Today i took off my right fairing to put a new one on...and i saw that the fairing had a bunch of liquid on it and it was green...so i found out my coolant was leaking...I dont know why..Last nite i had dropped my bike on the right side while trying to put it on a rear stand...it landed on the handle bar on a lawn mower so the rest of the bike didnt get hit...so I dont think that has anything to do with it...but here are some pictures...in the close up of the hose...u can see some coolant coming out of the holes where the threads are....does that normally happen? and looking at the spill marks of the first picture...i circled 2 places where it seems like coolant had leaked?...is it possible that this had happened from the previous owner and all these trails of coolant leakin have stayed on since? Is it a defective hose and radiator cap? or should i just tighten the hose again and fill the coolant and see if it happens again? anyhelp would be great! thanks

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Sometimes you just gotta loosen the clamp, reposition the hose (move it around a lil bit), and then retighten. It almost looks like it's overtightened they way it's mushroomed out. If you have enough hose to play with, ideally you should take a razor or something and cut the end of the hose off just below where the clamp sits, to get rid of any indentations, and get to a 'clean' part of the hose, and retighten the clamp. But don't do that without first making sure the hose will be long enough to attach properly after cutting it

 

thankss ill try that.. any idea on the leak from the radiator cap area?

 

if your bike isn't overheating, the cap is holding pressure fine.

it could be left over from an spill during filling, etc.

 

hmm i recently purchased my F4i, and had the exact same issue, only it was just hose area not cap, all i did was carefully tighten the clamp, ran bike seems to have done the trick. Just a thought when you dropped it; could the hose have pinched against the fairing? if so maybe it has a small tear/crack?

 

i went and got some more coolant today... i got the prestone 50/50 prediluted...is that ok to use?? i was going to put some into the reserve tank...but i checked the level...and it was at normal level in between those 2 lines... so does that mean I have the correct amount of coolant in? or could it be low in the radiator but not in the reserve tank? Is it possible that the coolant i was seeing was from a previous spill? My bike doesn't overheat or anything...I guess i'm going to ride around another day and see how that works out..

 

The reserve tank and the radiator are two completely seperate tanks, only connected by a small hose that only transfers coolant either under pressure or vacuum (when it heats up, and then cools off).... the reserve can be at normal level yet the radiator could be empty. For safe measure, top off the radiator to make sure it's full too, and bleed any air out if it was really low

 

Coolant leaking around the cap may indicate the upper seal of the cap is bad (There's 2 rubber gaskets - one spring loaded that lets pressure out, and one at the top of the cap that forces the pressure to make it's way to the coolant reserve tank. - You could be low if that top seal is leaking, as when the engine cools down, it creates a vacuum that pulls coolant through - if that top seal is leaking, air is drawn back into the engine instead of coolant from the reservoir.

I'd replace the cap - could the coolant around the hose be from the leaking cap???

 

thanks for all the help... i think it probably is leaking from the cap...so to replace the cap...where would i go to get one? dealer? or autozone? and which one do i get?? thanksss

 

Dealer I'd suppose... - Checking carolinacycle (no plug intended) they say Cap should be $24.57, There's a Radiator cap seal listed for only $5.12, and pretty much any hose if neededwould be in the $10-$20 range (Assuming it's similar to an 02 F4i).