Leak between Thermostat housing cover and hose

[roadie]

Was doing my annual bike wipe down and noticed a coolant leak under bike.  Ripped off the left side tupperware and confirmed some leakage where the hose connects to thermostat housing cover.  I wanted to remove the entire hose to visually inspect, but after Connie pissed about half a quart of coolant on my hands, I decided I wasn't really ready for a coolant change yet.  So tightened pushed the hose tighter against the housing, and tightened the clamp...matter of fact checked all clamps to make sure they were nice and snug.  I dried all back up inside, and will be monitoring now to make sure it stays dry.  Since I lost a bunch of coolant, I had to rip off the right side tupperware and top off the radiator (no silicates coolant...didn't have too much air in it so didn't have to burp too much).  As an added benefit, since I had the faring off, I went on ahead and loosened the radiator bolts on the top (left and right), and remove the lower bolt, which allowed me to push the radiator forward and get my telescoping ratchet in there to tighten up the header bolts.  Here are some pics if anyone is interested.  And for you old heads, if there is something else I should be checking, pls lemme know.

LEAK...notice how hose is a lil low


CLEANED and TIGHTENED.  hose moved up higher on housing cover.


Radiator bolts loosened and lower removed so I can push radiator forward for header maintenance.

[quiet and invisible]

Good pics, thanks. I'll be looking at mine soon. I've been getting that coolant smell.

[jimmymac]

Were any header bolts loose?

[roadie]

None were about to fall off but I was able to snug up a bit. I never was able to get to the center heads before, but loosening the radiator did the trick for me.

[C1xRider]

Roadie,

My 2010 was leaking there too.

Dealer fixed it under warranty.  Mechanic said some of them came from the factory with some burrs on the casting, and they needed to be cleaned off to get the hose to seal.

Anyway, doesn't leak now.

[roadie]

C1xrider...interesting. I'm going to recheck for burrs next month when I pull the 15k maintenance.  Guess wouldn't hurt to do a coolant change which I guess is gonna happen if I yank that damn hose off again.

[B.D.F.]

It will probably be a lot easier for you to drain the coolant before trying to deal with that hose. There is a drain bolt on the left hand side of the bike; take out the bolt and then crack the radiator filler cap and the coolant will all drain out of that hole. Be aware though that it will start off by spraying out nearly sideways with a vengeance- a lot of us use something like a piece of cloth to catch the stream and stop it from going so far from the bike.

If you use a clean container to catch the coolant you could even actually use it over again although for the price of new coolant I don't think I would bother. Besides that, there are lubricants and chemicals in anti- freeze that break down over time so it should be changed periodically.

Oh, and one more thing: whatever the manual says the bike will need for coolant is not even close. About 1/2 gallon is all the bike will take after draining the old coolant. I have to assume there is a lot of coolant hiding in the engine where it cannot be drained by using just the drain bolt. At any rate, it has confused a lot of us but it is consistent- the bike will not take much coolant but it will be absolutely full after taking something like the 1/2 gallon already mentioned.

Brian

C1xrider...interesting. I'm going to recheck for burrs next month when I pull the 15k maintenance.  Guess wouldn't hurt to do a coolant change which I guess is gonna happen if I yank that damn hose off again.

[Tactical_Mik]

Shoot, I had some plastic off the other day to replace my left mirror (not from a drop but inexplicably, the mounting tab attached to the mirror for the well nut was broken) and I was meaning to look around for a coolant leak.  Every once in a while I can get the slightest smell.  Oh well, it will wait I'm sure.

Good pics btw

[roadie]

It will probably be a lot easier for you to drain the coolant before trying to deal with that hose. There is a drain bolt on the left hand side of the bike; take out the bolt and then crack the radiator filler cap and the coolant will all drain out of that hole. Be aware though that it will start off by spraying out nearly sideways with a vengeance- a lot of us use something like a piece of cloth to catch the stream and stop it from going so far from the bike.

If you use a clean container to catch the coolant you could even actually use it over again although for the price of new coolant I don't think I would bother. Besides that, there are lubricants and chemicals in anti- freeze that break down over time so it should be changed periodically.

Oh, and one more thing: whatever the manual says the bike will need for coolant is not even close. About 1/2 gallon is all the bike will take after draining the old coolant. I have to assume there is a lot of coolant hiding in the engine where it cannot be drained by using just the drain bolt. At any rate, it has confused a lot of us but it is consistent- the bike will not take much coolant but it will be absolutely full after taking something like the 1/2 gallon already mentioned.

Brian

Thx Brian....def planned on following the right protocol for the total flush...good info on how much to fill her with.

[roadie]

Shoot, I had some plastic off the other day to replace my left mirror (not from a drop but inexplicably, the mounting tab attached to the mirror for the well nut was broken) and I was meaning to look around for a coolant leak.  Every once in a while I can get the slightest smell.  Oh well, it will wait I'm sure.

Good pics btw

thx dude...just plain ole iphone at work...and then cropped.

[C1xRider]

C1xrider...interesting. I'm going to recheck for burrs next month when I pull the 15k maintenance.  Guess wouldn't hurt to do a coolant change which I guess is gonna happen if I yank that damn hose off again.

I don't remember exactly what the mechanic said, but it was due to some imperfection in the casting of the aluminum.  Perhaps is was a casting seam.  I vaguely  remember him saying something about just cleaning it up with something, cleaning the inside of the hose, and reassembling it.  I do remember he was familiar with it, like it was not the first one he had seen (maybe first on a C14). 

That was last year, and it never leaked enough to drip, just constantly moist, with the intermittent faint smell of antifreeze.  It took months after I bought it to determine it was actually my bike, and to finally find the source.  The dealer fixed it while it was in for the brake rotor, as more of a 'oh by the way' thing.

[C1xRider]

It will probably be a lot easier for you to drain the coolant before trying to deal with that hose. There is a drain bolt on the left hand side of the bike; take out the bolt and then crack the radiator filler cap and the coolant will all drain out of that hole. Be aware though that it will start off by spraying out nearly sideways with a vengeance- a lot of us use something like a piece of cloth to catch the stream and stop it from going so far from the bike.

If you use a clean container to catch the coolant you could even actually use it over again although for the price of new coolant I don't think I would bother. Besides that, there are lubricants and chemicals in anti- freeze that break down over time so it should be changed periodically.

Oh, and one more thing: whatever the manual says the bike will need for coolant is not even close. About 1/2 gallon is all the bike will take after draining the old coolant. I have to assume there is a lot of coolant hiding in the engine where it cannot be drained by using just the drain bolt. At any rate, it has confused a lot of us but it is consistent- the bike will not take much coolant but it will be absolutely full after taking something like the 1/2 gallon already mentioned.

Brian

Are there any issues with bleeding the air out of the system?  On the earlier Ninjas, and even on the C10 as I recall, there was a air bleed on the thermostat housing, which was the highest point in the system.  It was difficult to get to, but required, in order to get all of the air out.  On the Ninja 250, the bike would overheat without doing that step (as my former neighbor found out).

[VirginiaJim]

There are no 'air bleed nipples' as such on this system.  Bleeding air from the system is accomplished by starting the engine with the cap removed and squeezing hoses until the air bubbles stop coming to the surface.  Then keep an eye on the overflow tank and top off as required.  I've done the change once already and all I did was pour the coolant in slowly and then button er up.  I then kept an eye on the overflow.  Had to top it off a couple of times but after that it was ok.

[Conrad]

One easy way to get the air out of the system is after you put fresh coolant back in the rad and the overflow tank is to put the overflow cap back on but leave the rad cap off. Then pressurize the overflow tank by blowing in the overflow tube (it hangs down on the left side) while watching the rad filler. When coolant starts coming out of the filler, keep blowing while you pinch the overflow tube off where it attaches to the rad filler then put the rad cap back on. Now you can release the pinched off overflow tube and fill the overflow tank as needed. 

You may need some help since the overflow tube is on the left side and the rad filler is on the right. You can pull the overflow tube over to the right side though so you can see what's going on, that's what I did.

[VirginiaJim]

Blowing, eh?  Not sure what to say about this procedure....

[roadie]

Blowing, eh?  Not sure what to say about this procedure....

LOL damn u went there!  I was gonna leave it alone. Haha

[Conrad]

Blowing, eh?  Not sure what to say about this procedure....

That's where the helper comes in...   

I knowed I'd be in for it with that remark.   

[Flathead]

Pics, or it didn't happen 

[VirginiaJim]

Believe it or not I was thinking about that mental picture on the way back home from the hospital last night and started laughing so hard I nearly had to stop....  I can just see your wife coming in to the garage and catching you in the act of 'blowing' into your coolant bottle...  There's so many things I want to say but I would have to censor myself...       Thank you so much for the entertainment.   

[Conrad]

Believe it or not I was thinking about that mental picture on the way back home from the hospital last night and started laughing so hard I nearly had to stop....  I can just see your wife coming in to the garage and catching you in the act of 'blowing' into your coolant bottle...  There's so many things I want to say but I would have to censor myself...       Thank you so much for the entertainment.   

I'm glad to hear that I was able to provide you with some amusement Jim.