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Coolant Leaking After Coolant Change?

Kaz19

Kaz19

Husqvarna
B Class
Hey all, recently bought a 2012 Strada and really loving the bike. However, I've got a bit of a mysterious leak.

I noticed that the coolant in the expansion tank had some goop in it and a bit milky, so I thought it was a good time to change it.

20200307_171736.jpg

Interestingly, the goop was only in the expansion tank and the coolant in the radiator was the lovely green but smelled rancid. Check out the that goop!

20200307_184146.jpg

I flushed the system with 50/50 mix of vinegar & distilled water, left it overnight then flushed again with distilled water, no leaks during this process. Then I filled the system up with the new coolant and all seemed well... Then I noticed that a small drip leak starts near the water pump when the engine gets warm to around the middle of the temp bar on the dash.

20200312_200620.jpg

20200312_200810.jpg

I'm honesty pretty baffled as to why and where its coming from. Has anyone else had a similar experience, or have ideas or suggestions to share?
 
There's a small hole at the bottom of the water pump. Check if it's coming from there. If it is than it is most likely the water pump seal. The XChallenge was known to have similar issues, but I haven't heard about it on the TR yet.
 
I had this as an issue when the bike was new. It was supposedly fixed under warranty but I suspect it still leaks a bit.
 
From the last pic it looks like a pump weep hole leak?
If it is chances are crud has entered the ceramic faces of the mechanical seal. (during the flush maybe?)
These seals are pretty tuff and can often spin the crud out.
If its not pissing out, Id start it up and monitor it, ride around the block or two and monitor it (engine running) etc and take it from there.

On a different note, be sure to purge the air out of the cooling system.
 
Is this the weep hole that is being mentioned?

20200312_200537.jpg

It seemed dry when I was watching it and was dry when I touched it. The leaks seem to come from the little 'notch/channel' in the last photo of the original post?

Interestingly, the leakage slows down and almost stops when the fan comes on but then resumes once the fan is off. As mentioned in the first post, there is no leakage until the temperature bar is close to midway on the dash. This makes me suspect the leakage has something to do with the pump activating?

I then checked the engine oil to see if it may also be leaking in to the engine itself, this is what I saw with the engine being hot and the bike on its side stand:

20200322_153528.jpg

I'm not sure fellas, does that also look to you like the coolant may have leaked in to the engine oil as well?

Hey Paul, its not pissing out but about a drip every second. Cheers for the advice on burping it, saw your post way back in 2013 and have gotten the CB17120 Triton radiator cap. Haven't had the heart to burp it yet until I figure out about what to do with this leak...
 
oil doesn't look overly milky but looks like it's overfilled. Not sure if vinegar is a good thing to use in an aluminum engine and cooler, haven't heard that before. What coolant did you put in?
 
I had previously put in CycleLogic EngineIce coolant.

Been a while since the last post but finally got the issue sorted - had to wait for parts and the mechanic resolved it tonight.

Turns out there are apparently two weep holes - labelled "1" and "2" in the photo below:

11.jpg

The coolant was leaking out of weep hole "1" and down the channel; and we couldn't observe anything out of "2" when it was leaking.

The source of the leak was found to be a failed seal (the one between the coolant and grease) at the water pump impeller shaft - the seal was said to be hard and inner (between the seal and the shaft) broke apart when the mechanic took out the impeller and he couldn't find any obvious damage except for general wear.

He wasn't sure what the jelly-like "goop" from the expansion tank was which I took out from the original coolant - his theory was that it could be grease (between the coolant seal and the engine oil seal of the impeller shaft) that had progressively leaked out from the failing seal. I'm not 100% convinced, as I only found it in the expansion tank, but maybe he could be right?

Anyway, hope this was an interesting read for someone and might help another rider out in the future!

Also, promised a friendly neighbour of the mechanic that I'd spread the word - if you live near Western Sydney in Australia, he's looking to offload some near new 21" and 18" (?) Bridgestone knobbies for free or it'll be in the tip by Tuesday (02/06/2020). PM me and I'll give you his address.

Cheers all
 
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