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05 Coolant issue part deux

buzzard53

buzzard53

Guest
Guest
Just started riding the bike after a good clean up.
Noticed today I had a leak coming from the front of the belly pan. After pulling off the pan and the right faring I found coolant coming out of the reservoir.
On the upper right side of the tank I noticed a brass screw which was threaded into a rubber hose that was stuffed into an opening?? I haven't seen this before. Pic attached for your amusement. Question is how can I permanently close and seal off this hole. Will a two part epoxy mix adhere to the tank? Any chance I can use a soldering iron to melt the edges and hole? I'm open to suggestions if there any that would work. Trying not to be forced to buying another coolant tank.
Thanks!!
 

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Not sure what I'm seeing. Something doesn't look right. Should not be a screw there.
I think that is where the vent hose should be installed (maybe)?

There should be 2 hoses attached to the coolant tank.
#1 is the hose from the radiator to the tank. (Used to transfer coolant between radiator and tank)
Coolant should enter the tank below the coolant level.
#2 is the hose from the tank to the top of the right swingarm. (Used to vent the tank)
Hose should be located above the coolant level.

Wondering if you have the dreaded hole in the bottom?
ie; Hole at the bottom of the tank.
Caused by someone using too long of screw when attaching the belly pan.

Ride safe, Ted
 
Ted, thanks for your thoughts.
There are the "normal" two hoses on the tank, one on top, one coming off the center rear. There are no cracks in the tank that I can find, proper length screws were in place, just this weird what looks like a third tank outlet that was attempted to be plugged. I wonder if this tank was swapped out from a different year connie or other other Kawasaki model.
Regardless of what's there now, I'm still looking for suggestions/methods on how to permanently seal this opening.
 
Remove the screw, and see if it's possible to remove the metal section) then clean it, sand it/rough up the surfaces and use some JB weld.
The tank isn't pressurized so it should seal fine.

I'm not sure what material the tank is made from? If ABS plastic. ABS Glue would seal it too.

Ride safe, Ted
 
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Super glue and baking soda. I have watched videos on using it for plastic gas tanks. I recently saw a cotton ball and super glue used for a woodworking project. Not sure if it will work on plastic. You might try a combination, fill the hole with a cotton ball soak with glue and add baking soda on top. Don't use the gel type. You want to to soak into the filler material.
 
Besides the hole issue . There shouldn't be coolant coming out from that high up on the tank unless its over filled . Is that where it's leaking from ?
 
Well, I've attempted a repair of the tank using JB weld with fiberglass strands mixed in. Seems to have adhered to tank well and dried to a very hard condition. Will check for leaks on my next ride.
With regard to the original leak, the coolant was coming from this plugged hole. The hole was plugged with what looked like a small piece of vacuum line with a brass machine screw in the end. It was not water tight. The hose may have acted like a syphon and drew the coolant up from the tank. Also, whenever the bike was turning/leaning to the right the coolant level would have been over the top of the hole.
 
buzzard53 said:
Well, I've attempted a repair of the tank using JB weld with fiberglass strands mixed in. Seems to have adhered to tank well and dried to a very hard condition. Will check for leaks on my next ride.
With regard to the original leak, the coolant was coming from this plugged hole. The hole was plugged with what looked like a small piece of vacuum line with a brass machine screw in the end. It was not water tight. The hose may have acted like a syphon and drew the coolant up from the tank. Also, whenever the bike was turning/leaning to the right the coolant level would have been over the top of the hole.
Click to expand...
I wonder how that hole happened , really strange . I wonder if that tank is from a euro model and that had something to do with the Carb coolant(warming) system that is on some of the euro bikes .
 
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buzzard53 said:
Just started riding the bike after a good clean up.
Noticed today I had a leak coming from the front of the belly pan. After pulling off the pan and the right faring I found coolant coming out of the reservoir.
On the upper right side of the tank I noticed a brass screw which was threaded into a rubber hose that was stuffed into an opening?? I haven't seen this before. Pic attached for your amusement. Question is how can I permanently close and seal off this hole. Will a two part epoxy mix adhere to the tank? Any chance I can use a soldering iron to melt the edges and hole? I'm open to suggestions if there any that would work. Trying not to be forced to buying another coolant tank.
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Are you sure the hole with the round-headed machine bolt in it isn’t your overflow, which should have a hose on it?
 
Pretty sure the extra "hole" hole in the tank wasn't supposed to be there. I checked a lot of on line photos and OEM parts diagrams and none showed this hole. The two normal outlets are in place.
 
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