Coolant leak: Ever happen to you?

[tony h]

OK, I've owned this 1st generation VR for about 15 years. This never happened before.

 

Bike was in the garage for the winter, Dropped it off the center stand Saturday to take it out of the garage. Anti Freeze puddle in the front Valace. Radiator is Full but the resevoir is low. I take some plastic off to look at the coolant plumbing. Everything is dry with no signs of leakage except That Petcock thing just under the radiator where the lower radiator hose meets some steel tubes. There is wetness there. The only thing I can figure is the very cold winter we had contracted that 'O' ring enough to create some seepage.

I dried it up and filled the reservoir, and ran teh bike with no leaks.

Edited March 30, 2009 by tony h

[skydoc_17]

Hey Tony,

The O'Ring is 20+ years old and is getting tired! Take a look at this link:

 

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/1724/cat/6/date/1156391368

 

Use PB Blaster or WD40 on the screw before you remove it so you don't ring it off.

Pull the plug, replace the O'Ring, grease it up a bit and you will be good to go.

Earl

[Flyinfool]

I just did the new oring on my '88.

I got a SS screw from the hardware store and machined the end to match the old screw.

I did this on a lathe, but you could do it by putting the head of the screw in a drill chuck and then using a flat file to file it down to match.

 

The ball detent and spring vanished to who knows where.

Since the screw retains the valve is there any force trying to turn the valve while riding? Do I really need to scrounge up a new spring and ball?

[tony h]

Whew!! OK it is fairly common. I spent a lot of time on THE VENTURERS website until they decided they wanted mandatory money and I never heard of this.

 

Take the screw out, pull the Hex shaped plug out, replace 'O' ring and reinstall, That easy?

 

Is that Link for the 'O' ring PAYPAL friendly??

[jdross440]

When mine did this, I took the old oring to Autozone and they just gave me a new one. No more leaks.

[tony h]

When mine did this, I took the old oring to Autozone and they just gave me a new one. No more leaks.

Didi you have issues with this Ball and Spring? like it falling out?

[skydoc_17]

First off the O'Ring Link is PayPal friendly. Here's the deal about the ball and spring. The plastic hex plug is designed to be rotated from the coolant system being "Closed" which is where you want it when you are riding, to "Open" where you want it when you are draining the radiator coolant. The spring forces the ball into a detent that is located at two positions, Open and Closed. No matter how tight you tighten the side screw the hex nut will still rotate to the two positions. With out the ball and spring there is a chance that the hex plug will rotate to the open position. I said a chance. A lot of people overtighten the side screw thinking this will keep the hex plug from turning. it will not, but you WILL ring the screw off and it is a Bi**h to get the old side screw out. That ball is a 4mm bearing ball and I have the ball and spring new if you need them, They are not Yamaha Parts but They are what is in both my 86'VR and 87'VR and work just fine.

Earl

[tony h]

First off the O'Ring Link is PayPal friendly. Here's the deal about the ball and spring. The plastic hex plug is designed to be rotated from the coolant system being "Closed" which is where you want it when you are riding, to "Open" where you want it when you are draining the radiator coolant. The spring forces the ball into a detent that is located at two positions, Open and Closed. No matter how tight you tighten the side screw the hex nut will still rotate to the two positions. With out the ball and spring there is a chance that the hex plug will rotate to the open position. I said a chance. A lot of people overtighten the side screw thinking this will keep the hex plug from turning. it will not, but you WILL ring the screw off and it is a Bi**h to get the old side screw out. That ball is a 4mm bearing ball and I have the ball and spring new if you need them, They are not Yamaha Parts but They are what is in both my 86'VR and 87'VR and work just fine.

Earl

 

Thanks.. Yes I understand the idea of the Ball and spring working with the indent. It's funny because with all the writing on the end of the Hex... it doesn't really indicate what direction it needs to be in for Draining and Riding. You can turn teh Hex clockwise or counterclockwise all day long so how do you know which indent is for closed unless you had this plug out and saw the holes in it? When I bought the bike ( years ago) and changed the coolant I assumed the previous owner did it right so when I drained it, I rotated to teh next indent, then after filling I put it back to the next indent ( the words "ON/OFF are almost upside down).

 

Off to make a purchase

[mattevans]

Since were on this subject any one know how to get that screw out after the head breaks off. Yep, went to remove the screw and the head popped right off.

[Neil86]

Thanks.. Yes I understand the idea of the Ball and spring working with the indent. It's funny because with all the writing on the end of the Hex... it doesn't really indicate what direction it needs to be in for Draining and Riding. You can turn teh Hex clockwise or counterclockwise all day long so how do you know which indent is for closed unless you had this plug out and saw the holes in it? When I bought the bike ( years ago) and changed the coolant I assumed the previous owner did it right so when I drained it, I rotated to teh next indent, then after filling I put it back to the next indent ( the words "ON/OFF are almost upside down).

 

There should be a mark on the valve body that the plug rotates in...don't have my bike handy to verify...but by the looks of the manual its at the 2 o'clock position as you look at end of valve. You line up the OFF or ON with the mark.... I seem to recall its a dot on the valve body.

[skydoc_17]

Hey Matt,

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, Breaking off the head of that screw is a Bi**h!

I have never removed that broken screw the same way twice and I have done about ten of them so far! Here is a list of the ways I have gotten them out: Before you read the list, dround that screw in PB Blaster and let it sit for a day!

I have a right angle drill motor and I used a left hand spiral drill to back the broken screw out. I always try this first. Worked three outta' ten times.

With the right angle drill motor I drilled a hole thru the screw and used a screw extractor (easy out) to remove the screw. worked four outta' ten times.

Because this guy was in a "Hurry" using the right angle drill motor I drilled a hole thru the screw and retapped it to a 10-32 thread and put a new 10-32 screw in place of the old screw. Only used this one time because we never did get the drain plug out.

Two times, the owner of the bike came with a new drain plug and I just took a regular drill motor and drilled a 1/2 inch drill right into the drain plug, picked out the plastic rem used needle nose pliers to back the old screw out. Installed the new drain plug and my upgrade Allen head cap screw. This turned out to be the easiest method because you can use a regular drill motor but it was the most expensive because that new drain plug from Yamaha ain't cheep.

Some people will throw a grinder or a welder on a bike in a heartbeat, some people won't even change their oil themselves, I'm not sure where you fall on this scale, but if you want to PM me, between the two of us I am pretty sure we can get that baby out.

Here is the upgrade screw and O'Ring I am talking about:

 

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php/product/1724/cat/6/date/1156391368

 

Hope this helps,

Earl