antifreeze leaking

[kickinwing]

when i first bought my ltr the antifreeze reservoir was full and i noticed that it would keep dripping out of the overflow tube whenever i would ride. I have had to top off the reservoir twice now cause it would leak down past the low mark. It is not a big deal but i dont know why it keeps dripping. any thoughts??

[nkillian9]

mine does the same thing every few rides i have to add about a cup or so i just figured it was evaporating or something but radiator stays full

[kickinwing]

hmm, well i guess its normal then. O well i guess i will just keep on adding fluid when needed.

[bigbad400]

mine does it too, my snowmobile does too... wonder why?

i have a ltz400 never lost a drop, couple 250rs never lost a drop, my buddies yamahas never lose any... not a big deal to me but it makes me wonder... is my quad getting a little too hot and blowing off steam.... wonder if i buy a inline cooler they have a new style out that claims 9* temp drop... thas alot for a $30 in line cooler! i might have to try this...

[kickinwing]

I had a z400 also and never had any troubles with it. I am thinking about flushing my radiator out and putting engine ice or somethin like that in just to make it run a little cooler. i havent heard of putting a inline cooler on, what brand are you looking at? for $30 i might have to try one as well...

[bigbad400]

bcs performance i believe, it was on ebay. like 3-4" long most are like an inch. these looked nice. um i have engine ice in mine and it still does it. my polaris sled has racing coolant in it too. still does it.

ill go grab a pic...

[bigbad400]

wow thats huge. lol but you get the detail i guess. lol remember its only 3" or so.

[nkillian9]

ill just keep adding coolant to mine it dont use much radiator is always full when checked its just the overflow thats low, on my 250r i just took the overflow off it never got hot everylittle bit of weight helps

[the4billa]

If it spits out the overflow tube you either

-have a bad rad cap

-Your head gasket is bad.


you can reroute the overflow line off the res up over the frame and back down. If that and a new rad cap dont do it. Its 90% your head gasket.

[Limited Z_400]

Originally posted by kickinwing
when i first bought my ltr the antifreeze reservoir was full and i noticed that it would keep dripping out of the overflow tube whenever i would ride. I have had to top off the reservoir twice now cause it would leak down past the low mark. It is not a big deal but i dont know why it keeps dripping. any thoughts??
No worries. It is very common to have coolant come out of the tank especially after a 10 minute moto. Keep the level at the low mark you will be fine.

[Jim417mx]

I highly reccomend putting some "water wetter" in ur coolant, just a cap full lowers the temp a good amount. Local auto stores should have it, or the quad dealer.

[kickinwing]

eh, im not worried about it i just thought i would ask to see if it was a simple fix, i will just keep adding fluid when needed.

[bigbad400]

how the f would a bad head gasket cause this to happen? in my experience bad head gasket water gets in oil... in my experience bad head gasket means overheating and low compression... were have you ever seen overflow dripping from a bad head gasket? if anything i would assume stuff to be nice and tight and its just getting a little to hot... if my cap leaked it would run out the cap... seeing how its befor the drain tube... am i the only one thats seeing how this really cant work..?:(

to be honest i am kinda worried it does seem to get hot and i do run engine ice... and my snowmobile does it... its liquid cooled and its -10* out when i ride it... really? its a stock motor and its getting to hot? im wondering if it just needs flushed and stuff is not flowing like it should and cooling properly...

if one of these coolers and some new clean coolant dont help im gonna be irritated. lol im a perfectionist... it bugs me to see a scratch. lol

[Jim417mx]

Cars are the same way, if the head gasket blows in the right spot, the coolant seeps into the cylinder and just gets burnt out the exhaust. Not very common but it is possible.

[bigbad400]

yes in this case water is missing from the radiator and slowly the water disappears.... not dripping from the OVERFLOW TUBE ON THE RESERVOIR TANK. if you aint paying attention please dont comment. lol



Originally posted by Jim417mx


Cars are the same way, if the head gasket blows in the right spot, the coolant seeps into the cylinder and just gets burnt out the exhaust. Not very common but it is possible. :rolleyes:

[kickinwing]

I thought the same thing as you bigbad400...I didn't see how the head gasket would cause my res to leak fluid out of the overflow..my radiator is full so I don't know why if does it but my ltr doesn't seem to run hot or anything..the only Time it felt hot was when I was riding in some thick trees and that is normal.. My radiator cap doesn't leak at all everything else seems to be just fine so I'm not worried about mine...

[bigbad400]

im prolly over paranoid but i have alot of quads and sleds and just alot of liquid cooled toys... makes me wonder...:(

[Jim417mx]

just trying to help, im a mechanic 60 hours a week, just mis-read your post. Sorry I feel retarted now , belive me I know what you mean by "read the post" , half the people on here always comment about something that doesnt have anything to do with the original post .. oops :ermm:

[blholtz]

I have 2 ltr's a 06 and an 08 and they have done this from the start. just don't fill the reserve up to the top. Not a head gasket or anything else, just one of those quirky things. I have rebuilt both motors numerous times and it has never changed. The radiator has NEVER been low when the overflow bottle is empty.

Don't worry about. I even have thought about getting rid of the overflow bottle.

[Limited Z_400]

Originally posted by blholtz
I have 2 ltr's a 06 and an 08 and they have done this from the start. just don't fill the reserve up to the top. Not a head gasket or anything else, just one of those quirky things. I have rebuilt both motors numerous times and it has never changed. The radiator has NEVER been low when the overflow bottle is empty.

Don't worry about. I even have thought about getting rid of the overflow bottle. ;)