Coolant Leak

[GTM®]

Didn’t you say before that Piaggio denied the warranty claim on this? How could they do that given these photos? Very confusing.

Yes, but I’m just the messenger. No way they should be able to deny it. Something about they didn’t want to cover labor. A lame tactic since he (foolishly IMO) purchased the extended warranty. I’ll keep this updated.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Wow. I’m stunned.

 

[dulcinella]

View attachment 33774
Hi
There is max-min level in reservoir. But its hard to see it.
In my case, At 1250 kilometers, I noticed that the coolant level had dropped. the seller added about 50ml. I noticed that it dropped to the minimum line again at 1450 kilometers. It went into maintenance today. No leaks were seen. If it falls again, they will examine it in detail.

Hi Thanks again for your answer to my problem...reading it again, I noticed a detail, that you mentioned...the dealer added 50 ml, but the coolant level dropped again...did you take any further stepes?

 

[Dave H]

Some intel on Dave’s (now Mike’s) V100S. After his first long ride, it was smoking heavy from under the airbox/tank. Dealer sent him the pics below. It looks like two split coolant lines at the crimp clamps. Last pic is just to show the evil tip-over valve is still present.

Given the bikes history, I would insist on having the thermostat and radiator cap replaced. Also, the Stelvio has a different cap on the reservoir tank that to me indicates that Piaggio is aware that there might be a problem with the original cap.

 

[santuz]

I had a water leak like the ones described in this thread, water boiling and spill of about half a liter. I want to change the radiator cap with something different, any suggestion? anybody knows which is the set pressure?

 

[kenrover]

Kia ora, Santuz.
Usually, a pressurised cap will have a reading marked on it. It will be in psi (rare these days) or Bars/Atmospheres/Kgs per sq metre.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I want to change the radiator cap with something different, any suggestion? anybody knows which is the set pressure?

Why would you want to change this?

 

[dulcinella]

Alright, did have my first failure of the Guzzi this week. During riding on sunday I noticed that my left boot became slippery, so stopped immediately to prevent crashing. I was worried about an oil leak somewhere, but this worry was soon tempered when I smell some coolant.



View attachment 29021

The coolant came from in between the cilinders, but with all the plastic, it was not visible what the source was. The coolant reservoir was already empty, so it was not a small leakage. Called my wife to pick me up with the van.
Because it was sunday, and have to wait till tuesday for the dealer to open, I did remove some plastics myself. It could be a minor issue like a hose clamp or some sort.
But after removing 1000 screws to remove the plastic, screen, tank, airbox (was not fixed well enough)……I still did not see the source of the leak.
What I did notice during the removal of most of the plastics, is a loose wire connector nearby the ignitionkey. It was loose, and I did not fix it afterwarts. Does anyone no where this is for? I do not have wiring diagrams.

View attachment 29022

View attachment 29023

View attachment 29024

Removing the throttlebodies was a bridge to far, so I decided to build everything back togheter and call the dealer ASAP.
They found the leak: It was a badly mounted hose clamp, that damaged the hose. It was fixed and on wednesday I was riding again.

Learned some things:
The V100 is put together with haste
A lot of screws are used
The thermostat is placed in between the cilinders.
View attachment 29025
Stunning looking bike!

Hi
Looks like most of us do have that issue with coolant loss. Mine was the issue with the cramp clamp on the hose/spigot thing, which was replaced by a worm screw clamp. What I wanted to highlight here is...don't allow this traumata to take control over you...After my clamp was exchanged, I started to look for the right fill level in the expansion tank...and finally filled 2 shots of water into it. The effect was, that I again found coolant in the valley of the casting, which most photos show...means...you will find coolant untill the system has levelled itself to the right filling...and that can take some time, since it will only stop at extremes conditions....40°C, 1 hour stop and go at city crawling...and it will smell for quite some time....so keep on rolling and only make shure your expansion tank does not run dry.

 

[santuz]

ok I recap. I had the clamp issue at 1000 km, fixed and no more leak for the next 10.000 km. last saturday I stopped the bike and heard boiling noise from the radiator and noticed a significant spill of water. No liquid added before, no particular climate condition (16°C ambient temperature when last summer I rode up to 43°C), no fan start fail, no high temp on the dash, everything was as it should have been. It all makes me suspect of an unnecessary release of pressure from radiator to the expansion tank and the most probable root cause is the radiator cap.

 

[dulcinella]

ok I recap. I had the clamp issue at 1000 km, fixed and no more leak for the next 10.000 km. last saturday I stopped the bike and heard boiling noise from the radiator and noticed a significant spill of water. No liquid added before, no particular climate condition (16°C ambient temperature when last summer I rode up to 43°C), no fan start fail, no high temp on the dash, everything was as it should have been. It all makes me suspect of an unnecessary release of pressure from radiator to the expansion tank and the most probable root cause is the radiator cap.

Hi Santuz
to fully understand your hypothesis...you think the failure mode is that the radiator cap does not allow pressure in form of compressed air to go out and so the cooling fluid exceeds the max level, so that the overflow valve then releases coolant fluid?
did I understand that right?
Well the cheap way would be to just exchange the radiator cap and I cross the fingers for you, that this cured the issue....but there is another hypothesis...and I hope very much, that I am not right...imagine your engine allows exhaust gas to enter your cooling circuit...that really would increase the pressure...since I don't know the design of the coolant coat in the cylinders and wonder if only the cylinder head gasket seals the cumbustion area from the coolant system it could be a leaking cylinder head gasket or a crack in the engine housing.
To test it, see your dealer and let him check with a chemical test fluid, if he will find exhaust gas in your coolant fluid. good luck

 

[santuz]

Hi Santuz
to fully understand your hypothesis...you think the failure mode is that the radiator cap does not allow pressure in form of compressed air to go out and so the cooling fluid exceeds the max level, so that the overflow valve then releases coolant fluid?
did I understand that right?
Well the cheap way would be to just exchange the radiator cap and I cross the fingers for you, that this cured the issue....but there is another hypothesis...and I hope very much, that I am not right...imagine your engine allows exhaust gas to enter your cooling circuit...that really would increase the pressure...since I don't know the design of the coolant coat in the cylinders and wonder if only the cylinder head gasket seals the cumbustion area from the coolant system it could be a leaking cylinder head gasket or a crack in the engine housing.
To test it, see your dealer and let him check with a chemical test fluid, if he will find exhaust gas in your coolant fluid. good luck

No I don't think is the engine, this happened only once, no sign of loss of compression, no white smoke, clean fluid, etc. I strongly think is the radiator cap spring that randomly stops working properly.
I've used the bike after that and also sent for checking to the dealer, now everything looks absolutely perfect

 

[JPC56]

Radiator caps are normally set to 15 psi, this is to raise the boiling point of the coolant. The reservoir or expansion tank is vented to atmosphere. If the engine is hot and has a cap that lifts at only 1 or 2 psi then when the engine is stopped the coolant stops flowing and is unable to cool parts that may be close to the boiling point of the low pressure coolant. This could cause localised boiling which would produce steam resulting in coolant being released past the faulty rad cap into the expansion tank and onto the ground. Any dealer would be able to test a rad cap for correct operation.

 

[DistritoF.]

Radiator caps are normally set to 15 psi, this is to raise the boiling point of the coolant. The reservoir or expansion tank is vented to atmosphere. If the engine is hot and has a cap that lifts at only 1 or 2 psi then when the engine is stopped the coolant stops flowing and is unable to cool parts that may be close to the boiling point of the low pressure coolant. This could cause localised boiling which would produce steam resulting in coolant being released past the faulty rad cap into the expansion tank and onto the ground. Any dealer would be able to test a rad cap for correct operation.

Great info for me, as I am a zero-to-the-left on anything mechanical. I will change the cap as a possible preventive move.

Thank you guys.

 

[GTM®]

Didn’t you say before that Piaggio denied the warranty claim on this?

Quick update on Dave's old bike that Mike bought from P.I. - The water pump lines were replaced, but the bike was returned shortly after, still with problems. They are now replacing the head gaskets as a last ditch attempt to fix Mike told me. Lemon is being talked about. Sad that they sold him a bike with a known problem, and tied up his money... He's barely ridden it since purchased months ago.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Pro-Italia is not the same place it was nearly 40 years ago with Earl.

 

[mohawkeye]

Definitely! I'm assuming that a new head gasket was ordered today. With any luck, it should arrive late this week, but I'm not holding my breath... New coolant pump arrived last week, and I don't know whether the radiator cap has been replaced, modified, or ??? The bike has been at PI since around mid-January; the tech who was assigned the job was VERY happy to have it turned over to the #1 mechanic (who works mostly on Ducatis). Both of them are more than tired of seeing this bike in the shop, and I have had to cancel a couple of trips to Oregon and Orcas Island, WA. All I want now is the chance to ride it again soon (and that'll take place only on the local mountain roads, so I can use my AAA card for a tow truck, if needed. I talked with a Lemon Law attorney, and he told me that the addendum (or change) to include used vehicles is still waiting for a decision, which, he believed, would come some time later this year. The extension to 5 years on the warranty didn't cost that much ($150-200), and, who knows, there's a fair chance that I'll need that extra time... A small concession from PI's principal: the black rims were replaced with the "gold" ones that match the head covers. And, I just learned a minute ago that a new engine was ordered today and it should arrive in a couple of weeks. At least, with all the similar incidents in this thread, I have a chance to start over, with, I hope, the new clutch actuator seals and and fresh vent hoses for the cooling system and a new filler cap.