Getting to a coolant leak

I started to smell coolant after turning off my bike a few days ago with no drips on the floor. Today, I pulled the plastic and looked in the V behind the reserve tank and saw that an area where one of the hoses connects to the thermostat looks to be leaking. Here is a picture from the other side of the bike.

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You can see the leak behind the thermostat on the right side.

So my question is, how hard is it to get to this area to fix?

or maybe the real question is how easy is it the mess up the stuff I have to take off to get at this?

Thanks

Worse case you remove the air box and throttle bodies to get at it as in see shop manual about thermostat replacement. Big job. There is a chance you could get a long screw driver or wrench in there before you have to remove everything. You might get lucky, depends on which way the hose clamp is orientated.

Not worst case. You WILL have to remove the throttle bodies to get to the thermostat housing. I've had to do it twice now. It's a day job.

-Jake

You can leave your throttle bodies in, but the fuel inj. rail needs to come out, as does the bracket holding your tps. You might even beable to sneak down without pulling your tps bracket.
If you pull off your right fairing and look into the frame into the vee, you might beable to sneak a wrench onto the clamp... iirc they are 8mm.

Day job my ass, can be done in two hours (assuming you're used to tearing bikes apart).

[video: http://youtube.com/embed/_YVitQLXQ5E?html5=1&fs=1]

My video doesn't show assembly, but essentially installation is the reversal of removal. To get the throttle body back onto the boots it's a good idea to use a rubber safe lubricant like WD-40 on the boots. Then you use a rubber mallet to thump the whole assembly down onto the front boots first, then the rear boots.

I'd rather pull the throttle body ass'y than disassemble it on the bike. And kaldek is correct, if you're used to working on your bike it's only a couple hour job.

-Jake

Well I have gotten this far. Found a broken vacuum fitting looks like some one tried to glue back together.

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Well the broken vacuum fitting is off the valve assembly bypass control solenoid. Some what expensive to replace.

Can't do anything more tonight. My long screwdriver is a little to short and I have to head to work in a while.


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Well I bought a long screw driver and removed the throtle bodies off the bike. Then removed the hoses connected to the thermostat. On the website I was looking at, the hose I need to replace have 2 part numbers. 19528-MCW-H00 and 19528-MDG-000. Does anyone have an idea which hose I need. The clamps look ok, should I replace them also?

I use some 3/4" heater hose from the local parts shop. It's not technically correct since the Honda parts are pre bent but it's close enough that it works. I would reuse the hose clamps if possible.

-Jake

I use some 3/4" heater hose from the local parts shop. It's not technically correct since the Honda parts are pre bent but it's close enough that it works.

I did the exact same thing. Working fine!! I changed both short hoses to be safe.

What is the best way to clean this off?

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A little coarse sand paper?

I use OO steel wool or scotch brite.

-Jake

I use OO steel wool or scotch brite.

-Jake

Much better idea!

Scotchbrite works well with for that. After cleaning the housing, inspect it for pitting. Looks like the coolant system has been neglected for a long time. Might be a good idea to check the necks that bolt on to the head for pitting also. Since you are already in there you might want to replace them and the o-rings if the necks look bad so as not to have to tear it back down in a few months. I just went through my entire coolant system replacing the thermostat, radiator cap, every coolant hose, and wound up having to replace the front neck due to corrosion. While I had it apart I replaced the o-rings in all 4 coolant necks, 2 in the v and 2 on the left side of the engine. Now all I have to worry about is changing the coolant like I should.

Ok got it clean. Here is what it looks like.

[image: Posted Image]

There is some pitting. Am I going to need to replace the housing?

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The sealing is done by the raised ring near the end of the nipple.

You'll be fine with a new hose, properly tightened.

Cool thanks

The sealing is done by the raised ring near the end of the nipple.

You'll be fine with a new hose, properly tightened.

Veefer is right and I should have been more specific. The ring on the end is what really seals the hose to the housing. Now if that was pitted real bad, which I have seen, then you would need to replace the housing.

Ok, I finally got the bike put back together, and now when it starts it idles about at the right speed then as it get warmer the idle increases until the it is running at almost 3000 rpm. What do I need to check?

Sounds like your wax unit is misbehaving.

The 2000-2001 5th gens have an automatic fast idle mechanism that causes the idle to be high when the bike is cold, then decrease as the engine warms.

'98-'99 5th gens had a manual fast idle lever.

Read up on the function of the wax unit in the factory service manual and see if that makes sense to you.

Ok, I finally got the bike put back together, and now when it starts it idles about at the right speed then as it get warmer the idle increases until the it is running at almost 3000 rpm. What do I need to check?

You may find that your base idle speed is too high. When the engine is cold the air flow is controlled by the fast idle wax unit, and as it heats up the air bypass plate is controlled by the idle speed screw. At the same time as the fast idle wax unit is disengaging, the ECU is leaning out the mixture.

I'd let the bike warm up and then adjust your idle speed screw so the rpms drop to 1200. Then, let the bike cool down overnight and repeat the warmup cycle to make sure everything is OK.

If the idle speed won't drop even when you adjust the idle speed screw, you've stuffed something up around the fast idle wax unit area of the throttle body and need to have a look. Could just be something pinched or jammed in there.

The idle screw is all the way out. I will go and look at the wax unit. Thanks

started it yesterday afternoon...and everything worked correctly. Idle was working correct. I will try it again this morning. Is the variable intake suppose to close as soon as you start the bike?