'99 Vfr Leaking Coolant From Under The Lowers

Anybody got a guess what is likely to be leaking my coolant. It is around a little forward of the footpegs or so, & leaking considerably. I guess I have a leaky hose or loose clamp at the rear cylinder area. I jimmy rigged some missing fairing fasteners back in Boulder. When I have some time I will take em off to get a better look, if necessary. Hopefully it is nothing expensive. Great bike and compared to my '02 Vtec, the only shortcoming would be the hi or low light choice rather than the hi & low option on the Vtec. My girlfriend & I took them both out a couple of times lately & do the double VFR bit...fun!

just a guess - but maybe a wax unit? Dude has been chasing a very minor coolant leak for awhile and he suspects thats the cause of his.

that or me dripping coolant on purpose under his bike when he's not looking......... bwa ha ha !!! (just kidding.) (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/biggrin.gif)

What's a "wax unit?" This leak does not drip visibly, but sitting for a day to a week leaves a decent puddle patch of coolant.

I could swear that it was oil, the 1st time I checked the puddle substance with my fingers & it did not smell like coolant, but this latter time, it was green coolant for sure, weird.

mine was dripping a little during short rides (i.e. before it warmed up and expansion plugged the hole). i went through and tightened every hose-clamp i could find - no more leak. it was a ten minute job, minus the time to pull the right and left plastics...nothing too hard, and i can't wrench to save my life.

you need to take the fairings off and inspect and be more specific. it is neccessary. pump is forward of pegs on lt side. leaking from it? hole in hose? so many variables that you need to get dirty and isolate the area.

Let me guess, has the temperature dropped in your area lately?

I had the same problem which only occured when temp was low. The VFR has more hose clips than the space shuttle and when it's cold the seal isn't very good around some hoses and some coolant tends to escape. Just keep an eye on your coolant level and if it's not moving to much then I wouldn't worry. Seasonal problem which has raised it's head on this forum before.

Your's is a 99 , which i believe has a choke? If so i believe you wouldnt have a wax unit . I would then suspect a loose hose clamp on your t stat housing or on one of the coolant hoses. Either way you will need to remove the throttle bodies to get at the t stat housing and the clamps.
Allow plenty of time and apparently need a very long 18' phillips to reach the clamps on the throttle bodies. This is a project im going to finally do this year. Let us know what your findings are.
I never had alot of coolant leaking, but a strong coolant smell upon start up, with cold idle reaching as high as 4 grand....... in the colder weather

dude, Dec 12 2006, 10:27 AMapparently need a very long 18' phillips

actually an 18" one will do, an 18' would be very hard to find (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif)

jeremy556, Dec 12 2006, 03:41 PMactually an 18" one will do, an 18' would be very hard to find (IMG:style_emoticons/oldemoticons/fing02.gif)

Doh!!!!!!!

there are two coolant hoses coming from each cylinder head to he thermostat housing. I had one fail. It was leaking a little coolant and because of it's location, you could not see where the leak originated from. One hose finally burst but I was able to nurse it home.

You have to remove the airbox and the FI rack. Lots of hoses and sensors, but just tag and mark them for proper reassembly. It's only a dollars worth of 5/8" hose that has to be replaced, but about 3 hours work.

No problem since. The OEM hoses were mush. Not your typical Honda quality.Just make sure your replacements are good quality (Goodyear, Dayco) not some non-decript China stuff.

It may save some time to determine whether the leak is under the throttle body, or not. The only way for coolant to exit the "V" under the throttle body is via the weep hole on the RIGHT side at the base of the V, so, after a ten minute ride or so, pull your fairing lowers and lean the bike to the right side a bit to see if anything dribbles out. You can also use a flashlight to look at the thermostat hoses and see if they're leaking, but that's lest reliable as a sole test. If you don't see any dribble or visual problem with the thermo hoses, your leak is probaby at one of the other hoses/connections, or at the water pump.