Another coolant leak.

[ARNIE R]

Not certain exactly this one is originating from.

I had the water pump assembly replaced in October due to coolant starting to leak from the weep hole. Only got in about 8 rides until I did an oil change on January 15. It was then, I noticed some "staining" on the inside of the right side bottom cover panel directly under the water pump area. Didn't see any sign of coolant anywhere on the engine, so I assumed maybe it was residual staining from the original leak.

I have only ridden twice since the oil change and took a peek through the opening near the brake pedal and saw bright green coolant on the cover panel again. Removed the body and cover panels today and found three or four places where green coolant was possibly coming from, but I could not actually determine where from.

So, back to the dealer again.

Sorry, the pictures aren't correctly oriented.

Second pic is the bottom bolt of the water pump cover.

Third one is upside down. It is a black connector joint where two large hoses and a hose to the reservoir tank are located near the cylinder heads.

 

[Bfromla]

Rinse off& check regularly:dontknow: After every ride or something reasonable for you. Also remember the coolant flush schedule. (2y)

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Yo Arnie. Looks like a nice, wet trail leading from the bottom bolt of the water pump cover, unless it's running down from up above. There's a gasket behind that cover that has to fit in a groove when it is re-assembled. Could be a workmanship issue there.

I trust that you've re-inspected the weep hole, and gone over the system plumbing and retightened all of the screw type hose clamps. Well, on that subject, on the back side of that black connector in your third picture, right up against the engine cylinders, are two more screw type clamps. And those other two Oetiker clamps could have been replaced with screw type clamps as well. They can be easy or hard to get to depending on what the airbox of an ST is like. I'm not familiar. But if you can get a short screw driver back in there, they typically need retightened if they've never been touched since the factory. Because there is coolant on that black connector, it could be coming from up in that area.

Another issue with the 998 is the occasional crack in the plastic reservoir tank. And third, it's easy for the pressure cap not to be put on correctly because it's in an awkward position. Ensure that both of the cap's tabs engage the tank and that the cap is tightened past the first detent (the feeling of resistance) to the second, where it will stop turning.

PS - And let’s hope that the shop did not try to use the radiator drain plug, to drain the system, when they did your water pump work. In almost every case, trying to remove that will crack the fitting. Check around that thing, too. They’ll owe you a new radiator.

 

[ARNIE R]

I am kind of suspecting something is going on with that black connector part as you can see in the center of the picture the bright green "drop" which looks like it dribbled down from higher up (pic is updside down). i assume by the parts diagram that the backside of the black connector has two outlets going to each cylinder head.

Checked around the water pump assembly and can only see where it collected near the bottom bolt, so I suspect that also came from somewhere above it as there was also a spot directly on top of the water pump cover, but nowhere else around the cover.

They replaced a boatload of parts, judging by the parts inventory sheet, including four of those dreaded factory oetiker clamps. I dislike those intensely and had replaced three of them which were causing leaks during the first year of owning it with screw clamps.

Radiator joints and hoses look good.

I'll let them deal with it as it is still in warranty.

 

[Bfromla]

Still in warranty that’s a win:thumbup:opcorn::dontknow: might even be fixed before riding season for your area.

 

[Little Blue]

I am kind of suspecting something is going on with that black connector part as you can see in the center of the picture the bright green "drop" which looks like it dribbled down from higher up (pic is updside down). i assume by the parts diagram that the backside of the black connector has two outlets going to each cylinder head.

Checked around the water pump assembly and can only see where it collected near the bottom bolt, so I suspect that also came from somewhere above it as there was also a spot directly on top of the water pump cover, but nowhere else around the cover.

They replaced a boatload of parts, judging by the parts inventory sheet, including four of those dreaded factory oetiker clamps. I dislike those intensely and had replaced three of them which were causing leaks during the first year of owning it with screw clamps.

Radiator joints and hoses look good.

I'll let them deal with it as it is still in warranty.

Been there and done that.....:banghead:
Hopefully the service manager is able to get the job done correctly and quickly.

Yes, diffentily have them check it out and redo the leaking coolant issues.

 

[ARNIE R]

Still in warranty that’s a win:thumbup:opcorn::dontknow: might even be fixed before riding season for your area.

Haha - I can only hope!

 

[ARNIE R]

Been there and done that.....:banghead:
Hopefully the service manager is able to get the job done correctly and quickly.

Yes, definitely have them check it out and redo the leaking coolant issues.

Yes, I took a bunch of pics and printed them and handed them to the service advisor who gladly accepted them to put in the file.

Dropped it off today so it is not my problem anymore.

 

[Little Blue]

Pictures are Wonderful

Yes, I took a bunch of pics and printed them and handed them to the service advisor who gladly accepted them to put in the file.

Dropped it off today so it is not my problem anymore.

YES, the pictures are great and they are worth a million dollars. I have been using cell phone pictures for my Spyder. People 'listen' to pictures and videos. Isn't Life Exciting.
Watching for your good news. ....:thumbup:

 

[ARNIE R]

Got the bike back today.

One of the hose clamps on the black connector piece by the cylinder heads turned out to be loose, so coolant was slowing dripping out and running down the right side of the engine.

At least, I hope that was the problem - I'll know for certain after a few rides this coming week.

 

[Bfromla]

:thumbup: