Coolant tank overflow pipe leak?

I have a coolant issue:
Full (upper level) coolant tank with liquid. After a 45 minute ride the coolant tank is empty.

I took the righthand side fairing off and refilled the coolant tank. After riding for about 20 minutes and noticing the temperature increase (Halfway on dial) I can literally see liquid spewing out the overflow pipe onto the floor.
The tank itself is bubbling like crazy and when water isn't coming out of the pipe, steam is. When the bike cools down the level drops to either below the lower mark or empty.

The top hose connecting to the radiator which i am told is meant to be full of liquid is virtually empty.

What does this mean? How should I proceed?
(Basic mechanic experience)

Thanks

 

I'll let someone with more experience on your year comment, but have you checked the rad cap?

You'll need to fill the system through the radiator - not the overflow - and then make sure the system is "burped" to purge and air.

Edit: Here's a recent thread that I just saw. Granted its for a newer model than what you have, but similar circumstances.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/49049-Symptoms-of-a-blown-head-gasket

 

Hey thanks for the quick response.

I will check the cap and burp it as soon as i get more coolant (hopefully tomorrow) and let you know how things go.

a blown head gasket sounds like bad news.

What would cause the system to get air inside aside from a bad rad cap?

 

Have you at least simply let the bike idle for 10 minutes? You would able to spot leaks if you wait and keep checking. If you don't see any leaks and yet the water is boiling/spitting out of the tank something's wrong there.

And yes Pliskin linked a recent experience I had, it turns out it was a blown head gasket.

 

So i just let the bike run for about 10 minutes by which time the temperature sensor was already halfway and the coolant tank had risen by twice the amount. Air bubbles and liquid were coming through the tube which is meant to suck in liquid from the tank to the radiator.

There are no visible leaks anywhere.

The radiator itself is relatively hot but no liquid in the top hose although i have not yet taken the cap off and looked inside.

 

I had a similar issue a few weeks back. Turned out it was my radiator cap. I figured it wasn't the thermostat as the bike took the normal time to warm up and acted pretty much the way it should up until it got to the upper temps.

I did a couple of test by letting it cool down and ran it around the block a few times getting up to about 220F and I could see the reservoir level rise fairly quick (I left the fairings off for easy observation). Since the Rad cap is relatively cheap and easy to replace, I grabbed one from the Honda dealer, replaced the suspect one and did the test again.

Everything worked like it was supposed to and I'm back up and running. I was hoping it was the rad cap as I had less than a week before I was riding up to Laguna Seca for WSBK. I also double checked the fan switch and verified it's turn on point before and during my test. The trouble it takes to get to the thermostat to remove and test it, is basically what it takes to replace it and if the bike has a decent number of miles on it, might as well just replace it IMO.

 

If its a head gasket, you will most likely see signs of that in your oil. oil looking milky? Oil leve way too high? If neither of those, I doubt its a head gasket.

 

Another way to confirm it's a head gasket is to try filling up the coolant at the radiator all the way up to the top where the cap is. If you can't get the coolant to fill all the way up then it's a blown head gasket.

 

Update on my problem:

So I took off the front fairing and later the radiator cap which looked fairly normal - springs seemed to be in order + Washer.

The radiator was relatively empty so i filled it to the top and started the engine. Not many air bubbles came out. I let it run for 10 minutes with periodic revs (When I rev the fluid will go down abit - I'm assuming this is normal?). It did need some refilling during the 10 minutes and the bike did not get even close to the temperature it got to yesterday at idle for 10 minutes.

I switched the bike off and watched the fluid slowly go down and disappear slightly. I refilled, It slowly went down. This happened for about 10 minutes. I started the bike back up and the coolant went down further so i topped it up. bubbles began to appear as the coolant itself became hot and slightly steamy.

after about 30 minutes I put the cap back on and went for a short 20 minute ride. It took longer to heat up but it did and began leaking through the overflow pipe again.

While the fairing was off the only 'wettish' patch I could see was on the right side of the front engine block (See Pictures). It wasn't leaking but looked shiny as if covered in some oil.



So my questions are:

Was I doing the 'burping' right?
Does it sound like a bad gasket?
What part of the engine is that damp patch and could that be the leak (Images)?

What should I do next?

Thanks for your help everyone! Really Appreciate it!

 

Seeing as how you're able to fill the coolant all the way up to the filler neck we know it's not a blown head gasket.

I think the next item to check is the radiator cap, a visual inspection is not good enough. If you happen to be close to an auto parts/motorcycle store might as well replace the cap if it's cheap and easy enough. If you haven't replaced the cap in a long time or unsure it's worth a try because radiator caps don't last forever anyway.

If you want to be sure it is the cap you could take it to a mechanic or even buy a cap tester at your auto parts store and confirm it. But the issue is the testing will most likely cost more than the radiator cap is worth. So might as well go ahead and replace it.

Now as for burping air, that is normal when you initially fill it up that it will go down as you rev it because the system has to work out the air bubbles. And keep adding coolant until it reaches all the way up to the neck and repeat. However, this operation shouldn't take all day, it should take at most maybe 20 minutes.

My final advice at this point is to go ahead and replace the radiator cap and repeat the idle/running procedure.

 

I have ordered a new rad cap which should come tomorrow.
I will let you know how things progress - fingers crossed!

 

Replaced the new rad cap today and after a 35 minute ride everything appears to be normal.
No water leaked out of the overflow pipe when the engine was hot and there were no bubbles in the coolant tank.
All seems well! The real test will be the long journey to work tomorrow.

Thanks for all you help!

 

That's about the same results I got and I went for a 850 mile round trip and it worked out for me. Good Luck and enjoy your trip!

Cheers

 

Awesome, it's the best when a serious problem is fixed with a cheap part!

 

It's your radiator cap. I speak from personal experience. Let me search VFRD as my cap went bad and it leaked coolant onto my back tire and I went down, for want of a $9 cap from Autozone. Don't buy the Honda cap, it's ridiculously over priced. I'll see if I can find the one I used and post it here. Instant fix.

From my VFRD post http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/76323-weird-cooling-issue/?p=917962

It working great to this day and it's been in place since Nov 2013.

P.S. I realize your bike is already fixed, but this is a cheap place to get caps.

EDIT AGAIN. I just realized that this thread is about a different generation. My post above is for 6th gen. YMMV

 

Ok I can confirm the Coolant issue has been resolved! The problem was the radiator cap.

 

Glad to hear it all worked out.

Now let me throw my arm out of socket as I pat myself on the back - see my post #2, line #1.

I never cease to amaze me.