Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and I joined for some help from you folks. My fiancé has a 2009 ninja 650 with less than 5000km on it. It has developed a problem that has stumped me. I've searched and searched but can't find any similar problems.
Her bike has been leaking coolant from around the exhaust mounting studs. I have never seen this before and everyone I ask is stumped. I've checked all the coolant lines to make sure it's not dripping from above somewhere. Everything above the exhaust ports on the head is dry. The bike was tipped over one day. She forgot to put the kick stand down before getting off the bike but she managed to slow the fall of the bike. It wasn't a hard impact but I've only noticed a leak after this incident at some point along the way. I removed the exhaust from the bike and found a bunch of gummed up coolant around the ports. I also removed the tank and air box to try and get to the spark plugs. I found the same gummed up coolant residue down inside one of the spark plug bores around the spark plug. Has anyone seen this before or have any ideas of what this could be. She rode the bike all last season with the leak( it's a slow leak mind you). It seems to be the worst when the bike sits. Thanks for any help you can give me. If you have any more questions just ask away!
I already checked over the radiator and all the hoses. They are not leaking. The bike mostly leaks when it's not running and there wouldn't be pressure in the system. There is usually a few drips on the floor and drips hanging off a few of the exhaust studs
Take the fairings and stuff off so you can closely inspect everything. Clean up old leakage, fill up the coolant, and then watch to see if you can identify an external leak. I'm also wondering if it could be an internal leak, such as from a blown head gasket, but if that happened and it was leaking significantly with the bike not running, I would think it would hydrolock a cylinder. This is a weird one.
Yeah it's really strange. I've already striped the bike down and checked over everything. The only leak I can find is through the exhaust stud. Does anyone know if the studs are threaded into a coolant jacket on the 650 engine?
The other day I cleaned everything really well and let the bike sit for a few days. Turns out the leak is coming from the right hand spark plug drain hole. Does this mean a blown head gasket or a cracked head?
can you get some good pics of the head so we can have a look? the only time ive had a similar leak to that was from a core plug in the spark plug area that had rusted through due to no anti-freeze in the engine but that was in a car engine. i cant see my bike now to take a look as its 10,000km away.
I had a very similair probelm... it was spraying from the back of the radiator (pin hole) and bouncing off that rubber piece that is used to reduce vibrations to the radiator and leaking from the exhaust.
I'll try to get a few shot of it for you guys. I thought it way have been a pin hole in the radiator but I've checked it all over and it leaks even when the system isn't pressurized. It's been sitting in the garage since I put it away for winter and it still leaks every day.
The exhaust doesn't leak coolant, it just doesn't. It has to be spraying or seeping from somewhere else. I've seen quite a few tips and a couple crashes and never have seen a blown headgasket from it. Keep looking, it has to start somewhere. Good luck!
Can it spray out even is the system isn't pressurized? It's not combing from the exhaust. It's coming from the spark plug weep hole just under the exhaust port. The actually spark plug cavity is dry. So it's coming from somewhere between the cavity and the exit of the weep hole in that passage.
The system will remain pressurized until the bike has cooled off. The headers which should evaporate the coolant on contact will cool before the cooling system allowing you to see coolant appear after the ride. Good luck!
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