Triumphrat

skiTTles · 02-04-2010, 08:40 AM

Coolant smell after a ride, coolant overflow going low (slowly but surely) and a long while back I had the mysterious white smoke out the tail pipe that couldn't be reproduced nor identified by the dealer.

I'm almost out of warranty, like a month left. Where should I look for this phantom coolant smell/leak? Nothing is ever on the ground......

Though appreciated!

BombFactory · 02-04-2010, 11:53 PM

It depends on how quickly the coolant is being used, and how much. Slight changes in coolant level are not necessarily a sign of a problem, and you could be smelling the coolant from the overflow tank which is jostled around and does have a drain tube/vent. How low does the overflow tank get, and how many miles does it take to get to that point?

You can drain some oil from the pan and look for water. If there is no water in the oil, chances are there is a small head gasket leak. You could pull the spark plugs and check for rust and other signs of water contamination.

This is all assuming that there is no coolant leak in the radiator, cap, water pump, or hoses. To check those, have a mechanic do a pressure test on the system. If you've never seen a drop of coolant on the floor, and there is no water in the oil, yet the radiator is constantly needing a good amount of coolant in a short amount of miles, I think you have a good argument to have a dealership investigate a head gasket leak while the motorcycle is under warranty.

Will · 02-05-2010, 11:45 AM

I'm willing to bet you have some air in the cooling system. The symptom will be what appears to be a low coolant level in the overflow bottle when the bike is cold, but overflowing when it's good and warm. There are a number of threads about burping the coolant here, since it's a common problem. I can't tell you what is happening with the white smoke, but if it only happened once and hasn't happened again, I wouldn't worry about it too much.