Coolant Smell

[Squeeze]

Just mount the whole Vmax Engine in your Ride ... You need to exchange the Shift Shaft and the Water Gallery on the Front, depending on the Year maybe the Rotor/Ign.-Pickup...

While you at it, mount the solid Motor Mounts ... If you use the smaller Vmax Battery Pot and the Battery, you can use the Vmax Airbox. Fitting the VR Fake Tank Cover might need a Solution. Hooking uo the V-Boost Controller is only three Wires, Plus, Ground and the negative of one Coil. grey, white orange, whatever is in reach.

 

Your Coolant Smell might be gone by then ...

 

 

 

:bluesbrother:

[GeorgeS]

Ok, You recently bought this bike. It Only has 15,000 miles on it. Thats almost Just broken in !! ( I'm not jokeing here ) So, this particular 89 Venture has just been sitting around for that last 20 Years !!!!! Gaskets get old, Rubber O-Rings, get hard. etc etc etc.

 

My suggestion at this point, is put it all back together and Go for a Ride, About 100 miles or more on Sat. and Sunday, for the next 4 Weeks. Then Re-Evaluate the situation

 

Also, It does not have enough Miles on it yet to have Run Up, against All of the Known Problems with these bikes.

 

I have a list , if your interested.

 

Under that Rear Cover, left side, there are a couple, Items that leak oil. the Shift Shaft O-Ring is one of them. ( where the shaft goes Into the Case )

 

Also, there is the Shift Position Indicator Switch, located close to the Clutch Slave Cylinder. This Switch has a gasket, that might be leaking oil.

 

Also, the Lower Allen head Bolt, holding the Rear, Left Side cover, has a Brass O-Ring, That might be crushed, If so, Oil can leak out of the bottom of rear cover, because that Bolt, is Actualy an Oil Drain for the Rear Section of the Crank Case.

( Replace the Brass Crush Washer , just to be sure its good )

( Replace the Rear Case Cover Gasket Also )

 

I have leaks under my Left Side, rear Case, have never been able to fix, So I just don't worry about it anymore.

 

Another source of Leaking Oil, is the Drive Shaft Seal, on the Pumpkin. IF, it goes bad, the SAE-90 Oil In pumpkin will get into the Drive Shaft, houseing, run forward, and Leak out a Drain Hole, in the Rubber Boot that covers the U-Joint of the Drive shaft. This oil will Drip on the HOT Exhaust sytem. ( I don't think this is your problem, but something to check for )

 

Anyway, Take the thing out and drive IT HARD, for a few hundred miles, and see what happens.

 

If its Sunny next Sunday, drop me a message, We can go rideing !!!

[Dakota]

George, thanks for the offer and I may take you up on it! Right now the bike is sitting on a lift at school. My instructor is just as stumped as I am, but is going to get ahold of the Yamaha rep to see if he has any ideas of where to get a better diagram or the cooling system flow and what the water jacket joints and there 3 o rings do. The speed o stating only 15000 and having this problem makes me believe that the guy I bought it from switched out the speed O before selling it, what 1989 cruiser has that little mileage on it. Also it's a coolent smell, not oil, but I have checked re checked and re checked for any form of leak, but again the guy I bought it from said that he had been using it for a daily rider so it hadn't been sitting and the smell was there when I bought it. It has been sitting alot since then only to be started once or twice a month for 20 to 30 min. I may pull the joints and replace the O rings.

[Condor]

I'm curious. If you just smell coolant, and the pressure test looked good, the only place that coolant can come from, that is not pressurized, is the overflow line or the coolant bottle. Have you checked them for leaks? Also a bad radiator cap can also cause excessive coolant to boil out into the bottle. Maybe??

[Squeeze]

I'm sorry to say, your Nose might be compromised....

 

You did the Leak Test and found nothing. The Head Gaskets usually don't let go, much less the Heads are known for Cracks, but you already ruled them out anyway. If there's an O-Ring leaking in the Water Joints, you'll find the Coolant in the Oil, not outside. The only other water carrying Parts outside are the Hoses coming from the Heads returning the Coolant to the Collector and then back to the Radiator plus four Covers right next to the Cylinders and the "Twinkie".

 

If all these Things all are dry, there's no Way which the Coolant could get into the Combustion Chambers on a Cylinder or hit the Downpipes or the Collector....

 

Well ... except the "Twinkie" is leaking Coolant into the Engine Breather Hose and this is sucked up into the Airbox and is burned with the Mixture .....

 

Just some Food for Thought ...

 

 

Btw, you can download the Shop Manual here in the Tech Section. There's a good Chart about Coolant Flow as well as an Oil Chart inside the Manual.

[Dakota]

Condor, I think the only thing I haven't check is the radiator cap, but the the hoses and fitting on the bottle are good.

 

Squeeze, About my nose, I was thinking that also, that's why I took it into class to see if anyone else could smell what I did. I ran it till it warmed up and then asked other students to tell me if they smelled anything,(without telling them), and they did also, so did the instructor. Now for, "except the "Twinkie" is leaking Coolant into the Engine Breather Hose and this is sucked up into the Airbox and is burned with the Mixture", this is still something I need to check and will do tomorrow during class, if there is some free time. I also have the Service Manual on pdf and hardback and have used it a lot in class for job sheets we were doing, including the coolant system.

 

I know this is a wierd one, but my nose knows that what I'm smelling is in fact coolant. I will find where it's coming from.

[Squeeze]

I don't doubt your Nose, it was Kind of a Joke.

 

I just reread your Posts and i'd suggest to ride the Heck out of that Bike before you dig too deep into searching a Problem which might be gone after a good Days Ride. The Bike sat for a long Time. I'd suggest you take George upon his Word and go for a nice little Ride througout the Back Roads of your Neighborhood.

 

If there's a real Problem, it will show it's Head, but it's possible all you see, hear and smell will be gone, or at least has changed to are more recent State, you can proceed from there.

 

You can't get the Motor up in it's Operating Temperature without riding it. This may be the Key ... Ride it like you stole it ...

[Pappa Bear]

Wow, comming from Squeeze that sounds like a big green light to let that motor crank some!!! Hey Squeeze can you just say that for me and I will save it till the weather breaks here then ride mine like I stole it!!!! He may have a overflow tube routed wrong causing it to puddle up somewhere on the motor and not dripping down to the ground:detective:

[friesman]

After Rocket rebuilt my 85 last year, I could smell coolant for a couple of days and like the guys here said I took it out a rode it hard and got everything all heated up and burnt off. I really think it msut have been some spilled coolant on the engine that never really fully got burned off until after a real good run. I looked for my leak for a few days as well and I was glad for these guys advice.

 

Brian

[Squeeze]

Sure, may have .... might have .... could be .... all too much of Guessing. It seems all what a Wrencher can do to find this Problem is done. As we all know, these Engines are pretty much bullet proof, so why not let it work as it should.

 

This poor Motor has to work something after one and a half Year existing in Humiliation, have him pull form mid RpM's up to 6.5 k on a middle Grip Position, then continue to raise the Load and the Power all the Way up to red Line at WOT ...

 

Then it's either the Culprit stops or shows what's wrong. Easy Task for a Venture Rider ...

 

Pappa Bear, hold it ... two more Weeks or so, and you're hopefully good to go also. I'll get my 1Gen Max out tomorrow for the first Time this Year. Altough Rain is predicted, me and the Max can't stand it anymore.

[Condor]

Just one more thought. Could there be a microscopic leak in the radiator??

[Dakota]

Condor, before taking the bike into school, I bought a radiator pressure testing kit and tested it at 8psi for 3 1/2 hrs and it help up. Today at school I did the test agian at 10psi for 40 min. and still held the pressure. In the service manual it states to do this test at 14psi and my instructor asked why I didn't, when I told him that I got the advice from out here, he said, "go with that then"! He's as stumbed as everyone else. I'll be rewiring the sidecar in the garage this weekend, so next week, I'll trailer the VR back home and get the fairings back on it and get with George and ride the hell out it. See if that cures it. I may take it up to the car wash first and carefully spray the front of the radiator and the underside of the motor to wash away any coolant residue that may be lurking.

[Condor]

I may take it up to the car wash first and carefully spray the front of the radiator and the underside of the motor to wash away any coolant residue that may be lurking.

 

I wouldn't suggest getting too carried away at the carwash. Generally any pin hole leak will build up coolant residue as it evaporates. You might wash away any signs and wonders of where the smell coming from. I'd leave it dirty and look for a clean spot...

[Dakota]

I can do that!

[GeorgeS]

A very small leak, thats dripping on A HOT Spot, and evaporating, causeing a big stink !!!

 

Dimes to doughnuts, it will stop leaking after some hard runs. Might take a few weeks, though. Bye then you will have forgotten about it !!!

[wes0778]

Originally Posted by Dakota http://venturerider.org/forum/images/buttons/viewpost.gif

I may take it up to the car wash first and carefully spray the front of the radiator and the underside of the motor to wash away any coolant residue that may be lurking.

 

Be Careful at the carwash, as the high pressure can fold over the fins on your radiator. Not a good thing!!!

[Pappa Bear]

Something else Ive heard people doing is to put talcum powder on the motor at any suspicious areas and sit back and watch, any leak will discolor the white powder thus making a hopefully easier find!! Just a thought

[Dakota]

I've used Arrid Extra Dry spray on deodorant in the past. Found it's easier to spray up then throw the power up.