Triumphrat

2001tiger

I have a 2001 Tiger in Chicago which is now away for the winter in an unheated garage.
I noticed that once the outside temperature dropped to below about 40 deg F the coolant seems to leak slowly (from what I can tell) out near the radiator cap (car terminology). When the outide temperature was back in the mid 40's the drip/leak stopped. Now the temperature has dropped to below 40 again it is leaking again.
Seems odd to me as I might expect this more from the cooling system if the volume expanded with hot weather but not with the cold weather.
Anyway, I tried tightening some of the hose clamps coming from the lower part of the radiator all to no avail, but like I say it seems to drip down from the top of the radiator. It looks like to get clear access to the top of the radiator cap and the hoses to investigate further I have to remove the fairing and fuel tank.
Any clues/similar experiences/words of wisdom?
Cheers.

Diego

No words of wisdom from me, sorry to say. I've experienced the same thing several times with my 2001, and you are right--you need to gain access to the most inaccessible hoses on the durned beast to tighten clamps. Wish I knew of an easier solution, but I don't.

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John

bigD

yup you need to lift the tank. Relatively straight forward job. Just time consuming (especially first time). You do not need to remove the fairing to get the tank off, just the indicator pods the black side plates at the rear of the tank, the battery & the battery box. this gives you access to the rear tank fixing screw (the front one you can always get at) then its just a case of making sure you disconnect everything one at a time & take cafeful note of where all of the connections go. Be carefull with the fuel connections, they should be self sealing when you un-clip them but don't twist as some of them are delecate. Best to have a couple of new "O" rings for the fuel connectors handy in case they get damaged when you split the joints. Once all of this is done it is a simple job to lift the tank off (gently), best if you have a near empty tank at this stage or a reliable buddy to take the other side 'cos they are heavy when full. Oh, and have somewhere soft to sit the tank down once its lifted off especially if it has a lot of fuel in it.

Be carefull that you do not over tighten the clips on the waterhoses once you get the tank off as you could collapse some of the connections, they are made from plastic.

Have fun with your strip down. have a browse round the forum here & make yourself a list of jobs you can do while the tank is off. Err, a new oiler, new spark plugs, air filter etc, etc, etc.

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Big D

If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

cbxtc6

Both my '03 and my '06 did/do this. I'm not overly concerned about a 1" coolant puddle under the 'cat. I tried tightening the hose clamp connections, but it still dripped.

airrider03

My 05 did that also...cold weather leak...once under way and warm...all was silent. I tightened the hose clamps.

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Stay Still, and roll the Earth beneath your wheels...

brgtiger

yep same here on my 02 and 05. i loosend the allen at the top of the tank and raised it about 5 inches and supported it with a piece of wood while i tightened the very top hose. all the others i coould reach without moving the tank....have fun...welcome to british engineering..also check the elbow on the overflow tank. that also broke on both of my tigers. i found a fitting fron a drip irrigation system that worked and did not break.

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Joe
05 tiger
06 scrambler

TucsonBill

I have tried EVERYTHING and it still, but not very often, drips. I think this is done to replace the gremlins that Lucas caused earlier Triumphs. They just do it every so often on cold days, even Arizona cold days, just to make us crazy. I think messing about with the system, especially the clamps on the plastic piece where the cap is, can cause more problems than good. As bigD mentions, be careful if you are going to tighten things, the previous owner of my '99 tightenened the clamps until the flanges collapsed. Some careful work with the heat gun fixed that, but the piddling still happens. Older Triumphs marked their territory with oil, the new ones do it with antifreeze!

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William Fee
Iron Butt #26777
Tucson, Arizona

HeyMan

My 06 is doing the same thing. I tracked it down to the bleeder screw on the thermostat housing. After looking at it, I found the copper washer on the bleeder screw roughed up a little from the brass insert on the thermostat housing. I haven't had a chance to fix it yet, but the new washer is only about a $1. I thought about trying a teflon washer, but worry that it may back out. If I find a good fix I'll post. -Dan

2001tiger

Thanks for all your responses - sounds like it is a not uncommon problem. Anyway, removing the fuel tank sounds like a major project which might not even fix the problem.
I mean really, what is the worst that can happen if I leave it alone? Obviously I will clean it up a little and check the coolant level before I take it out for a ride again.
It just baffled me that it would leak when cold rather than hot.

TucsonBill

Just don't overfill things, then you end up with a wet, left pant leg!

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William Fee
Iron Butt #26777
Tucson, Arizona