[krakers10r]

(my bike is super looked after),i changed my water hoses for full samco kit,fitted engine ice warmed up per manual ect.all went very smoothly and was well happy,waited for it to cool down and toped up expation tank to full..went to france with the boys a week later and covered 2200 miles,when i got home and done a full strip down and clean i noticed the water was on the low line?toped up to full (thought maybe had a air trap),a week later went out for a 2/3 hour ride, next day i looked and the coolant was about 5mm lower(wtf),checked all hoses and no leaks!radiator seems ok and no white dry staining any where sugesting a coolant leak!!now every time i go for a ride the next day i have lost about 5mm in the bottle,do i just leave it and see how low it gets...as my new theory is, i think maybe every time i top it back up to the full line when i go for a ride it is coming out the overflow pipe???(hence no sign of a leak?),please help as its pissing me off!bike has done 7400 miles..

 

[motomike]

i have an 06 and never had a problem.does it make it to the low line or between the lines? i would see how low it goes but not completely empty the bottle.if it looks like it will drain the bottle,check for leaks again.then check your oil.

 

[krakers10r]

i have an 06 and never had a problem.does it make it to the low line or between the lines? i would see how low it goes but not completely empty the bottle.if it looks like it will drain the bottle,check for leaks again.then check your oil.

iv'e never let it get to the low line (about 2/3mm above it before toping up).does most poeple have there water on full,low,or in the middle?,on all gens.thanks.

 

[SkyDork]

As the motor heats up the coolant expands into the overflow tank. If you filled the resevoir tank close to the top then when the collant expands into the tank it has no where else to go except onto the ground under your bike. Look at the top of the resevoir and you'll see a rubber hose that loops back behind the tank and to the bottom of the cowling and is open at the end. As the motor/coolant cools down it gets sucked out of the resevoir and back into the radiator. All of this is normal and you could've just had this happen. Once the system finds an equilibrium point with enough room in the resevoir for the expansion, it won't happen any more. Just keep checking it peroidically. It's probably nothing to worry about.

 

[krakers10r]

As the motor heats up the coolant expands into the overflow tank. If you filled the resevoir tank close to the top then when the collant expands into the tank it has no where else to go except onto the ground under your bike. Look at the top of the resevoir and you'll see a rubber hose that loops back behind the tank and to the bottom of the cowling and is open at the end. As the motor/coolant cools down it gets sucked out of the resevoir and back into the radiator. All of this is normal and you could've just had this happen. Once the system finds an equilibrium point with enough room in the resevoir for the expansion, it won't happen any more. Just keep checking it peroidically. It's probably nothing to worry about.

:thumbsup:,thats what i'm thinking?fingers crossed.

 

[krakers10r]

As the motor heats up the coolant expands into the overflow tank. If you filled the resevoir tank close to the top then when the collant expands into the tank it has no where else to go except onto the ground under your bike. Look at the top of the resevoir and you'll see a rubber hose that loops back behind the tank and to the bottom of the cowling and is open at the end. As the motor/coolant cools down it gets sucked out of the resevoir and back into the radiator. All of this is normal and you could've just had this happen. Once the system finds an equilibrium point with enough room in the resevoir for the expansion, it won't happen any more. Just keep checking it peroidically. It's probably nothing to worry about.

left it,and now it has gone under the low line!this it doing my head in now,its got to be loseing water from some where..it was fine before i fitted the full samco hose kit,but i cant see a leak anywhere.it's got to be like a small weep that is drying as it weeps,as there's no drips at all..it can't be the head gasket as its only done 11000 miles..very odd.

 

[9R to 10R]

I'm having the same issues, since I put the samco's on my bike, my theroy is there are air pockets and its just taking a bit of time to completely burp the system. I have had to top my overflow bottles both off after a few miles of riding after changing the hoses. I have enclosed belly pans on both bikes and can tell you on my bikes, it is NOT going out the top of the overflow bottle cause my belly pans are dry. The level in the overflow bottle gradually rises the hotter your bike gets and the coolant cirulates through there pretty vigourously. I also noticed the that just a little bit of coolant in the overflow bottle makes a huge difference in the visual level. Completely cold I ended up getting my bottle levels in between the low and high marks, when the bike is warmed up the level is at the high or even slightly over it. IT has since stabilized off and is conscistent, but I think it was just air trapped in the system to be honest. I think you are OK.

 

[krakers10r]

cheer's 9r to 10r,when i fitted the samco's i followed the factory kawasaki manual to the letter on filling the system back up,i've fitted a brand new radiator cap as i thought it was that but still does it..the thing is as i said in my first post i have probly done like 2500 miles since fitting the samcos so would't all the air have burped out by now??odd very odd..ps,and in those miles i have filled the expantion bottle from low line to full line twice!

 

[RussMcB]

left it,and now it has gone under the low line!this it doing my head in now,its got to be loseing water from some where..it was fine before i fitted the full samco hose kit,but i cant see a leak anywhere.it's got to be like a small weep that is drying as it weeps,as there's no drips at all..it can't be the head gasket as its only done 11000 miles..very odd.

Here's what I would do (if you can work it out).

Before you take things apart, pressurize your system and try to make it leak like it has been so you can see where the coolant is going. Do it in steps (5 lb, 10 lb. - Doesn't sound like you need much to make it leak). You may need to rig up something creative. You may need to remove spark plugs.

If you don't positively identify the problem beforehand, whatever you do to try and fix it is a guess and you'll be crossing your fingers.

I bought a Stant coolant system pressure tester years ago and it is really handy.

Amazon.com: Stant Inc. 12270 Cooling System and Pressure Cap Tester Set: Automotive


Perhaps a motorcycle shop has something similar with the appropriate adapter. Perhaps you can buy/borrow one and make a tee to plumb it somewhere into your system.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

 

[krakers10r]

the thing is i fitted all new hose clips,i have fitted a new kawasaki rad cap,so could it be a pin hole in rad??a gasket on engine block...or 9r to 10r is right saying air lock,but after that many miles and that much topping up could it still be an air lock??i will justkeep topping it up and let it develope and if it gets worse it will show its self in the end!!

 

[Quick10]

My thoughts as well, top it off and ride it, just keep an eye on it. Only other thing is to make sure and keep an eye on your oil, to see if any coolant is getting in there.

 

[evallarta1]

I had the same problem with my 04. I dont know if this will help BUT this is something I noticed. During the summer I changed to water wetter. When I did the change I used my rear stand to hold the bike up. When I ran it the first time it I had A LOT of air bubbles. I spent about 10 minutes burping the system. And my temps always seemed to rise faster than what they did before. And the overflow was ALWAYS low no matter how much I would put in with no traces off water wetter on the floor. Fast forward to this winter. I changed to anti freeze so it wouldnt freeze. BUT this time I did it on the kickstand. When I warmed up the bike the first time, ZERO bubbles. And it took forever to warm up. And it was pretty warm that day. My personal theory is that when I had it on the stand the radiator was horizontal the bubbles had no where to go so they just sat in there trapped. But on the kickstand as I filled the radiator the air moved to the filler neck and escaped. Anyways just my:2cents:. Good luck.

 

[krakers10r]

I had the same problem with my 04. I dont know if this will help BUT this is something I noticed. During the summer I changed to water wetter. When I did the change I used my rear stand to hold the bike up. When I ran it the first time it I had A LOT of air bubbles. I spent about 10 minutes burping the system. And my temps always seemed to rise faster than what they did before. And the overflow was ALWAYS low no matter how much I would put in with no traces off water wetter on the floor. Fast forward to this winter. I changed to anti freeze so it wouldnt freeze. BUT this time I did it on the kickstand. When I warmed up the bike the first time, ZERO bubbles. And it took forever to warm up. And it was pretty warm that day. My personal theory is that when I had it on the stand the radiator was horizontal the bubbles had no where to go so they just sat in there trapped. But on the kickstand as I filled the radiator the air moved to the filler neck and escaped. Anyways just my:2cents:. Good luck.

uummm,sounds feasible to me!!cheers.(and i did mine on the paddock stand!)also i used engine ice,and you used water wetter?so could it be that regular coolant is the way to go??and maybe these fancy coolants are traping air?..maybe i'm talking shite?might change the coolant anyway just to see..

 

[9R to 10R]

uummm,sounds feasible to me!!cheers.(and i did mine on the paddock stand!)also i used engine ice,and you used water wetter?so could it be that regular coolant is the way to go??and maybe these fancy coolants are traping air?..maybe i'm talking shite?might change the coolant anyway just to see..

:+1: Both mine were done on a paddock stand as well, and I warmed the bikes on the stand and checked for leaks and topped of a bit before I ever actually rod e the bikes, he might be onto something with the stand and the air bubbles.

 

[evallarta1]

uummm,sounds feasible to me!!cheers.(and i did mine on the paddock stand!)also i used engine ice,and you used water wetter?so could it be that regular coolant is the way to go??and maybe these fancy coolants are traping air?..maybe i'm talking shite?might change the coolant anyway just to see..

I would think it wouldnt matter. Ive tried water wetter, engine ice and coolant. All had the same problem, all on a rear stand (heat cycle on the stand too). And all three times I had a ton of air in the system. This last time I changed it was the first time on the kickstand and not on the rear stand.

 

[coolgjc]

I would think it wouldnt matter. Ive tried water wetter, engine ice and coolant. All had the same problem, all on a rear stand (heat cycle on the stand too). And all three times I had a ton of air in the system. This last time I changed it was the first time on the kickstand and not on the rear stand.

damn, that's good shit to know buddy! i'm not gonna do ww or ei but i do have to think about changing my coolant. for the record, i would have done it on the rear stand as well. great tip man. i'll throw her on the kickstand foshoccasion1

 

[krakers10r]

changed my coolant today,standard 50/50 pre-mixed antifreeze striped all bodywork drained flushed it through with soft water,this time i re-filled the system on the side stand!i have to say that i did seem to get more bubbles coming up to rad filler...i will let you know if my water loss has stoped?

 

[krakers10r]

well the saga continous,still losing about 4-5mm out of my exspantion tank every ride???
no visual leaks and no water on the floor when hot or cold..cant be the head gasket as i've only done 7400 miles from new...its only started this since fitting the samco's..
doing my head in now....

 

[WLTD]

went to france with the boys a week later and covered 2200 miles,when i got home and done a full strip down and clean i noticed the water was on the low line?

i'm still on the fact this dude went to France w/the boys...I come back from road trips and I'm like, "I just got back from Connecticut or New Jersey...I miss Europe. :lol:

 

[bugman53]

i would bet its just air working its way out of the system. BTW the marks on the resivor the lower one is for cold the upper one is for hot. as longs as its around the bottom mark cold your fine.