frame areas and still have pods to install under the bags to light up the ground around me at night. Al |
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bamaTrider |
Re: Antifreeze | #13 | ||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 3706 03/14/06 4:45 AM |
The repair was tedious to say the least. The hardest part was getting the old o-rings off and on again. Getting them on was not that bad once I figured out a way to do it. I'll get back to you on it a little later. I have got to get to work on it tonight. It broke down on me yesterday (not related to the coolling repair). I think it may have jumped time. It backfired as I was trying to crank it after filling it with gas. It now only runs on 1 cylinder. It's getting fire on all 4 plugs and seems to have compression. I'm hoping it just blew a gasket or a line off.
Stan 1999 Ace Tourer (Silver over Black)
2000 Ace Tourer (Black & Chrome) 2000 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 (Custom) |
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Skip MMShadowT |
Re: Antifreeze | #14 | ||
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Posts: 5591 03/14/06 5:29 AM
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Bummer Stan. Man I haven't used that word in sometime.
 Let us know what you find. |
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bamaTrider |
Re: Antifreeze | #15 | ||
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HSATF 1st Officer
Posts: 3706 03/14/06 7:43 AM |
Whew! It only blew a boot off the rear carb. I had just tightened those bands last fall. Why it backfired so violently is another question. Maybe the boot was half off already, or I may have loosened it while manuvering around trying to get the o-rings on or off, who knows? The relief is that it now runs perfectly with no funny noises. Thanks to Jay (ragtop69) for suggesting that it may have blown the boot off.
Stan 1999 Ace Tourer (Silver over Black)
2000 Ace Tourer (Black & Chrome) 2000 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 (Custom) |
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