Help Needed - How to Drain Coolant on My 2007 TE610

[Caine]

I am having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to drain the coolant on my 07 TE610. From what I can find online, there's supposed to be a brass bolt on the side of the engine near the water pump that, when removed, will drain out all the coolant. The only brass bolt I see has a 5mm allen head (looking at the water pump, it is slightly below and toward the front of the bike of the pump)...when removed, you can tell it is a long brass threadless stud that extends into the engine maybe 2"...but no water comes out. I removed the radiator cap and even tilted the bike totally on its side, but still nothing came out. Eventually, I tried cranking the engine with this thing out and the only thing that came out was a little oil. I guessed that wasn't it, though I have no clue what that brass stud is for.

So if that isn't it, what is? I removed all the bolts from the water pump cover one by one and nothing drained out. There doesn't seem to be any other bolts on that side. (If that's it, why doesn't it drain coolant and why is there oil in there!?)

I've looked on http://www.husqvarnaoutlet.com's microfiche and even called a local dealer (which wasn't much help really...they suggested it might be one of the water pump cover bolts.)

How do I drain the coolant on this baby?

 

[Xcuvator]

I am having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to drain the coolant on my 07 TE610. From what I can find online, there's supposed to be a brass bolt on the side of the engine near the water pump that, when removed, will drain out all the coolant. The only brass bolt I see has a 5mm allen head (looking at the water pump, it is slightly below and toward the front of the bike of the pump)...when removed, you can tell it is a long brass threadless stud that extends into the engine maybe 2"...but no water comes out. I removed the radiator cap and even tilted the bike totally on its side, but still nothing came out. Eventually, I tried cranking the engine with this thing out and the only thing that came out was a little oil. I guessed that wasn't it, though I have no clue what that brass stud is for.

So if that isn't it, what is? I removed all the bolts from the water pump cover one by one and nothing drained out. There doesn't seem to be any other bolts on that side. (If that's it, why doesn't it drain coolant and why is there oil in there!?)

I've looked on http://www.husqvarnaoutlet.com's microfiche and even called a local dealer (which wasn't much help really...they suggested it might be one of the water pump cover bolts.)

How do I drain the coolant on this baby?

There is a drain bolt on the lower RHS of the cylinder.

 

[Theo]

The 5 mm allen bolt is probably the one on the cylinder which holds one of the two cam chain sliders.

You shouldn't run the engine without it. Now I wonder whether your slider is in the correct position. You will be able to check it if you remove the flywheel cover and the flywheel.
Have you reinstalled the allen bolt you removed?
The bolt you are looking for is on the cylinder, below the exhaust manifolds and it's not an allen bolt. You can see it on page 95 (97 of the pdf file) on this manual: http://www.motoitalia-srl.com/public/libretti/2007/1/8B00 A7920 TE SM 610IE.pdf
PS: if you are not sure about what to do, post your questions here and we will explain you what you need, I promise!

 

[Caine]

The 5 mm allen bolt is probably the one on the cylinder which holds one of the two cam chain sliders.

You shouldn't run the engine without it. Now I wonder whether your slider is in the correct position. You will be able to check it if you remove the flywheel cover and the flywheel.
The bolt you are looking for is on the cylinder, below the exhaust manifolds and it's not an allen bolt. You can see it on page 95 (97 of the pdf file) on this manual: http://www.motoitalia-srl.com/public/libretti/2007/1/8B00 A7920 TE SM 610IE.pdf

Thanks for the tips all, I did find on the right side and drained and refilled the cooling system. THANK YOU!

Wow, yep, that's the one I removed. Dang. I didn't really -run- the bike, just hit the started a couple of times...maybe 4-5 revolutions tops. Think it still might be in a bad position? Assuming I should probably check...when I remove the flywheel cover, can I just tip the bike over on its side, pull it off, and look to see if the slider moved or is in a weird position?

 

[Theo]

As you can see, luckily the slider is visible without removing the flywheel. IMO you should reinstall its allen bolt and then try to move the slider. If it moves like something pivoted it's fine, because it means that the bolt has gone into the slider hole.
Notice the hole in this picture (it's the same slider from four different points of view):

Here are some pics that should let you understand the situation better:
The slider installed in the cylinder:

This is for educational purposes : the hole which let you drain the coolant (notice the light spot):

 

[Caine]

As you can see, luckily the slider is visible without removing the flywheel. IMO you should reinstall its allen bolt and then try to move the slider. If it moves like something pivoted it's fine, because it means that the bolt has gone into the slider hole.
Notice the hole in this picture (it's the same slider from four different points of view):
Here are some pics that should let you understand the situation better:
The slider installed in the cylinder:

Wow! Thanks! This is a huge help! I'll pull that cover off today and see what the situation is. *fingers crossed*

This is for educational purposes : the hole which let you drain the coolant (notice the light spot):

That's actually quite cool to see how the cylinder is constructed. Thanks again Theo!

 

[Caine]

ARGH "Help Needed" indeed!!

Okay well, good news and horrible news.

The good news first. I got the flywheel cover off and saw that the slider had indeed moved down out of position. Thanks again for pointing that out! I was able to take out the slider pin and work the slider back up into position until it seemed like the pin was in the slider itself. (Basically, I left the pin lose and could feel when I pushed the slider up and it hit the pin, then removed the pin and pushed the slider up a tick more until the pin dropped back in, then it appeared to be in the slider itself. I verified by moving the slider up and down with a pair of long needlenose pliers and could see that each direction I moved the slider, the pin moved as well. So I locked the pin in place again and gave the slider a few good tugs and it seemed solidly in position.)

The bad news is one of the bolts for the flywheel cover broke when I was putting it in (it's the 2nd one down below the starter). I had it on a torque wrench, but my wrench is crap (a Harbor Freight job) as my good one didn't go down that low...either that or the bolt itself was bad. It never really seemed to get hard to turn...every other bolt got snug and gave a nice solid click from the torque wrench, but the last one just felt loose and finally I just felt it let go. When I pulled off the cover, I can see that it is broken down under the -next- layer of cover, which appears to hold all the gearing for the starter, the fly wheel, etc. No idea how hard it would be to remove if I had a clear shot but it's way down in the hole.

Crap, this is getting scary. All this because I was trying to find the damn coolant drain.

What should I do here? Do I try to use a screw extractor or left handed bit down the hole? Take off the flywheel and starter gears and all that to get the next level of cover off? BTW...Bike's laying on its side in the garage now...should I be concerned about oil going somewhere it shouldn't if it's laying down like that?

 

[Theo]

the slider had indeed moved down out of position.

I expected that, because that side of the chain moves downwards.

Do I try to use a screw extractor or left handed bit down the hole?

It could be a good idea. You could utilize a little sleeve to centre the drill bit, preventing it from damaging the female thread, and then use the extractor.
When it happened to me (it was one of the four front wheel axle bolts) I tried to do that, but the hole I did in the broken bolt surface was not centered, so I made it rotate using this method:

I also utilized a little piece of somtehing, probably rubber or cloth, to protect the bolt hole edge in the contact point with the nail.
I managed to extract it (the red thing is the sleeve):

 

[Caine]

I chickened out and implemented a technique known as "take it to my local motorcycle shop and have them get it out".

 

[Theo]

It's understandable: extracting a broken bolt could be a long, boring work. Don't feel frustrated, though: you've learned something and the next time you'll drain your coolant you won't have problems.
Yes, we also provide psychological support, on cafehusky.com, and consider that who's writing is a man who rides a dirt bike with the wrong wheels ahahah.
Anyway, I recommend that you bleed the coolant system like they wrote on the manual:
«When the fluid is fully drained, reassemble the drain screw and check the gasket and fill the right reservoir with the required quantity (see page 26). Slowly turn the engine to eliminate possible air bubbles, then check the levels again, following the instructions on page 90.».