Colant leak from WP cover

[Janman]

I have a coolant leak which is coming from the horizontal line below the two bolts on the water pump cover.Any suggestions on a remedy.

 

[Mellow]

Check the coolant hose clamps above the engine, many times, they are the issue and just need to be tightened.

 

[dduelin]

Odds are great the leak is above the engine in the vee of the cylinders - as Joe posted. A simple tightening of the hose clamps in the cooling system will most likely solve your problem. If they have never been snugged up since new it is almost guaranteed this is the immediate problem. Removing the radiator exposes the thermostat housing and by using socket extensions and long screwdrivers you can tighten the clamps on and around the housing. I would also replace the O-ring in the thermostat housing as long as you go in there. It looks bad but it really is a simple fix.

 

[Janman]

The only place coolant is coming from is that horizontal gap.The vertical gap is dry as is everywhere else.

 

[Blrfl]

The only place coolant is coming from is that horizontal gap.The vertical gap is dry as is everywhere else.

There's a drain channel in the vee that runs behind the water pump cover and lets out at the bottom. That's why you're only seeing coolant there.

--Mark

 

[Janman]

There's a drain channel in the vee that runs behind the water pump cover and lets out at the bottom. That's why you're only seeing coolant there.

--Mark

Thats for sure where the coolant is coming from so does that mean my waterpump is leaking and this is where it shows?

 

[Blrfl]

Thats for sure where the coolant is coming from so does that mean my waterpump is leaking and this is where it shows?

It means your coolant hoses are leaking, probably at the fittings where the coolant exits the engine. That's up in the vee, underneath the throttle bodies. See Dave's comments in post #3 and also this article.

Water pump failures are usually at the seal, and that has its own hole where the coolant leaks out.

--Mark

 

[sennister]

As mentioned when a WP goes it is typically seen through the round weep hole on the right side of the engine. Just around the corner from your pic. The square hole near it is from the V of the engine but some times it can follow down the gap in the water pump/clutch cover area and appear like your leak is. Of course it is possible that the gasket is leaking for the waterpump cover but it is more common for a coolant hose near the T-stat to cause a leak pattern like this. They are known to leak and while a gasket can fail, it is pretty rare. It is more common that the WP seal that would fail and indicate from the round hole as I mentioned and not from the gap like you are seeing.

 

[Janman]

Odds are great the leak is above the engine in the vee of the cylinders - as Joe posted. A simple tightening of the hose clamps in the cooling system will most likely solve your problem. If they have never been snugged up since new it is almost guaranteed this is the immediate problem. Removing the radiator exposes the thermostat housing and by using socket extensions and long screwdrivers you can tighten the clamps on and around the housing. I would also replace the O-ring in the thermostat housing as long as you go in there. It looks bad but it really is a simple fix.

Thanks for the info guys i guess my first line of attack is to drop the rad and tighten up the clamps on the thermo housing.From other posts i gather that there are 5 hoses and clamps up there so are they all accessible by droping the rad or just the thermo housing?

 

[Janman]

Well guys i took off the rad and tighten all the hoses i could at from there. Some were so loose i could have turned them with my fingers.Definite signs of leaking as the area in front of the thermostst housing was quite gummed up.Bolted everything back up and crossed my fingers.Well last nite the temperature dropped down to +4 celsius so a good chance to check for leaks.Fired her up and let run till three bars showed and not a single drop.Thanks for the help guys it is much appreciated.To those who are thinking of doing this procedure themselves all i have to say is if i can do it most others can.A little back story while i'm here.Took the stead to the dealer 2 years ago for the valve check and i figured while its there flush the coolant and install a new thermostat and o ring.At that time a waterpump replacement was suggested because they noticed a collant leak.If up at the thermostat housing at that time you would think they would have seen the signs of leakage there.Well i guess some unsuspecting customers would be willing to fork out the $700 they wanted for the replacement but me being a little of their fix at the time turned out to be a good thing.

 

[Mellow]

Glad to hear it!!!

 

[sennister]

Well guys i took off the rad and tighten all the hoses i could at from there. Some were so loose i could have turned them with my fingers.Definite signs of leaking as the area in front of the thermostst housing was quite gummed up.Bolted everything back up and crossed my fingers.Well last nite the temperature dropped down to +4 celsius so a good chance to check for leaks.Fired her up and let run till three bars showed and not a single drop.Thanks for the help guys it is much appreciated.To those who are thinking of doing this procedure themselves all i have to say is if i can do it most others can.A little back story while i'm here.Took the stead to the dealer 2 years ago for the valve check and i figured while its there flush the coolant and install a new thermostat and o ring.At that time a waterpump replacement was suggested because they noticed a collant leak.If up at the thermostat housing at that time you would think they would have seen the signs of leakage there.Well i guess some unsuspecting customers would be willing to fork out the $700 they wanted for the replacement but me being a little of their fix at the time turned out to be a good thing.

I think you would be shock at how many times we have directed people to the true cause of an issue when a dealer has miss-diagnosed it or couldn't figure it out. In their defense, it isn't like many of them see many STs. They are pretty reliable, there are not that many of them out there and when something breaks many of us fix them ourselves. So many times all they know about them is what is in the service manual. This doesn't always explain things all that well and like you mentioned in your first post. You thought it was a water pump issue.

 

[Janman]

Well its still leaking.Temperature has been very warm lately but still leaking.I overlooked the t-stat o-ring but have one on order so hopefully that will solve it.If i were to go in from above by lifting the tank and taking out the airbox could i still run the engine so as maybe to see where the actual leak is coming from?

 

[Blrfl]

You probably won't need to start it up.

If you pull the air box, you'll have pretty much full access to the thermostat and everything around it. You'll also be able to get into the area under the throttle bodies and feel around the bottom of the fittings where the coolant comes out of the engine. If either of those is leaking, you'll come back with dried green blood (coolant) on your fingers.

--Mark

 

[CODEMAN1210]

One of the problems areas i see with ST1300's are coolant leaks. Most of the times they are leaking from the mechanical seal at the water pump, or the weep hole, but i have also seen them leak from the crossover tubes between the cylinders, I am glad you found your leak, just keep an eye on it in the future, most of the time you will smell coolant but wont see any evidence of it on the ground, it will be leaking but dissipate before it hits the ground, unfortunately with the ST1300 you really need to keep an eye on the coolant levels in that bike.

 

[Janman]

You probably won't need to start it up.

If you pull the air box, you'll have pretty much full access to the thermostat and everything around it. You'll also be able to get into the area under the throttle bodies and feel around the bottom of the fittings where the coolant comes out of the engine. If either of those is leaking, you'll come back with dried green blood (coolant) on your fingers.

--Mark

Will i be able to change the o-ring by going in via the airbox?Would rather not have to pull the rad again if i don't have to.Any tricks i should know beforehand with pulling the airbox?

 

[Blrfl]

Will i be able to change the o-ring by going in via the airbox?Would rather not have to pull the rad again if i don't have to.Any tricks i should know beforehand with pulling the airbox?

You might be able to pull that off. I haven't had my air box off in quite awhile and can't remember if the clearances are there.

Removing the airbox is easy enough. Use JIS screwdrivers or an impact Philips driver to remove the screws that hold the bottom half onto the throttle bodies, because they're made out of a 30% Swiss cheese blend and strip easily.

--Mark

 

[Janman]

Well came in from the top by removing the airbox and throttle bodies which was not that hard.The impact driver helped a lot.Was able to run the engine and right away spotted the culprit hose.Tightened up all the clamps that I couldn't get at from the front and everything was dry with no leaks.Over the course of three days I started up the several times each day and no leak.Today I put everything back where it belongs and went for a quick ride around the block.Got back in the garage and you guessed it a leak but very small this time but still a leak.It was noticeable from the channel beside the weephole not the weephole itself.So my question is why no leak during idle at warmup to three bars but as soon as I ride it I see aleak?

 

[Blrfl]

My theory on that is that it leaks when its cold and then takes awhile to dribble down through the vee and the channel and through the bottom of the fairing before it hits your driveway.

--Mark

 

[MileEater]

Can you use Bars Leak or Ironrite for such a small PITA leak?