Coolant leak,
- Thread starter Jerbear
- Start date
Uncle Phil
Site Supporter
Check the overflow hose to see if it is cracked.
Then check your radiator clamps to see if they are tight.
Next I'd look at the radiator cap.
Then check your radiator clamps to see if they are tight.
Next I'd look at the radiator cap.
hard to say if its leaking from the end of the hose in the picture, or if its dripping from above (T-stat housing). Either way it looks like its getting blown around by the wind force while riding.
Agree with SMSW about cleaning it off and restarting it, but I'd pull the rest of the plastic to get access to the T-stat housing and filler cap, check the level and top off if needed, then run it in the garage and watch for the leak with it stationary.
Agree with SMSW about cleaning it off and restarting it, but I'd pull the rest of the plastic to get access to the T-stat housing and filler cap, check the level and top off if needed, then run it in the garage and watch for the leak with it stationary.
I refurbished my 1991 about six years back due to surprise leaks on the garage floor....mostly original hoses/tubes/vents. The photo shows one of the leakers, the overflow tube was cracked as well. During my inspection, I found most hoses were brittle and cracking so I ended up replacing all the hoses, water, air, vacuum, fuel....and all the corroded fittings. Those at the thermostat were in the worse shape with the little elbow fittings under the carb being next.
Did a LOT of other refurbishment while her fairings were off.
Did a LOT of other refurbishment while her fairings were off.
I think this defines the two ends of the preventative maintenance spectrum. Somewhere in the middle would be the best tradeoff of not wasting your time and not getting stranded somewhere. But some of the hoses can be easily inspected, others like the ones under the carbs require more effort. So some things can be checked more frequently than others.Which reads like "after 29 years of neglect..."
I'd suggest a biannual check...
I'm surprised that a 29 year old ST could even have original hoses that didn't already blow years earlier, maybe someone else replaced some of them 10-15 years earlier and he just thought they were original.
On this we do agree...
Whilst I doubt they did the O-rings of the water pipe down there...
And a good visual inspection every two years seems quite OK to me...
OP
OP
Jerbear
Site Supporter
Thank you all for the suggestions. All of the hoses were replaced about 4-5 years ago, and there were no leaks then. This past weekend I took a 300 mile ride in some heat, and no leaks anywhere. The temp gage stayed within the first quarter of the scale. Will get in to the hoses once I'm done replacing timing belt in my daughter's forester. I know, priorities right?
I bought it with low mileage...just a bit over 17000 miles. It had been stored in the PO's garage for a bit over 20 years. I couldn't get the erosion to photograph well so I bead blasted the corrosion away...not much help. But spraying it silver made depth obvious.Which reads like "after 29 years of neglect..."
I'd suggest a biannual check...
My point in this recent post was that ST's bodywork and cluttered systems often conceal impending issues. You can't just look (as I learned)...gotta poke, squeeze, wiggle and inspect closely as they age.
This photo was part of my restoration article from about nine years back....it seems to be one of the missing after the club's recent service change.
Yeah, exactly the "excuse" many shops/mechs bring up about why they don't like/refuse to work on ST's...
OTOH does the ST still seem among the easiest to work at, fully faired bike...
Remove panniers, seat, side covers and false tank, grab a penlight and stare into the abyss below the carbs...
Access covers out, snoop around the sides...
That's pretty much the 'visual' I perform before/after any longer tour...
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