ST1100 Fluid Leak

[MickS]

For quite a long time my 1100 has had an intermittent coolant leak. Not bad enough to stop two trips to Queensland and back, but it has stopped me attending the last 2 or 3 Vic RTE's.

It would appear to stop for awhile then it would empty the radiator after 30 mins riding. Quite frustrating as I could never pinpoint where the leak was.

Recently I was away for a couple of months and it was parked up in the shed. After I got back home I went to go for a ride and lo and behold there was a white (dried coolant) trail which led me to the leak.
That is after removal of a lot of plastic and the petrol tank. Luckily the carby's did not need to be removed.

An alloy elbow joining the top hose from the water thermostat  to the lhs engine block had fractured and this is where the fluid was leaking from.
With a small 8mm spanner I was able to reach in and remove it. Not too hard really , just a little patience and persistence.

To my knowledge this area has never been touched so could it have been over tightened from new and had this fracture in it all the time?

I hope MR Honda still has parts - anybody got any suggestions?

See attached pic (if Imgur is still the way to embed pics)
""Gave up on Imgur""

Redid the photo using Photobucket - I wonder if this works?

Regards
MickS

[johnnyYTED]

I had to replace those elbows on my 1998 x Qld Police ST1100 a few years back,, just be careful when putting the new ones on that you don't crack them when tightening the bolts...
they just seem to get old and fail..
and I could not see your Imgur image..:)

[MickS]

Thanks Johnny, will take your advice.
I seem to have never ending issues putting pics into posts.
If I click the link the pic comes up ok, probably because I'm logged in as me.
I would rather the pic just display in the post. I've never had so many issues with a forum as this one that Ozstoc uses.  Any help appreciated
MickS

[alans1100]

Those little elbows can be a pain and usually carb removal is how most generally do it.

I replaced mine at 150,000 as I did timing belt and cooling system at the same time and still have the old elbows which at the time were in good condition.

For posting pics http://ozstoc.com/index.php?topic=4583.msg48713#msg48713

[MickS]

I resized the pic in Imgur and repasted the link. I think it now works

Redid the photo using Photobucket - I wonder if this works?

[NTRebel]

link not working.

paul

[Shiney]

The link from Photobucket is working fine

[MickS]

Phew!! , thank goodness for that.
I might go and fix up some of the other posts which obviously didn't work

[johnnyYTED]

 
MickS I think its the long bolt you do up first then  the short one,  and I wouldnt connect the hose first.. Its a good time to replace the old hoses also.. if you can..

[MickS]

Thanks for the tip johnny. I have ordered a new elbow and silicon O ring.  $33.30 all up from Peter Stevens in Geelong. I had a good look at the hoses. They are actually in good condition so I will reuse them.
Because I have not taken the carbs out (only the petrol tank) it will be easier to refit by clamping the hose onto the elbow first then poking the hose up through the gap towards the thermostat then tighten the clamp onto the thermostat. Then fit O ring and bolts to elbow and tighten. This is the reverse of the removal procedure, so pretty easy. The longest part will be refitting all the plastic that had to be removed to access hose. The petrol tank is an easy removal and refit, so should not be any issues there.

MickS

[Yorkie]

make sure the fuel tank is 1/4 full or less otherwise it is quite difficult