Radiator fluid smell after stopping

mrjessehlee

mrjessehlee

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Hi peeps.

I just purchased FZ1n and I noticed every time I stop the bike I can smell the radiator fluid. Previous owner has changed the top and bottom hose to red silicon hose so I can safely assume that the fluid came out and left some residue in the engine.

I checked the radiator itself yesterday and toped it up to the very top with adding about 200ml lol.

Reserve tank was empty.

Nothing drops on the floor when parked.

I think as soon as I get home from work I will top that reserve tank too.
but I am still concerned about the smell though.

Does anyone else have similar issue?
Any comment would be appreciated! Thanks in advance peeps!
 
mrjessehlee said:
Hi peeps.

I just purchased FZ1n and I noticed every time I stop the bike I can smell the radiator fluid. Previous owner has changed the top and bottom hose to red silicon hose so I can safely assume that the fluid came out and left some residue in the engine.

I checked the radiator itself yesterday and toped it up to the very top with adding about 200ml lol.

Reserve tank was empty.

Nothing drops on the floor when parked.

I think as soon as I get home from work I will top that reserve tank too.
but I am still concerned about the smell though.

Does anyone else have similar issue?
Any comment would be appreciated! Thanks in advance peeps!
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new bike :woot:

I have never smelled coolant on any street bike I have ever owned. Overflow empty and rad low is concerning.

How hot is the bike getting when you ride and how far are you riding it

really though you shouldn't be loosing coolant but sounds like you may be. Scary question but what color is your oil. Milky at all?

my guess is either a hose didn't seat properly and its leaking or you are loosing coolant somewhere and its burning off on motor. where on motor is another story
 
When I first brought my bike home (it was used) I noticed the same thing. Turned out to be a loose hose clamp on the bottom of the rad. Here's hoping your problem is as easy to fix.:sport12:
 
JMundy said:
Congrats on the new bike :woot:

I have never smelled coolant on any street bike I have ever owned. Overflow empty and rad low is concerning.

How hot is the bike getting when you ride and how far are you riding it

really though you shouldn't be loosing coolant but sounds like you may be. Scary question but what color is your oil. Milky at all?

my guess is either a hose didn't seat properly and its leaking or you are loosing coolant somewhere and its burning off on motor. where on motor is another story
Click to expand...

Wowee I thought about head gasket but fortunately the oil is not milky. bikes only done about 15000 km :)

I have done about 500km since i got the bike 2 days ago, I will check the fluid level again as soon as I get home!

Bike gets (according to the speedo) average 80 to just over 100 degrees Celsius depending on the ambient temperature thu mid day to mid night.

I am hoping the smell is from the fluid spillage while the hose was being replaced. (please please pleaaaase) but not sure I will have to keep an eye on it..
 
Truckerand4 said:
When I first brought my bike home (it was used) I noticed the same thing. Turned out to be a loose hose clamp on the bottom of the rad. Here's hoping your problem is as easy to fix.:sport12:
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for your comment :) :) Was the fluid dripping / seeping out?
How did you find out it was the loose clamp?

Cheers!
 
Temp seems right,I find that I fill coolant in O/F tank to max mark when motor is hot approx and halfway between max & min marks when cold otherwise it just spit`s out the extra coolant .Have a good look over the bike for any sign of the green coolant it can look white when dry
 
Chances are, if you are smelling coolant, it is leaking somewhere, either at one of the hoses as mentioned above, or at the rad cap itself. Rad caps can be defective (albeit rare) but are cheap. When the bike is cool take off the rad cap and check the rubber gaskets (top and bottom) for integrity. Check all the hose clamps to make sure they are snug (when cold) and that they are not cutting the silicone hoses. There is a specific kind of clamp for silicone hoses for that reason, regular ones will cut as they are tightened.

Also when the bike is hot open the oil filler cap and look for steam, smell to see if you smell coolant from the opening. Internal coolant leaks from water pump seals are not always obvious. Hot oil can burn off (evaporate) a lot of coolant without making the oil milky. The FZ uses a spin on filter so the tell tale sign of coolant in the oil making the paper filter swell (and the pleats go wavy) is not easy to detect.

Check the obvious things first, as others have said. Fill the overflow half way between the lines and make sure the rad is full. If coolant still disappears, then add a florescent dye to the coolant and after a day, drop the oil and have it checked for dye. Any decent shop will have the light to test this. Coolant in your oil means water pump seal, or possibly seal in the water/ oil cooler that the FZ has. Bottom front right of engine (about the same size as the oil filter, only silver.

When I had my water pump seal go (different kind of bike, same basic concept), I thought it was a head gasket, except that no coolant smell was coming from the exhaust, and no white smoke.

I used the dye to finally nail down the culprit. Never once did I smell coolant.

I would bet it is an external leak while under pressure, something that doesn't make itself obvious when the bike is cool, or shut off.

Good luck.
 
Oldschool said:
Chances are, if you are smelling coolant, it is leaking somewhere, either at one of the hoses as mentioned above...........................thing that doesn't make itself obvious when the bike is cool, or shut off.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thanks! very comprehensive! I will do and check exactly that.
would 15000km bike have these issues tho?
 
I think Oldschool will have nailed it with the clamps. I bet they are the originals with just the hoses changed. Might not have been tightened enough so they don't cut but will leak or have cut somewhere. Your nose is telling you, you have a leak somewhere. Did you get the original hoses with the bike?
 
Blanchy said:
I think Oldschool will have nailed it with the clamps. I bet they are the originals with just the hoses changed. Might not have been tightened enough so they don't cut but will leak or have cut somewhere. Your nose is telling you, you have a leak somewhere. Did you get the original hoses with the bike?
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Holy shit. I just check the claps and some of them are silicon clamps and some are the originals!!!!!!

I think I have established a good starting point where I should trouble shoot.
First fill the water back in O/F tank and change the clamps!

Correct me if i'm wrong but the pictures shows radiator top tank hose, one end with cilicon clamp and the other with factory clamp.

View attachment 16352View attachment 16353

Blanchy: No I didnt get the original hoses!
 
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Blanchy said:
Looking at your shots, hard to tell if the 1st one is standard or not but the second one definitely is. I would assume that they all are the standard clamps. Have you found any white residue anywhere? That will be a sign of a leak when cold.

This link will show silicon clamps

Dayco - Hose clamps solid inner band stainless steel screw series
Click to expand...

First picture definitely is silicon clamp,, Oddly enough thats where the white residue was and the smell was coming from. I have tighten it a bit more and cleaned the white residue off. I will keep an eye on it for next day or so and update. Thanks so much!!:woot:
 
mrjessehlee said:
Hey thanks for your comment :) :) Was the fluid dripping / seeping out?
How did you find out it was the loose clamp?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

It wasn't dripping, just leaking enough while driving to blow back onto the motor and create the smell. The only way I found it was by checking all of the hose connections. Only one was loose (barely), after I tightened it, no more smell. Good Luck!
 
Truckerand4 said:
It wasn't dripping, just leaking enough while driving to blow back onto the motor and create the smell. The only way I found it was by checking all of the hose connections. Only one was loose (barely), after I tightened it, no more smell. Good Luck!
Click to expand...

I think I have / had the same problem. tighten the clamp and going to see what happens. So far no smell :flash:
 
Take that clamp off and see if has a full band inside. It looks the same as my standard top hose clamp. Otherwise take it to a shop for a cold pressure test?
 
RIGHT! here are the updates!

After a week or so of observation, I am about 99% sure the leak is coming from the top silicon hose. it don't drop but it seeps out extremely slowly at the end of the hose and I can see the dried fluid build ups and that is the only spot I can smell the radiator fluid from too. I have tried putting a proper (& about 5mm wider) clamp and tighten it as much as I think I should. If I go more I might potentially cut the hose off with the clamp :( and the seepage is still there.


I have a weird feeling that the silicon hose is a tad bit (0.5mm at the most?) bigger than it should.

I think I have couple ideas that might need some advice on from you gurus.


1. lose the looks of the red hose and go back to stock one.

2. Use teflon tape and add some layers to the radiator and thicken it up then put the red hose back in.

3. Use Self Fusing Silicone Rescue Tape and add some layers to the radiator and thicken it up then put the red hose back in.

4. Would using Hylomar be an option?

is idea 2,3,and 4 even an option? or plain stupid?


AND does anyone have or can source the factory top radiator hose (see picture / blue arrow) ?

Thanks guys,
View attachment 16439
 
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You may need to take the hose off to clean the inside of hose and outside rad fitting, there will be built up residue stopping it sealing correctly, if that does`nt work like I said earlier go back to stock,you just need to go straight to Yamaha bike shop to order new hose/hoses. anytime you take off hoses it`s a good idea to clean all fittings and hoses before replacing.not saying some of the sealing ideas won`t work but if everything is clean you should not need them and if hose is to large piss it off,by the way you can overtighten the clamps and cause a leak
 
Finally fixed it!!

Its been a little but long and frustrating journey.

Fixed it by replacing the hose to factory hose.

before I threw the red silicon hose away in the bin, I split the hose into half with a knife and found out the inner layer had number of holes in them that allowed the coolant to seep into the outer fabric mesh layer, then which oosed out from the end of the hose.

Wish I took the photos. Anyway I've flushed the coolant too and the problem is GONE!

Thanks everyone. :cheerleader::cheerleader::cheerleader:
 
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