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Showing results for tags 'coolant'.
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Hi all new member and new RSV owner. Picked up an 04 with 6000 miles on it, looks great, carbs were a bit dirty and pissing gas at first. After a few cleaning attempts they opened up and the thing drove great for about 700 miles. Yesterday I started bogging down after I push it up a bit at highway speed. I lose power, stop riding, wait a few minutes then it starts again pretty fine, except it's backfiring out of the right pipe only when I rev it a bit. This leads me to believe that one of the carbs is flooding when I open up on the highway. This is a bike that sat for about 10 years unused, so I can get if something was making it's way through the fuel system. Would the ignition cables have gotten old from sitting and maybe one of them stop firing at speed all of a sudden? My next consideration is that it's all getting pretty hot. I'm not seeing any warning light, and I wouldn't be getting paranoid if I didn't notice how low the coolant was in it after buying. I topped it up with mixable coolant, but it made me realize, I've never heard a radiator fan on this thing. I've only ever had one other liquid cooled bike and that blower came on as soon as I turned the ignition key. I think I read somewhere that this one only kicks in when a sensor tells it that it's hot enough, but even after riding an hour I pull into a gas station and cut the engine, there's no blower running. Is there a chance my cooling system / warning light is not working and the whole thing is just overheating? Currently stuck in a small town on the Wisconsin/Illinois border so any insight is much appreciated. I'll probably have the tank off today in my motel parking lot but any tips or thoughts of something to look for would be a huge help, thanks! - Jesse
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The temp has been 102 the last couple days. I've got a 45 min commute to work (mostly interstate). The last 2 days, when I pull up in the parking lot, I can smell antifreeze. These are the times when I wish I could see the engine temp like I could on my last 5 motorcycles. The bike is not leaking any coolant that I can see. It's not smoking. I don't feel any change in performance. Is there any way I can find out if the motor is running too hot? What would y'all do if you smelled antifreeze after a long, hot ride??
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ok so new to me bike 97 royal star ran fine during test ride no problems get it off the trailer and here we go clutch master cylinder goes out on me on my way to school make it back home somehow coolant spewing from under my seat soooooo here are the pics doesnt look like the oil so im ruling out head gasket correct? but look at my finger and the coolant tank and cap ..... is it the water pump? do replace the whole pump or just the seal? who will be the winner? thank you in advance for your help .
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I found this thread about the correct positioning of the coolant bypass valve with a couple of images of the valve that snaggletooth posted (thanks snaggletooth) and thought I would check mine since I checked the fan already and it's working. I found that my valve needs to be turned a little further to be fully in the off position, but what I also saw was that there is no plug in the small holes on the top and left of the valve and I know there never have been since I've owned the bike any way, 10 years or so. The valve in the other thread shows a screw plugging the left hole but I can't see the top. Also, I've only drained the coolant in this thing twice in the past 7 or 8 years and I drained the old coolant by pulling the hose off the top of this valve. Should I pull the bypass valve to drain old coolant, and how does the valve come out of the valve-body for draining? Turning the valve always makes me nervous. It's hard to turn and really creaks and I'm always afraid of breaking it.
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Along with a mysterious oil drip, my 2006 RSTD now features a coolant leak. I doubt it is the radiator, but that's where the leak manifests. There looks like a in front trickle, and I've seen fluid on that stem thing on the top. The trickle seems to come from the stem thing. (See photos) I've looked for visible wetness up top, but can't see any from the sides. I do see "steam" coming from low down... could that condense up top? Before I tear into that front end mess, does this ring a bell with someone? Dave
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Hi folks.. Yesterday I had the bike parked outside in the cold for a few hours while cleaning out the garage (30'F or less with the winds?). Today I noticed a noticeable green coolant fluid puddle under the bike, about the size of your flat hand on the floor.. I pulled the cooling fins off the front right cylinder and saw where coolant leaked out of the hole (as seen in photo). I think this is the frost plug? The bike was not run that day nor were any leaks apparent before. I pulled the other three covers off and saw the same thing but not as much fluid leaked out as on the front right cylinder.. Best that I can tell the majority of the fluid on the floor came from this cylinder. What's the remedy for this, a quick fix or an expensive repair etc? Any info would be highly appreciated.. Thanks in advance.
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I've had my 1990 Venture about 1/2 a year and put about 5000 miles on so far, no major trouble. However, a few days ago I took a 60 mile trip up I-25 to Denver, 95+ degree heat and 85+ mph most of the way. When The interstate traffic slowed considerably I exited and took city streets the last 10-20 miles. The temp gauge was very close to the red zone for most of the city streets, and was just a little cooler when hammering down the highway. After a few hours I left Denver the temps were cooler, I rode a little slower and the temps were normal and cycle run fine. It has 32,000 miles and coolant level is at the full mark. I beleive the engine fan works. Fuel milage that trip was 37mpg. So, Are these engine temperture extremes normal? Should I be concerned? How do these cycles run in 110 degree weather? (I'll be moving to South CA desert in a few months). Should I look into some service or maintenance work? later, Roy
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Just My luck....going to be near 75 tomorrow, was going to ride the bike to church in the A.M. and then go for a ride. Went in the shop to check on the bike and found a coolant leak around the left rear cylinder cover. Pulled the side cover and discovered, it appears that the plug is leaking. There are threads in the plug but no bolt. Is there supposed to be a bolt that holds the plug in ? If so what size? Thanks, Mel
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So, it looks like there is a very slight seeping leak around the top of the thermostat housing. But, the biggest leak that showed up is where the tube that comes between the "valve" and goes into the side of the thermostat housing. This seems to be a pretty good leak that just started after changing the coolant. Is there a "kit" that has all the o-rings and gaskets for the thermostat housing, or do I need to purchase each one separately ? Any input from others that have done this, what looks like a real pain in the @$$ job ?
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Ok so I had the coolant leak at the drain valve, so I repair that with sky_docs kit. No more leaking there. When I leave the bike sit overnight there is nothing leaking, until I start it, then it leaks a little and stops. Will not leak any more the rest of the day no matter how long it sits, or how cool the outside temp is. Did not have this leak before. Any ideas? I am going to pull the lower chin fairing off tomorrow before I start it to see where it is coming from. has anyone had this happen before?
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I'm doing my valve check on my 2005 Midnight Venture tomorrow and have a question.I got the bike seat,tank,air filters,surge tanks and carbs off.Next is draining the coolant.The manual says to take off the side covers,one of the mufflers and remove the exhaust pipe from the #4 cylinder.Is all that REALLY necessary to drain the coolant?
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I added some coolant to the small tank it was empty the radator is full and over night the small tank was empty, and the oil level was up. I changed the oil refilled the small tank to the full mark took it for a ride and it was pushing the coolant back into the small tank to where it would over flow. There is no white smoke from the exsust and it runs fine. I am hopeing that this wasnt the reason for the PO to trade it off. I Talked with the PO and he told me that he had just put a new thermotat and cap on the radiator. There is no coolant on the floor. Am I looking at a blown head gasket or could the water pump be leaking on the inside or the cylinder water jacket joint. Orlin -
How do these come out. If one goes bad will it leak coolant into the oil and not leak to the outside by the spark plug. I noticed that the coolant level went down and added some and noticed that the oil level has came up. I just got this cycle and I hope that it is not junk it still sounds good no bearing noise so maybe I have caught this early enough. Orlin
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My bike is burning coolant out the left pipe as you are sitting on the bike. I have not had a chance to determine which cylinder it is yet. Just a quick question for any one who may have seen this problem. Does the coolant circulate thru the head and jugs or just the jugs? Has any one had this problem with a second generation motor. I ride an 05 RSTD. Thanks in advance. kickshot
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I am feeling rather foolish to have to ask this -- but I don't have a Clymers manual for my 85 Royale as of yet... I need to check the trany fluid level -- and my feeble brain can't figure it out. I had noticed some leakage about a week and a half ago after bringing the bike up to where I am staying during the week. It was on the right side dripping off the exhaust pipe -- which was strange since it was leaning left on the kick stand. It did not leak directly after parking it, but a few days later after having sat without being run. It has since stopped the leaking... I do have it on the center stand now and the engine oil is very near the top line in the sight glass so I don't think it was engine oil unless that had been over filled. The coolant is where it should be (don't think it was coolant anyway) so the only thing left is the transmission... Would someone point a quasi weekend mechanic in the right direction? Thanks Scott -
Just read through threads about flushing my radiator. What I couldn't find was any answers on if you can use a radiator flush cleaner first before refilling. I have seen where water is used to flush several times before filling with a coolant for aluminum engines. What about a cleaning type radiator flush ?
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My new to me 86 has been sitting for at least 4 years. The previous owner only put 400 miles on it last year. Before that the owner died and his wife kept it 3 years before selling it. I don"t know when the last time the radiator has been flushed and the coolant changed so i want to do that before i get into the meat of the riding season. In my owners manual it shows two point to drain the system. a coolant drain cock coming down off the radiator and a drain plug under the water pump. My question: Which of these two points do members use to drain their coolant? Is the drain cock plastic? will it break? or is the plug under the water pump easier to get to and open? I'd love to know who has used either or both and could you only use one or the other? Thanks.
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As I get into restoring my 84 VR, it has been recommended that I replace all the fluids. So, which ones do you recommend and where have you found is the best place to get them? Specifically thinking: oil, final gear, coolant, etc. Again, an really new and trying to get up to speed as quick as possible. Thanks, Mark
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Can't seem to find a thread on this. Does anyone use engine ice as their coolant in the RSV?
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So you just acquired an old Venture/Venture Royale. Stop right there Mister! Unless you heard it running, and even if you did, there are things you need to know before it travels another 10 yards, unless you are pushing it. The 1983-93 Ventures are among the most reliable and best handling Full Dress Tourers of their era. There are, however, things to know and do if you want to get anywhere close to the legendary 250k miles on it. The Venture, especially the earlier 1200 had very few real issues, but there are two things to check before you proceed. The first is the rear subframe that had a nasty habit of cracking under stress. Check all around the rear suspension, and clean off the oily bits so you can assure yourself this is not a problem with the one you have. The later models do not have this problem. Second gear is weak too on those bikes. If you rode it and it jumped out of second under acceleration, then yours is suffering. You have two choices. You can use the info on this site and in the Manual to rebuild the transmission, or you can change straight from first to third and forget about it. Other than that, any foibles are minor and are associated more with age than anything else. Before you even shell out the hard-earned there are a number of things easily checkable. Good plastic parts are rare and expensive. Repairing cracks in fairings, replacing broken tabs isn’t difficult, but it is time-consuming and should be reflected in the price. The engines are pretty bullet-proof. Like with cars, it is the bodywork that sells these bikes and top dollar should only ever be paid for one with a fairing and cases that are close to perfect. There is lots of pain doing it any other way. If the bike comes with lots of verifiable service history then the mileage is irrelevant. If it doesn’t then you need to do some work before it runs. You can check that the coolant is topped up and clean before you buy. If it is low, or gone, or brown then you have a neglected pile of iron, and bid accordingly. Be aware that coolant leaks can all be fixed, at a price. I know this because mine leaked coolant everywhere, and it cost me to fix it. O-rings at $3 apiece are a minor purchase, until you start counting just how many of them there are! If the cooling system is in good order then the fan will fully control the temperature within the green zone in any weather, at a standstill. Some early bikes had poorly calibrated temp. gauges and they climb nearly to the red, but they should never actually get there. If the gauge reaches the red zone, then a cooling system rebuild will be needed (and some of it should be done anyway). Draining, flushing, cleaning out the radiator and physically cleaning the smaller pipes is a must. Sediment gathers there and flushing won’t shift it. Once that is done, regularly changing the coolant and flushing will keep it clean. Now we can keep it cool, we can think about getting it hot. Before that the oil and filter need changing, and the air filter needs cleaning and/or replacing. K&N make one which can be had for around $50 with careful shopping. You will never need another. If your bike came with one, have a beer to celebrate. When you change the oil for the first time, what comes out will tell you much about the bike’s history. Firstly, about three quarts should come out! It should not be black nor have any metal bits in it. Any “foam” … like mayo, around the filler, filter or anywhere else tells you that water is going where no water should ever go. Waterpump shaft seals, headgaskets and the frail cylinder head connectors can all leak and cause this. About those plastic pipe connectors. There are two of them. They do not come out in one piece and are about $20 each. Each has three of the aforementioned o-rings. Do the math. So the oil should be plentiful, free of slivery streaks and wrist pin clips, and dark but not too black. It should not have gasoline in it either (rare). If it is like that then change the filter and fill it up. Do not overfill it. About halfway up the sight glass is plenty. Anymore and it will be spraying through the breather and all over your beautiful new air filter. Have another beer, you have a good motor. Leaks around the valve covers are common and not a big issue. Oil pouring out is a big issue. The original gaskets were poor but better replacements can be easily sourced. If any of the sixteen bolts holding the covers down is leaking, replace the rubber. If you try to tighten them down to fix a leak you will, over time, simply make it worse. If you are going to replace these gaskets then that is a good time to check the valve clearances. If they are uneven, especially if they are “tight”, then they need adjusting. This is fiddly but not hard and you can borrow the tool from members here. Replace the plugs and, if the plug wires are original, remove the caps and snip ¼” off the wire. Check the cap resistance. It should be 10k Ohms. Trying to fix dodgy caps is fraught with difficulties. I would get new ones. Moving on to the fuel supply. There is a hard to get to filter behind the fuel pump on the lower left of the bike. Change it. Cut the old one open and inspect the contents. A little bit of brown deposit is to be expected, but brown sludge or obvious rust means that the tank is suffering. Most of the tank can be cleaned on the bike there is enough access through the various ports. You did look down the filler for heavy rusting before you brought it home? It takes about five minutes to get the tank off my Triple, and about four hours (if you know what you are doing) to get the tank off the Venture. The petcock is likely to be stiff. Move it to “reserve” and leave it there. Use the gas gauge which is accurate, and carry a small MSR Fuel Bottle in the side case. That will get you a few miles if you run out. Be aware that leaking petcocks are a nightmare. Rebuilding one with new filters and seals will cost around $40. A new one can be had from about $54 up to $75, depending on where you buy. While you are down there, the gas pipe has a very sharp bend and could be quite close to needing replacing. While you were doing all of that charge the battery. If it looks old it probably is. Have it load tested or replace it. So …. We have fresh oil, fresh gas, new plugs and no obvious signs of distress. The coolant is clean and topped off and the battery charged. Turn the key, wait a couple of seconds and hit the starter. Unless it’s cold you will need little or no choke. Leave the throttle completely alone until the engine is running. Run the engine for no more than fifteen seconds then shut it off. Now feel each of the exhaust headers, carefully. They should all be warm. If one or more remains cold then the respective cylinder(s) are not firing. If they are all warm, then start it up again. Go quickly around the bike as it warms up looking for anything amiss. What you do not want to see are oil, fuel or coolant leaks. There will be a bit of smoke as it warms, but not much. There should be none from the exhaust. While we are on the exhaust …. One in poor shape will cost. Just the gaskets in the system add up to a hefty $100 if you need to replace them all. The collector can rot out, and it can rattle. The rattle can be ignored or fixed later. If the joints around the collector leak then it will need fixing. This is one to check before you buy because it’s a good negotiating point. Check out all the electrical components while it is warming up. Lights, flashers, horn etc. With luck they all work and the motor will warm until the fan cuts in. Let it cycle a couple of times before you shut it down. Check again for leaks. Yeah, I know you want to ride it but you can’t yet. Have a beer. We have checked that it will go but we haven’t ensured that it will stop. Tires should be less than ten years old (they have a date code) and free of any cracking. You are pushing 800lbs down the road on them and they need to be good. It goes without saying that they should have sufficient tread. Check the brake pads for thickness and freedom from oil. If the fork seals have blown then fork oil easily makes it onto the calipers. It’s obvious and needs fixing before you ride. Check rotors for thickness and that they are not binding. There should be no signs of brake fluid leaking anywhere, and the fluid should be changed. Check that the steering bearings are not obviously worn. While we are on the subject of hydraulic fluid, change the clutch fluid too J Now you can go for a ride. Just a few careful miles is enough. Check that the handling is not too strange … it should track true and not meander. The suspension should be compliant and not induce nausea causing your lunch to end up all over the instruments. The brakes should stop you in a straight line and the gears shift fairly smoothly. If your ride checks out okay and it doesn’t leak all over the driveway when you get back, then you have the makings of a great motorcycle so … Have a beer to celebrate. There is a whole bunch of stuff not included here. There are some minor fixes that are likely to be needed to things like the starter motor and electrical items. There is lots of information on the site to help. If you fell at any of the hurdles above, then there is an issue that needs resolving. All I tried to do here was go through a routine that would get you up and running safely. Above all, have fun, and lots of beer but not before a ride. Others will chip in to add stuff I missed, and correct mistakes I made but I hope this helps. -
This bike came with no owners manual and my search skills are apparently limited. I was wondering what the warning symbol directly below the side stand warning is. Maybe fuel? :confused24:Also I think I'm going to have to change the thermostat. Coolant is flowing through the radiator long before the temp gauge comes up. Then there's the battery warning mod I need to do, which I have found info on.
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The Beast started pissing coolant yesterday. I tracked it down to a pin-hole leak in the large hose on top of the front head. While messing with it I removed the radiator cap and found it covered in 'milkshake' goop. Obviously I have oil leaking into the cooling system. All of the coolant that leaked out yesterday was nice and clean. Any suggestions would be appreciated about now . . .
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Greetings! I am starting preps to get the wife ready for Riding Season. My first big ride is going to be from Halifax down to Rolling Thunder, then points South. I don't think my '08 Venture has ever had a coolant flush, and I am thinking about all that slow riding in the parade and lots of stopping in the warm Wx. What is the easiest method to do it myself?
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Has anyone tried the Evans Waterless engine coolant yet in their motorcycle. I see that Jay Leno's Garage has a short segment on the product. http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/ They do have a version for power-sports now and I am thinking of converting over this spring to it as it is billed as a lifetime coolant never needing replacement or wearing out. It also has the benefit of non-corrosive and higher boiling point then water based coolants. Here is their website.. http://www.evanscooling.com/ Thanks Rick F.
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Now that I work nights and have to leave the bike out in the cold I've found a small puddle under the bike in the a.m. (I suppose it could be from sitting next to a HD) . Anyway, Idon' think it is condensation running down, it is definitely not oil, so I think it is coolant. It does not leak out while in the garage at home. Could the temp cause some kind of purging of the coolant system? And could this be related to the whine I'm hearing? Thanks
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