leaking

[barend]

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

[Flyinfool]

It is a common leak and is not at all related to the whine.

 

It is common for some of the O-rings that seal the plumbing of the coolant system.

When it gets cold the metal parts shrink and the old dried out o-rings can no longer follow.

The most common one is also the cheapest and easiest to fix. It is the drain valve that is just below the radiator centered on the bike.

There are a number of posts detailing how to fix this.

[frankd]

Early in the morning look carefully and determine exactly where it's leaking from. Right up from the puddle, you should see gree seepage. First on my 83, I had the thermostat bypass valve (the valve we turn to bleed the air out after you change the coolant) leaking... changed the O ring and everything was fine for a lot of years. Then it started leaking a little bit, but only on cool nights. The O ring the the thermostat housing was leaking. The Yamaha o ring is pretty thin, so I put in an O ring that was slightly thicker. Problem cured. My 89 had a leaking thermostat housing also, so I changed the O ring....no help. I replaced the thermostat housing. Ok for a couple of months, and then it started leaking there again. I made small metal pieces that would fit under the housing bolts and spread the load. This seems to have cured this leak. There are a lot of O rings in the cooling system, and it's a lot easier to cure if you know what's leaking.

 

Frank

[Venturous Randy]

If you have a loud squeal or whine, especially when it is cold, it is usually the speedometer needs greasing where the bearing goes through the backside of the speedometer that the cable sticks in. This really needs to be greased from the inside of the speedometer and if you let it continue squealing, you will destroy the speedometer.

RandyA

[barend]

thanks for the info, I'll see about tracking that down next coolant change. Need to worry about front fork seals first :-(