Unhappy with my ST1100

Wasn't sure where to post this so here I am.

I am just not a happy camper anymore with my 93 ST due to simple little things that just seem to pop up at the wrong time and require a trip to the service dept.

I currently am experiencing a leak under the front of the engine which looks like a thin brown fluid of some sort. At 1st I thought it was oil and the drain plug was covered and dripping but then I noticed that it seems too viscous for oil. Today I found when I had it on the lift and running, the leak seemed to be coming from the timing hole cover. As it dripped on my lift table and I shined a light on it, it appeared to be coolant. Just 4 years ago I replaced every bit of rubber under the carbs that the coolant flows through. I did this because one of the pieces was leaking and I figured why not replace it all as it was aging and I was already in there.

The timing hole cover appears to be plastic and as I tried to remove the two bolts, one of them seems to be stripped and did not come out for me. It also appears that the plastic cover is cracked on the bottom of the bolt.

So I am ready to call the service dept. and set up an appt. to have it looked at.

As much as I have liked this bike, it is times like this when I wish it was gone. I hate taking it in to the dealership but I just do not have the patience required to work on it. It is not nearly as simple to maintain as the old in line 4 cylinder bikes that I have quite a bit of experience with.

So there you have it. Thanks for letting me vent.
Ride safely guys and gals.

Larry

No offense is intended in the following just an observation. I have had this conversation with many of my friends. I help many of them work on their vehicles as I am pretty handy when it comes to anything mechanical (a lot of tools helps).

It seems to me that if an owner of anything mechanical gets frustrated at the breakdowns they have three options. 1. Become an expert at repair and maintenance of said object (you said that you are unwilling/unable). 2. Pony up the dough for someone else who has the knowledge to repair as things fail. (all things no matter how "reliable" eventually need maintenance) 23 years on the frame, motor and chassis regardless of miles is going to start failing small rubber parts, seals. 3. Keep themselves in new enough machines that it is covered by factory warranty WHEN it does fail.

Everyone has to weigh their circumstances and decide for themselves which of the three choices is best. For me the cost of the newer machine or the maintenance costs associated with having someone else do work I am perfectly capable of doing is much more frustrating than doing the work myself. ENTROPY SUCKS!! I feel your pain.

It doesn't bother me that my ST is a bit old, 14 years now,but it's only turned 50k miles so it's just run in in ST terms
but I'm thinking of doing a long European trip sometime,suppose I'd need to give her a good check over before that, the new Africa twin is catching my interest though,looking forward to seeing it and the ride reports.
I do what maintainance I can on the ST,the stuff I'm not confident doing I get a mechanic mate to do.

Omaha_LA said:

I currently am experiencing a leak under the front of the engine which looks like a thin brown fluid of some sort. At 1st I thought it was oil and the drain plug was covered and dripping but then I noticed that it seems too viscous for oil. Today I found when I had it on the lift and running, the leak seemed to be coming from the timing hole cover. As it dripped on my lift table and I shined a light on it, it appeared to be coolant. Just 4 years ago I replaced every bit of rubber under the carbs that the coolant flows through. I did this because one of the pieces was leaking and I figured why not replace it all as it was aging and I was already in there.

The timing hole cover appears to be plastic and as I tried to remove the two bolts, one of them seems to be stripped and did not come out for me. It also appears that the plastic cover is cracked on the bottom of the bolt.
Larry

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I absolutely agree that these bikes are a lot more fun to ride than to work on. I've thought several times that it would be really great if the plastic was hinged somehow for easier/quicker access. Kind of like having to remove a fender on your car to change the airfilter. Whole bunch more steps just to find out what's wrong, and not knowing is half the pain..

Wondering about "brown coolant". In the interests of adding to the body of knowledge, please let us know what you find. Hopefully, it won't be something serious or expensive and you'll fall in love again when you get it back on the road.

Sounds to me like a leaking water pump. A fairly involved repair (runs off of the timing belt) and a somewhat pricey part. And if you're in there, you may as well replace the timing belt, tensioner and idler pulley. Might be "the straw that broke the camel's back"...

I have had this conversation with many of my friends. I help many of them work on their vehicles as I am pretty handy when it comes to anything mechanical (a lot of tools helps).

It seems to me that if an owner of anything mechanical gets frustrated at the breakdowns they have three options. 1. Become an expert at repair and maintenance of said object (you said that you are unwilling/unable). 2. Pony up the dough for someone else who has the knowledge to repair as things fail. (all things no matter how "reliable" eventually need maintenance) 23 years on the frame, motor and chassis regardless of miles is going to start failing small rubber parts, seals.

Too bad you are not closer, I would let you work on it.
Yea, my patience wears thin when having to remove all that plastic just to get to whatever problem I have to chase. This is why I love the old 78-83 Suzukis that I have had in the past and still have a 79 GS 1000. Very straightforward and easy to work on. There is absolutely no problem I can't work through on the Suzuki. This ST just frustrates me so it will be going into the dealership for repairs.

Thanks for your input and no offense was taken.

Joseph/TX said:

I absolutely agree that these bikes are a lot more fun to ride than to work on. I've thought several times that it would be really great if the plastic was hinged somehow for easier/quicker access. Kind of like having to remove a fender on your car to change the airfilter. Whole bunch more steps just to find out what's wrong, and not knowing is half the pain..

Wondering about "brown coolant". In the interests of adding to the body of knowledge, please let us know what you find. Hopefully, it won't be something serious or expensive and you'll fall in love again when you get it back on the road.

Click to expand...

My exact thoughts also. Removing and re-installing the plastic isn't difficult, just time consuming.

Karen said:

I suspect brown coolant is either REALLY old coolant, or coolant mixed with a little oil and road grime.

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I agree with this assessment. The coolant was changed when I replaced all the rubber under the carbs I guess back in 2012. And between 2012 and now, it hasn't had that much riding on it, only about 8,000 miles. This is because I was busy a lot and could not ride.
The liquid looked like oil but when I was able to collect some of it and shine a light on it, then it looked like coolant. I just can't find any place it is leaking except for the timing hole cover.

I can understand your frustration, I've handled most of the small stuff myself, and what I can't do or don't have the tools to do I take it to the shop. To keep costs down I usually take the tupperware off. That saves me 1-2 hours of shop time which tends to make the repair more reasonable in price.

sirepair said:

Sounds to me like a leaking water pump. A fairly involved repair (runs off of the timing belt) and a somewhat pricey part. And if you're in there, you may as well replace the timing belt, tensioner and idler pulley. Might be "the straw that broke the camel's back"...

Click to expand...

You might be right on target with this diagnosis. I did the timing belt and tensioner replacement at 92,000 miles. It has 114,000 on it now.

Thanks for all of your opinions and suggestions. They are very much appreciated.

Larry

sirepair said:

Sounds to me like a leaking water pump. A fairly involved repair (runs off of the timing belt) and a somewhat pricey part. And if you're in there, you may as well replace the timing belt, tensioner and idler pulley. Might be "the straw that broke the camel's back"...

Click to expand...

I checked the coolant reservoir tank this morning and see it is empty. Definitely see coolant on the lift table as well.

It's good that you have a backup bike to use when your ST is down for repairs. It takes a lot of the pain out of it if you're not without a bike. This way you can take your time, do it right and not feel pressured. I was glad I had mine last year when I bought my ST and had to go through the cooling system. I've since sold my backup (02 Nighthawk 750 - simple to work on), but I may have to get another one.

This reminds me of a post I made some years back titled "why people ride cruisers" and it was a picture of all the tupperware off my ST1100 stacked up as high as my bare bones Harley Springer Softail. I love my ST for riding, no competition there, but for working on... not so much! Well worth the inconvenience though since I generally only have to remove the plastic like that once a year for it's annual big maintenance.

RobbieAG said:

It's good that you have a backup bike to use when your ST is down for repairs. It takes a lot of the pain out of it if you're not without a bike. This way you can take your time, do it right and not feel pressured. I was glad I had mine last year when I bought my ST and had to go through the cooling system. I've since sold my backup (02 Nighthawk 750 - simple to work on), but I may have to get another one.

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Unfortunately, I have the carbs off of my back up bike right now for some re-jetting purposes and decided I would paint them and pretty them up a little. That's what I get for trying to improve something that could have waited until winter to do.

So I took the ST into the dealership today and they pressurized the system and came back with the conclusion that the water pump was leaking.

Just how hard is it to change this thing? They quoted me a price of just over $1,000 to get it back on the road with $421 for a pump. The rest was for labor (5 hrs.), new o-ring, coolant and whatever else is necessary. And this was with all the Tupperware removed by me before they even got the bike.

Does this sound too high to anyone besides me? Frustrated but what can I do?

Any input will be appreciated.

Larry

If you have the Tupperware off and you have done the timing belt recently, then you should have a good idea what to do. Water pump runs off of timing belt. Drain coolant, remove covers, r&r pump and reassemble. 5 hours seems like a long time for a pro to do this if plastics are off.

Just do it Yourself. You'll save at least $500, and almost all the steps are just like doing the Timing Belt. It should go much easier because of this.
I did my T.B. & W.P. during two seperate winters between 100k and 120K miles, and the tensioner and pulleys looked good, so were never replaced. Think my pump, at the time, was about $200 - 220, from Western Honda.