Coolant Leak right in the middle of my ST1100

I've got a long Phillips but I can't see the actual screw head for the top right boot/insulator, seems everything is in the way. I just ordered the JIS T-handle screwdriver from Amazon. I went to the link for ST-Riders and that looked promising.
 
Havent't been able to reach the screw to loosen the hose clamp so I can remove the Carburetor so I removed the radiator. Then I quit as it was my birthday that day. Will see about loosening the screw later. It shouldn't be this difficult.
 
Happy Birthday ! You might want to take off the right upper motor mount (takes about 3 minutes IIRC) - nothing will shift or move. Thats what I did ,I had problems with that screw - taking the mount off, gave me better vision to what I was doing and also gives you more room to angle the screw driver - dead on the screw head. Correct installed ,those clamps are locked into right position - they only go on one way - and they won't/can't spin on you ,even if they are losse (which they have to be to get the carbs back on). Someone correct me if I am wrong - Ive only done it once . I had no problems , when putting it together
 
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Winfried I think you are looking at the photo Smudgemo posted and have mistaken the direction. The screw does not face the radiator. Take a look again.
 

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This photo shows where the screwdriver needs to be. (Oddly enough I use the exact same screwdriver that Tosaw sent you the link to. I didn't use the impact feature here but the driver itself is the correct tip and is just long enough to fit without removing too much plastic.

I hope this helps.
 

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Damn, I already removed the radiator to get a better shot at it, and t didn't help, and I see in the previous picture how I have to aim for it. Will try and remove motor mount and see if that will help. I did the radiator removal on the 27th of November, today is the 12th of December, my first day of my vacation. Went out there and tried prying without loosening the #1 screw, but it wouldn't budge. So then I came in to read all these comments, so going back out to mess with it some more.
 
I'm confused now. I thought you said in an earlier post that you could see the screw head, but it was pointing towards the front of the bike instead of its normal location.

So are you saying its actually in the correct orientation, you're just not able to see the screw head to access it?
 
Totally frustrated. I removed the motor mount and isn't helping as I cannot see the head of any screw whatsoever. I feel like I had a totally driveable motorcycle and now I have a total torn apart motorcycle ready to be sold as parts, and all for a radiator hose leak.
 
Winfried, when I removed my carburetors that same screw rotated when I put my screwdriver on it and I wasn't able to loosen it. That may be what happened to yours, but I was still able to pry my carburetors up from the back and with some gentle persuasion I popped them up and out of that right front boot without loosening the screw. Even if you damage your boot, they're inexpensive to replace and you're not going to hurt the carburetors by pulling them up with your hands.
 
What I saw before was the bottom side of a screw. Turns out that there was a dropped screw just laying there which I removed with a magnet. I though that was the bottom end of the screw for the hose clamp. Can't get a good view, hoses and frame of bike are all in the way. Can't even make out the actual clamp no less any part of a screw. Can I just pry the carbs off with 3 of the clamps loose? Been trying to see if I get any kind of give to them and nothing moves.
 
I am looking at the previous photos and the one showing the screwdriver is aiming right at the left side of #1 and the other photo that shows all the clamps, #1 shows the screw on the right side. Since that is where the screw is, it is totally not able to be seen with everything in the way. It almost looks like there isn't a clamp to unscrew from what I can view from right side of bike. I'm still asking can I pry the damn carbs off.
 
Winfried said:
I'm still asking can I pry the damn carbs off.
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I would think you could to the point of seeing where the clamp is on the number 1 and be able to loosen it. Get a hair dryer in there first get those boots nice and warm.
I would also have replacement boots on hand when you replace the carbs.
 
I pried the intake and now the carbs are loose. Just removed the chose and throttle cables. Have to work on the front hose now so I can lift it out. Will let you know where the leak is coming from.
 
The YouTube video is of a 1998 ST1100, and mine is a 2002. I see 2 clamps on each intake. Nothing on the video mentions 2 clamps. I loosened the top one. There was so much dirt and grime that it was impossible to see where the screw was. Have hoses connected to the carbs so removed the bottom one and left others attached and just hanging the carbs. Now to see if I can locate the leak, as there isn't any fluid as I removed everything, will be harder to find the leak.
 

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I thought the hard part was getting the carbs off. Now with no radiator, thermostat, there isn't any liquid to leak out to see where it was coming from. Do I put everything back so I can put liquid back in to find the leak? Is there an easier way to locate the leak?
 
You should be able to see coolant residue where it leaked. There seems to be some at the elbow under the carbs. You might as well replace all the coolant lines since you’re in there.
 
Winfried said:
The YouTube video is of a 1998 ST1100, and mine is a 2002. I see 2 clamps on each intake. Nothing on the video mentions 2 clamps. I loosened the top one. There was so much dirt and grime that it was impossible to see where the screw was. Have hoses connected to the carbs so removed the bottom one and left others attached and just hanging the carbs. Now to see if I can locate the leak, as there isn't any fluid as I removed everything, will be harder to find the leak.
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The top clamp tightens the boot to the carb body, the lower clamp tightens the boot to the cylinder head intake port.

Remove both clamps, replace all 4 boots, they're cheap and you don't want to re-use them and find out after re-installing everything that you have a vacuum leak because the old boot got hard and didn't re-seal properly.

there is no point in trying to locate the leak, you're going to replace everything in there that carries coolant. This includes:

the two metal elbows that attach to the cylinder heads
the O-rings inside the elbows
the two hoses that connect from the elbows to the T-stat housing
the small hose that goes from the "water pipe" to the T-stat housing

edit: I just looked at your photos, and wow, what a mess. I don't know how all that dirt got in there. Was this thing parked outside in the desert for 20 years?

Also, the photo under the mat appears to show a bulging coolant hose, which is what typically happens over time, and then they eventually split lengthwise along the hose and blow all the coolant out in a matter of a few seconds.
 
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