I got back from a ride last night and happened to notice the coolant looked low so I removed the right hand side cover to discover the overflow bottle was completely empty. What the ^&%$? My experience over the years is that I often have to ad a bit of coolant after the bike has sat over the winter (I just got the bike out of storage last weekend) but this is the first time that the bottle was empty. In any case, I filled the bottle to the full level, then checked this morning (after cooling overnight) and some of the fluid has been sucked back in to the cooling system as it should.
Just wondering if i need to go through the full burping process once the bottle has gone dry? I usually don't get overly concerned about burping as the cooling system will generally self purge over a number of hot/cold cycles as long as the bottle is topped up and as long as there's minimal air in the system to begin with.
Still wondering where that coolant went though. I don't smell anything odd in the exhaust and no sign of leaks. Oil Looks fine. ????? I hope it's not being sucked into the cylinders.
Comments?
If it's burning coolant you will know it pretty quickly. Very distinctive smell in the exhaust, even without white smoke. I would monitor it over the next few days. Are you sure there are no external leaks?
You say you just got back from a ride, but you don't say how far..You also say you got the bike out of winter storage last week but don't say if you have been riding it all week..
without further knowledge I suggest you drain all the old oil out, remove the old oil filter, drain and flush the coolant system and examine all the waste liquids for cross contamination..
Many people think that because these engines are so large, that they are indestructable..they are not..
Coolant is the single most important part of your engine..
Before you remove all the fluids from your engine lay down beside the bike with some kitchen towel and wipe all around and under the engine to find any wet spots..if you find any carefully trace them upwards until you are sure you have located the source, then replace the part that is causing the leak before refilling the fluids.
don't undo a single nut or bolt until you have taken a clear photo of it because this will save you wondering where that pipe or wire or cover went.
John.
I put about a 200 Km's on last Saturday and 20 or 30 or so last night. Can't remember the last time I chedked the coolant but it would have been last summer when I had it out last.
Oil sample looks pretty clean.
I'm not smelling anything so I don't think I'm burning it.
Thee are definitely no leaks while sitting as I park it on a clean garage floor and I'd notice the drips right away if there were any. I guess thee could be leaks while it's running (never in the garage) In any case I'll take a closer look.
My theory at this point is that when I last changed the coolant - summer before last I think - I'll have to check my records. I maybe never got all the air out - me not paying much attention to purging and all - and over the course of riding it, gradually purged the air out and the overflow tank gradually emptied. I didn't drive it much last summer.
I agree with Troll in that I would just keep a close eye on it for the next few days. Unless, of course, you're leaving tomorrow for a long trip. Like you said, it may very well have just been low from over the winter.
Hi Guys:
A bit of an update on this....
Subsequent riding last season confirmed that I was loosing coolant.
Over this past spring I finally pulled the tank off my 1500 in order to have a look at the coolant hoses at the top of the motor. After some Googling, I had discovered that it's pretty common for the 1500/1600 Vulcan engines to loose coolant from these upper hoses. The connections for the rear cylinder hose looked pretty clean but the there was some crustiness visible at the lower front cylinder hose connection (although it very difficult to get a clear view down there without removing a bunch of stuff which I didn't really want to do if I could get away with not absolutely having to do so). I tightened up the clamps for the rear hose a slight bit (mainly because they were just easy to get to) but tightening the clamp on the front hose where it meets the head was very difficult. It's almost impossible to get a wrench or screwdriver in there but i did manage to get a very small length wrench in there and tightened it up a bit. I would have liked to tighten it up further but had no luck with further fiddling which may have been a sign that the clamp is as tight is it's reasonably going to be.
A front head coolant hose leak would explain why I wasn't seeing any cooling pooling on the floor: any drips would boil off a hot motor before it ever pooled anywhere - at least that's my theory at this point (not sure why I wouldn't smell it when parking though). It's been a busy spring so I haven't got the bike out yet; hoping to have it out early next week at which point I'll put my theory to the test (and keep you posted as I know you're all riveted by this subject ::))
So after the first, albeit short, ride this year on Monday evening and after letting the motor cool down, the coolant had dropped only very slightly. Could probably be explained by a small amount of air being burped from the system after sitting for 9 months. I took the bike for a 3 hour ride on the highway last night so it'll be interesting to see if the coolant level dropped even further. I'll check when get home from work (forgot to check this morning).
Do you have anyone who wants to mess with you enough to be playing a practical joke on you?
is 49 around your area today......
So, I'm still loosing coolant! I did another round of hose tightening but I have a feeling (need to go for another ride/cooling cycle to confirm) that didn't fix it.
I'm wondering if I'm missing something. The only obvious coolant hoses that I can spot are the two coming off the top of the heads to the filler neck, the hose from the filler neck to the top of the Rad and the hose from the water pump to the bottom of the Rad. Are there other coolant hoses that aren't obvious?
Thanks for any advice.
I had a leak on the hose at the top but you had to remove the tank to see the hose, and the first winter I took the tank off I spotted it, the coolant was dripping very slowly on to the cylinder head and so it was noticeable as a leak, but I just tightened the clamp and seemed to correct the issue.
Did see some silicone coated hose in red from China, but that makes me think they might not be that good a quality, but the colour would be cool.
Here's a diagram. It doesn't have to be just a hose leak. There are several sensors and a plug in the radiator, and then there is the possibility of a bad radiator cap...
Hi Troll:
I was looking at that diagram this morning and didn't spot anything obvious. I've checked all the rubber hose joints that I could find, the water pump cover gasket, and the various sensors and can't find any evidence of a leak (aside from the one head hose as mentioned above). Did some more Googling today and found references to radiator cracks on 1500 & 1600s near the mounting posts on the sides (at least I think they're on the side - hard to tell from the posted pictures). I'll take a closer look at that but I'm not optimistic as cracks in those locations would presumably lead to some dripping which I'm not seeing any evidence of.
Pull a plug from each cylinder and look carefully at the insulator. A discoloration from anti freeze is pretty obvious.
I agree with Troll. It is possible that you have a small head gasket leak or (God forbid) a small crack in the head which depending upon size and location may not feed into the oil system but may feed directly into the combustion chamber. While a fully blown head gasket will typically blow white smoke out of the exhaust as small crack or leak may go unnoticed. Pulling the plugs will tell the story.
If I have time, I'll pull the plugs tonight and take a look. Thanks for that advice.
I did go for a short ride last night; it was a little cooler than it's been the last few days so I don't think the motor got as hot as it can, but when I checked the level before I went to work this morning the level had dropped only a tiny fraction or perhaps not at all which I take as a good sign but I need to take it on a longer ride to confirm. Tightening down that front cylinder head coolant hose may have had some results after all.
You have to figure - only a tiny leak will show up pretty quickly on your reservoir. That thing holds, what, a pint or so, maybe?? If you lost a half cup of anti, it would be noticeable. Just saying you could have a real small leak in a hose or something, and it could be hard to find.
So, after a several hour 'hot' ride last night and cool down over night, the cold coolant level didn't change. So, I think I've fixed the leak! ;D
Still not entirely clear which joint was responsible for the leak as I had tightened all clamps again in the second round of tightening but my suspicion is still that front cylinder head hose as I tightened that one a bit more than the others (since it was so awkward to get to, I hadn't tightened it much in the first round, even though there was clearly some kind of residue visible below the hose joint).
OK, so the leak is not fixed! :-\ I put about 1200km's on over the weekend in some hot weather and when I checked Monday morning, the level had dropped again - not as much as before the last round of tightening but dropped nevertheless. I guess I'll have to have another round of tightening but I'm getting worried about over tightening the clamps at this point.
What are you tightening with? If you're using a screwdriver/nutdriver, it's pretty hard to over-tighten. If, on the other hand, you're using a socket/ratchet, then you do have to be a little careful.
I'd concentrate on the place where you saw coolant staining before.
Hey GB;
Unfortunately I can't get at the clamp with a screwdriver, at least not without taking a lot of other stuff off first which I don't really want to do at this point in the riding season (worst case, I'll just keep adding coolant and disassemble some more in the winter time).
From the top, with the tank off, I can just get a miniature 6mm wrench (about half the length of a Popsicle stick and about as thin) down through the frame backbone to the clamp on the front cylinder head hose and by alternating the asymmetric wrench opening, I can just turn the clamp screw a few degrees - at a time - flip the wrench over - turn a few more degrees, flip the wrench over. etc. I tightened the clamp a bit more vigorously the second time around than I did the first time - it's difficult with that tiny wrench to gauge how much tension is too much (or not enough). I guess I'll have to get in there again.
I've been Googling some more and it seems the 'pipe' the coolant hose connects too is held on to the head with some kind of a plate and bolt and there's an O ring on the part of the pipe that goes into the head. Apparently, that O ring has been known to leak on the 1500's. If that's my problem, it will have to wait until winter to get fixed.
If it's that slow of a leak, waiting until winter might be your best bet.