5th gen coolant lines

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by 96_Sokudo, Mar 1, 2021.

  1. 96_Sokudo

    96_Sokudo New Member

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    Greetings finely tasted gentleman. I was about to take the bike (14.5k mi) out for the first ride of the year and noticed I’ve got a small coolant leak that seems to be coming from 2 of the 4 hoses connecting to the thermostat housing. Less than 1 oz total leakage (so far) between what’s on the garage floor and what I can see on top of the engine. Coolant was replaced at the beginning of last season. Is this a common issue? I’ve never had all this apart either so not sure on the disassembly difficulty. Are new lines expensive? Any answers or clarifying questions appreciated.
    Ps. did not bleed the cylinder jackets, if that’s relevant info.[​IMG]


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  2. GreginDenver

    GreginDenver New Member

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    Well, the calendar says it's 2021 which means our 5th Gen VFRs are now between 18 and 22 years old. At that age things like rubber seals and O-rings and hoses are reaching the end of their lifespan and something is bound to start leaking. Everything made of rubber is a "consumable item".

    The first thing that leaked on my '99 5th Gen it was the impeller shaft seal on the water pump. The second thing that started leaking was the O-ring on the coolant water joint to the front cylinder head. At that point I decided two leaks was enough and I took the bike off the road and did a lot of refurbishment work.

    Best course of action for your VFR is to order up replacements for all the rubber items in and around the thermostat. And while you're going to all the trouble of disassembling the items necessary to gain access to the "V" of the bike's engine, you should also give it a nice new thermostat unit.
     
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  3. 96_Sokudo

    96_Sokudo New Member

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    Any clue how much I’ll be spending? Is it sub 1k for most of the rubber? Thanks for reply


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  4. mexa

    mexa New Member

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    disassemble, measure o-ring, buy for about 1dollar, replace...
     
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  5. tirso

    tirso New Member

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    @96_Sokudo, GregInDenver is right, our vintage motorcycles need to have all rubber replaced.
    The leak you describe, is similar to my experience. Nov of '19 I bought a '99 VFR with 11.8k miles. The bike lived in a Mill Valley garage all of it's life. It looked beautiful and ran wonderfully. Not long after my purchase my first leak started.

    This forum has an excellent write up on the task you will face:
    https://vfrworld.com/threads/vfr-5th-generation-thermostat-replacement.48397/

    I don't know if you have a '98-'99 or '00-'01, but here's the Partilla link for '98-'99:
    https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1998/vfr800fi-a-interceptor/water-pump

    If you decide to replace your hoses in rubber:
    https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/1998/vfr800fi-a-interceptor/radiator

    Silicon replacement hoses are available. There's a large selection on eBay , many have used AS3
    https://www.as3performance.co.uk/silicone-radiator-hoses/road/honda/vfr-800/

    Towards the bottom of the first page of GregInDenver's excellent refurbishing write up, you'll see pictures of the state of your o-rings. Mine looked exactly the same.
    https://vfrworld.com/threads/refurbishing-my-99-5th-gen.52488/

    Here's adkfinn on VFRD with same subject:
    https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index...-20yr-refresh/&do=findComment&comment=1083029

    I looks like you have the Honda Service Manual, give it a go.

    Good luck
     
  6. Sp00ks

    Sp00ks New Member

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    Thanks for the links. I went down the GregInDenver's rabbit hole post, Fantastic read. Almost made me willing to tackle it later down the road. I have a 98 with 18k, no leaks so far. Maybe I can get a year or two out of it before a restore.
     
  7. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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  8. ridervfr

    ridervfr Member

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    You can get Samco silicon hoses from Ebay or maybe the UK. Both my 91 and 93 have these along with your problem (leaking thermostat 0-rings) I replaced the t-stat along with the 0-rings. Along the way I have replaced other fuel related stuff.

    Its not a free ride yah know! If your going to ride older stuff, be prepared to either learn how to work on it or pay someone. Problem is that the dealers or even independent shops are not going to be caring and methodical like the owner would be. I have seen/heard horror lousy stories about older bikes or even newer ones (read difficult to service and mechanics not giving a crap only making hours.)

    Old saying I learned from someone, "Nobody loves you, like you." well same can be said about y0ur scooter. "Nobody loves your bike like you do." When you crunch the numbers if your that kind of penurious your still gona be ahead of the game.
     
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  9. t.er

    t.er New Member

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    Just wrapped this job up. AS3 kit overall is very very good. I noticed a couple hoses by the water pump were a bit long, but was still able wrestle them on. Crossing my fingers *knock on wood* that I don't have any leaks! Did buy the stainless hose clamp kit and tightened all of them down
     
  10. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Got my hose kit... havent done a teardown yet (again..) Gonna use Norma hose clamps... buy on Amazon...
    [​IMG]

    Ok I gots to know... can you see the photo?

    Norma clamps - got the idea for John Reynolds master tech car build geek!
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2023
  11. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    If you hit reply, you can see it, otherwise, no
     
  12. mello dude

    mello dude Administrator

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    Totally weird and quite annoying....
     
  13. t.er

    t.er New Member

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    Yeah, don't know what is up with this forum - seems to not handle pics nearly as well as most others. I find it's only consistent if you upload them as a file which is too tedious when you have many pics.

    20230520_164255.jpg

    It was a long 12-hour day yesterday (de-paired, California emissions delete, thermostat + coolant hoses, TB vacuum hoses). Went for a test ride today (without side fairings) and luckily zero leaks! Buttoned up completely today and man it does warm up much quicker with a working thermostat haha.
     
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  14. bmart

    bmart Insider

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    What problem are you having with pics? What file types and sizes? Mine all seem to post fine.
     
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