Coolant leak - help

[chriswarren]

Hi,

Noticed last night arriving back home, a smell of burning coolant....

Checked this morning and the bottom seal between the rubber and metal pipes feeding into the bottom of the engine block (oil cooler?) looks like it's gone.

Is this something a novice mechanic could handle? Looks like you'd have to get the pipes off (?) and my 03 Fazer 1000 header bolts look like they're rusted solid. I presume the part would be cheap-ish, but the rest of the work looks frightening. Trouble is I can't drive it anywhere, I'd lose all the coolant in 10 minutes. Is this a squealer job?

Thanks,
Chris.

[FILZ6]

Hello.


Any chance of a photo of the offending area of the leak, just to help us with suggestions on difficulty or ease of repair.

[PieEater]

Hope not, but just in case - http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,20947

[chriswarren]

It's the seal between the hose and metal pipe between the oil filter and oil pump (?). On the picture here, its the join between parts 35 and 26


https://www.motorcyclespareparts.eu/en/yamaha-parts/2003-fzs1000-s-fazer-motorcycles/water-pump

[The Male Whale]

Simple job - start with tightening the jubilee clip at the offending joint to see if that fixes it or remove it and look for the split in the hose.


If it is the hose, get a new one and two new jubilee clips and swap em out. Buy generic jubilees not the Yam ones and save £'s


Make sure to top up the cooling system after though (it will dump coolant - have bowl handy!) OR (and better) drain it down fully, flush, refill and "burp"


30 min job for a competent spanner twirler.


Whale

[chriswarren]

Thanks Whale.


Some follow up questions:


- can you do this without removing the exhausts?
- can you get away with any reasonable quality coolant hose cut to size?
- if it's the bottom pipe that's rusted through at the join, presumably that's going to be a bit more complicated?


Thx

[The Male Whale]

1. Yes.
2. Probably not - hose looks profiled.
3. Not really.


Look at the obvious stuff first - the rubber pipe and/or jubilee clip is far more likely to have failed than the metal pipe.


You are going to have to strip it to see whats wrong before ordering parts.....


If not confident, there will be someone on here close to you that will help out - where are you?


Whale

[FILZ6]

Check the cheap easy obvious stuff first. doubtful that the metal pipe as corroded, but if it has and its the pipe that goes through the block to the water pump
then it is easy to change but, Yes you have to remove the downpipes, then remove the sump. As well as a new pipe you will also need the "O" ring to seal the pipe in the water pump, and a sump gasket, new engine oil maybe filter while your there. Plus new coolant.
Sounds a daunting complicated job, but it really isn't that bad.
The hardest part will be getting your downpipes off if the studs/nuts are very badly corroded. if they are take your time be gentle loads of penetrating fluid, bit of heat helps if you have it.

[lta01]

Just for info, and I'm no fazer guru, but I have replaced that lower pipe which goes into the block ;the small spigot pipe joint was literally rotted through.
Drain the oil, drain the coolant and move the bike around a bit to be sure you get all the coolant out of that pipe and the water pump, then you don't need to drop the sump, UNLESS the o ring doesn't come out with the pipe 😩. Pull the pipe out slowly, push it in a bit a couple of times and hopefully the o ring WILL come out.
 You DEFINITELY need a new genuine yam o ring for that pipe when putting it back into the block and the water pump. Clean everything, especially the block opening, put the o ring onto the pipe up to the moulded shoulder, lightly grease the o ring and carefully feed back in. It will need pressure for the last 5 mm as the o ring seals.
Sadly, the pipe is too long into the block to be removed/installed with the headers on .
Good luck , I got the header nuts/studs out with a welding torch but go carefully.
Hope this helps if you need to replace that pipe. 👍

[FILZ6]

I can confirm that Ita01 is dead right in what he says, you can replace that pipe without dropping the sump. In the past I have done that, I have also had the “ O” ring come off the pipe and end up in the bottom of the sump.
To somebody not use to doing this job I just thought it would be simpler explaining the sump removed method.
Either way a new Yamaha “O” ring is a must, otherwise you risk coolant in the oil, not recommended.
Hopefully all this helps, and doesn’t scare you to much. It’s really not that difficult a job. 

[chriswarren]

Really appreciate your advice. It does sound relatively easy, IF, everything goes according to plan. Trouble is, it's my commuting machine and after 15 yrs of crud on those exhaust bolts, I reckon it'll take some sort of thermonuclear weapon to free them off. I'm also pretty sure it's the pipe that's the culprit. All in all, I think I'll have to support local small business and book it in to my dealer - unfortunately down in Folkestone (i'm just outside Canterbury). If my knees were younger and I had a bit more courage I'd try it! Will let you know what the result is. Thanks again.

[chriswarren]

The nightmare worsens... had a quote of around £400 from the dealer including second-hand parts off eBay. Parts have now arrived and been fitted, but now a further leak has developed from the main pipe attaching to the oil cooler. Apparently it needs a new oil cooler cover and pipe. Does anyone know if a 600 cooler cover/pipe would fit - I can't find an FZS one on eBay. Part of me's thinking what's going to go next, there's obviously some pretty bad corrosion issues on the front end...

[Trebus]

Several oil cooler assemblies on EBay in the US if you can wait that long. Failing that, Plastic Padding Leak Fix can be used to repair sumps etc. Might be able to do a temp repair https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F202458597822

[Trebus]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F352377997692

Try also searching with the Denso number 124100-6760

[kebab19]

Ebay # 264037931561 ?
Listed as an 'Oil Pump'

[old son]

This can be a common occurrence, the metal is very thin. It is normally the pipe that rots.

[chriswarren]

Final outcome - the dealer managed to find some second-hand parts for the oil cooler (?) pipe under the sump. He showed me how one of the arms just disintegrated like tin foil with a tiny bit of pressure. So, basically corrosion of this pipe, and the main vertical one feeding into the large hose on the front of the block has cost me £295 all in. Fortunately he didn't have to take the pipes off (must have had small hands!). Actually felt that given the circumstances, they (Alfords in Folkestone) actually did a good job.


I had a Honda CB900 for the same amount of time (and it was second-hand when I bought it).... I can't remember seeing corrosion have such a bad effect... but then Honda are pretty fanatical about material quality.


Thanks for all the replies - I'm now just waiting for the next corrosion mishap