green puddle.........

[dr.nemo]

Well my 1986 venture has been in the garage on her centre stand most of the winter, start her up once every 2 weeks(approx.) let her warm up to turn on the electric cooling fans sometimes..

However today I was cleaning the garage so she had to move out, and when I put her in first gear and pulled away a small puddle of coolant spilled out from the lower fairing, from the forward motion...Now I checked the overflow tube for the rad and it doesn't seem to drain in that area, hope I am wrong, anyone else have this happen during winter storage...?

Garage only hit -10 celcius maybe for 3-5 days, normally at 0 degrees or above...

[Carbon_One]

I'd check all of your hose clamps first to be sure there's no seepage there.

Then go from there.

Larry

[Dano]

Make sure that the drain valve on the lower front cross-tube is in the off position. This is approximately 2 o'clock as you are looking at it. Mine seeped for a bit, I turned it back and forth, then set it to off, and it quit. This was last winter. Use a flashlight to look at it, it is printed with off/on on the front.

 

Good luck

 

Dan

[BJB]

Just had the same thing happen to me. Bike was on the center stand and I had it running a couple of times. Put it on the side stand, and voila' green fluid. Just finished taking all the lower fairings off and could find no leaks. I suspect that the drain plug is the culprit. Its a twisty thing that opens or closes with some sort of indent for a ball? It looks just slight damp. I had enough liquid on my garage floor to cover the bottom of a cup. Will now run it and see for sure where it is coming from. Lotsa luck finding yours.

[mother]

i have the same year bike and last season same thing, pulled away and green antifreeze coming out of lower fairing. pulled the lower farings , checked and found the rad was leaking from the backside down near the bottom. yami want 800 bucks for a rad, so i had mine recored for 200.

[Marcarl]

Could be mould from sitting too long, best put it up for sale, but let me know first.

[Marcarl]

Opps,,,,,,,,,find out where exactly it's coming from and maybe we can help. Let it sit in the same place and keep an eye on the floor. Some leak a bit now and then, and then not for a long time. Could be the rubber O-ring on the plastic elbow coming from the front of the waterpump, or could be the waterpump seal. Both are somewhat common and not expensive or hard to fix.

[big mike]

I'm not sure if first gen. ventures are set up the same as seconds, but I noticed a coolant leak on my 99 after letting it run awhile during the colder months after I shut it down. Turned out it was a leaking soft plug for draining the coolant from the engine. Very easy fix, and only $4.?? a piece from the local yamaha dealer. Good Luck.

Big Mike:thumbsup2:

[dr.nemo]

Well I am glad to hear this is quite common(unfortunately) however thanks for all the ideas I will be removing the lower fairing this week to have a better look around...

the worst of the replies was the rad from dealer....$800.00 .. that is absolutely ridiculous..

 

thanks again

 

Brian.

[Guest JGorom]

Green puddle on the garage floor...well man it is St. Patty's day today! You might have a rogue leprechaun hiding in your garage mate. Better check your beer supply...they may be trying to wash or bless your bike (depending on how you look at it) with the suds after they drink it.

[mbrood]

Mine did that for a while... turned out to be a "dead" o-ring in the thermostat housing. Just a perfect spot to drip into the chin cowl.

[ctraylor]

Mine did the same thing for a while. It would leak when cold then seal off when warmed up. I wound up being the o-ring on the drain. I removed and installed a new o-ring and have not had any more problems.

[86Royale]

Mine did the same, mostly when the temps were around 0F. I FINALLY got it out for this season's first ride today, and as I suspected, the front drain sealed off nicely and all traces of the leak were gone. You can see if this is your problem without taking anything off. Put the bike on the side stand, turn the front wheel all the way left and you can see the little plastic drain plug on the cross tube through the grating in the lower chin fairing. If it's not from there, check your clamps as said above. I found a loose clamp earlier this winter and that drain plug. Not gonna worry about the plug for now....it's time for riding!

[GeorgeS]

Check, under the Water pump, on the under side, there is a " Weep Hole". If any fluid sneaks past the Water pump shaft Seal, it will drain out here.

 

I would not worry to much untill you take it out for a run, after weather gets better.

 

It will most likley stop leaking. This is fairly common on 1st gens.

[86er]

I got my 86 for $500 (in 04) because it was leaking antifreeze (and the starter sounded weak). It turned out that the PO had laid it on it's side at an ATM. That bent the right side engine guard enough to slightly rub the elbow coming out of the water pump. After rubbing long enough, it wore a tiny hole through it. Originally I fixed it with JB Weld. That lasted a couple of years until I replaced the elbow.

 

[Grandpa]

Heck, I thought mine was just marking it's territory, like the family dog.

[Venturous Randy]

I got my 86 for $500 (in 04) because it was leaking antifreeze (and the starter sounded weak). It turned out that the PO had laid it on it's side at an ATM. That bent the right side engine guard enough to slightly rub the elbow coming out of the water pump. After rubbing long enough, it wore a tiny hole through it. Originally I fixed it with JB Weld. That lasted a couple of years until I replaced the elbow.

 

 

Todd, you have made a very good point here. When I first looked at my bike the PO had moved it around in his yard and tipped it over, pushing the right engine guard back aginst the elbow, cracking it. He had it replaced and later on I did the same thing, but it did not crack and leak. What I did then was take the right engine guard off and ground off the sharp edge that is close to the elbow. I did this because it gave it more room in that area and I did not want a minor tip over causing me to be out of commision in the middle of nowhere when it did not have to happen. Now I have at least 1/2 inch between the guard and the elbow.

RandyA

[nelsonrl]

I think I would take your poodle to the vet, green puddles are not normal.