Green liquid leaking?!?! Bubbling coolant water?!?!

[saka_ZXR]

Went for a ride out in the nice weather today, stopped at the cash point and when i came back to my bike there was a stange green liquid that had leaked from it, when i got her home i could hear the coolant water bubbling really badly, i took the cap off the coolant bottle and tested the water but it was stone cold like usual, i had noticed the temperature gauge was almost right at the top whilst riding but wasnt in the danger zone whilst riding but put it down to a very long ride out in the blistering heat.

Any ideas whats wrong?

Thanks in advance.

[hciR]

Have you checked the coolant level in the radiator (when the bikes cold)? If there is air in the cooling system it will reduce the pressure meaning it will boil at lower temps. Did the fan come on? and do you know if the fan works?
The coolant could have just leaked from the overflow bottle if it was quite full? otherwise I would take the side fairings off and check for leaky hoses. Most likely just due to the abnormally hot weather though.

[saka_ZXR]

Coming to mention it i didnt hear the fans come on when i got home but i cud have just not noticed, wud have to go for a ride and check when i got back, the thing is i can actually hear the water bubbling over the bikes idling. would have to check the radiator levels (how do i do that btw? im a n00b )

[RedexRobB]

take the black side infill panel off, that the bit between the frame and the side panel just underneath the right hand side handle bar. Should be 3 bolts. Under that there is the radiator cap, screw it off and check what the level is, if its not near the top then youll need to refill it, water will be ok to use just as long as there some coolant in there. Dont open it after you have ridden the bike, do it when its cold or it will pour out everywhere and quite possibly scald you.

Once filled back up, start the bike for a few seconds with the rad cap off and give the bike a small rev, that should help clear any air bubbles as the water circulates round the system past the cap allowing the air to escape. Dont do it for too long or the coolant will expand from being heated up and start to pour out.

[saka_ZXR]

Well the water in the rad did need topping up but went out for a ride and stopped for ten seconds and it was leaking water quite bad, I'm hoping it's just one of the hoses but will have to check later.

[Wabby]

Sounds very much like HeadGasket mate.

Pulling air in at the gasket, and thus pushing coolant out the overflow.

Myn went a few weeks after buying myn. £216 later and all is good.

[saka_ZXR]

£216 are u kidding me?

I can't afford that!

She'll be sat in the garage a long time if it's gonna cost £200 to fix!

[Wabby]

Forgot to mention that the £216 included the carbs to be balanced, the valve clearances to be checked, plus the massive amount of labour to change the head gasket.

[cargo]

£216 for a head gasket replacment.......................????????


Bring me your engines boys.......................................£100........................ plus the price of a gasket................ I'll shim it for you while I'm there.............free shims.

[saka_ZXR]

Is it a hard job to do cargo?

Gtta a mate who's a mechanic will see if he can do it for cheap or for a favour

Tell u wat though at £100 plus head gasket from u cargo it'd still be cheaper to rent a van and bring it to u in northern Ireland than it would to have it done for £216!

[saka_ZXR]

Well I've had to top up the rad water a few times now and I've now stopped using the bike as I don't want things to get worse, i've had a look round and there doesn't seem to be any leaks in any of the pipes, is there any checks/tests I can do to find out if it's definately the head gasket?

[RedexRobB]

Can do a compression test, that should tell you. Need a tester tho.

[saka_ZXR]

What's a compression tester, where do I get one and how do I use it?

[RedexRobB]

ebay is your friend

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trks ... Categories

see here for compression test explanation

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8999

They should come with instructions, but i believe you take all of the plugs out, open the throttle fully and then spin the motor. It should then give you a reading of how much (in PSI i think) compression there is. Compare it to what the manual says and youll have your answer.

[saka_ZXR]

Right ive ran the compression test and the compression was fine.

does this mean its the radiator?

Need to fix it asap as i need the bike to go to scotland with my dad on the 10th and i know the bike wont last 300miles, or even 100 for me to top up the water.

I find that the radiator water needs topping up after ever use even if its only for 10 miles, the right side of the rad gets very warm and i can feel the heath through my gloves and jacket, you can see alot of steam rising from the right side and i used it in the wet last night and the stram was causing my mirror to steam up.