Concerned my Orange could be a Lemon

[Keith]

I've had my bike for nearly a week now and have noticed that it sometimes just randomly pees antifreeze onto the floor from one of the overflow pipes in the front bellypan. Up this this point I had only ever noticed this at a standstill just before turning off the engine. Yesterday I had a new rear tyre fitted and on the way back home I had a car beeping at me to pull over. He told me that he could see something coming out the bottom of my bike and upon looking I could see the water all over the rear wheel and dripping from underneath the bellypan area. If I didn't have that new tyre fitted and taking it easy I very possibly could have been on my ass on the road.

The temp gauge gets to just over half but I do have to from time to time keep refilling the reservoir in my morning POWDER checks.

With the limited paperwork I got with the bike I found a photocopy of the previous logbook which came in handy as it had some interesting information on. It appears the person on the log book acquired the bike on 1st February 2013 - He then sold it 21st March 2013 to the person I bought it from - I then bought it 28th April 2013. The last owner said that he had to sell it as he only passed his test in February this year and it was too much for him. I am now wondering if there is more to this and its been changing hands more due to this incontinence problem? He claimed he bought it from a mate from work but he lives near Newbury but the previous owner address is from Devon. Rather a way to travel to work me thinks.

By any chance would anyone have an official workshop manual cooling system routing chart so that I can check all pipes are correctly routed and connected to the right places? I am heading up to my brothers today and will have the fairing off as we are going to attempt the CCT mod today. I am not sure if its already been done so am I right in thinking that checking the rear one first would be easiest?

[Wicky]

Are you sure its not leaking from a hole (early pre01 VTR) or a spigot (late +01) that's at the front of the engine casing, above the starter on the left where the clutch cover mates on. If so this is a sign that the water pump seal has failed and it is therefore routed to gush out coolant externally rather than end up in the engine oil.

Download the PDF manual from the workshop knowledgebase and read up on removing the clutch cover to access the water pump.

re. official workshop manual cooling system routing chart

See above

I wouldn't ride it with your leaky problem - as you've mentioned it can get slippery and you risk overheating & potentially damaging the engine.

I am not sure if its already been done so am I right in thinking that checking the rear one first would be easiest?

Check that both have been done as sometimes folk only replace one - It's the front one that predominantly fail you, but its not unheard of that the rear fails as well - So you want to make sure both have been done or need doing.

[VTRDark]

Here's the workshop manual which has everything you need.
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 413#p69749

You may want to look into the water pump side of thing. If looking at the bike from the front left side of the engine. You will see a small 90 degree metal pipe coming of the engine. It looks as if something should be attached there. This is an overflow for if the water pump seal gets perished.

[edit]great minds think alike{edit]

(:-})

[Miztaziggy]

There is a link somewhere to the workshop manual in full, I'm on tapatalk on my phone right now so can't find it, but have a search. If you can't find it ill upload to Dropbox for you when I get to a pc.

And yes rear cct is easiest to get to

[AMCQ46]

Sounds likley to be the water pump seal, but it is easy to fix (although a bit pricy as it is a mechanical seal) or pick up a 2nd had storm or vardadero clutch cover which will have it already in place

[Keith]

Sounds likley to be the water pump seal, but it is easy to fix (although a bit pricy as it is a mechanical seal) or pick up a 2nd had storm or vardadero clutch cover which will have it already in place

I would have thought if its a water pump seal it would be leaking as soon as the system has built up pressure. I do have a pipe from the water pump seal area that goes to the belly pan but not sure if this would be the case. Fair enough if the seal has fully gone it would be leaking all the time. But I can do many miles without a problem and then once I come to a stand still and turn off the engine it then starts to pee out in one go and then stop. But even then its pretty random and only happens after about 4 runs. Could it be possible that I am just over filling the reserve bottle which then over flows as its expands from the radiator?
I have just inspected the radiators with engine running etc and see no problems there and they were full.

We have the bike apart now but my brother says that he does not want to help with the CCTs as he is not confident in doing the job, so I will probably have to pay someone to do it for me as I watch or at the very least give out some beer tokens

[edds11]

I would be tended to agree with the overfilling, make sure the Rad' is full and just fill the expansion bottle to the minimum, make sure bike is uprite,

[Wicky]

I do have a pipe from the water pump seal area that goes to the belly pan

Do you have a late model storm? Digital clocks & 19 L tank

To find out what's going and to stop the need to refilling the coolant you'll need to investigate happening with the water pump under the clutch cover. Coolant overflow by design will go back into the plastic overflow tank/reservoir. For coolant to leak from the dedicated outlet at the front of the engine is a sign of a gasket/seal failure (or incorrectly fitted clutch casing gasket).

Re Fitting Manual CCTs see the comprehensive DIY guide in the workshop KB - approx 3-5 hour job if you have everything to hand and don't rush it.

[Keith]

I do have a pipe from the water pump seal area that goes to the belly pan

Do you have a late model storm? Digital clocks & 19 L tank

.

It's a 1999 bike but I don't have any history with it at all. The tank has the firestorm sticker on it and the clocks are not digital. Possibly its a later engine but I don't really know. A lot of the gaskets on the engine do look new and I need to repair the clutch casing anyhow as it appears to have been bodged with chemical metal. I expect its been slid down the road at one point causing the damage to the casing. The idea of removing the casing to investigate the water pump and gasket sounds sensible so I will look further into that. Cheers.

[Wicky]

Are the engine covers a grey goldy colour, rather than a duller browny grey - as it could be that the engine or clutch cover with spigot and pipe is from a later model.

[Miztaziggy]

Don't be scared of the CCT mate, it really isn't that hard. Just follow the instructions on this site.

I'm no mechanic, and I struggle with a lot of things, but doing my CCTs turned out to be one of the easier jobs.

[tattoo]

i can only use one hand and i did my cct's earlier this week,it's not as scary as it sounds altho that first push of the starter button after it's back together is nerve racking...just take your time,check and double check what you've done and you'll be fine m8

[Miztaziggy]

altho that first push of the starter button after it's back together is nerve racking...

Lol, yeah, I remember that feeling....

[tattoo]

when the cct failed the first time i stood with everything crossed,eyes shut tight and praying to the almighty i'd done everything right as i pushed that starter button and doing it again this week was no different...