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2013 C14 - Coolant overflow tank emptied on garage floor after a ride

T

trasche122506

Member
Member
I went for about an hour ride in 80 degree temp and when I got home the cooling fans were on when I parked in the garage and the gauge was at 3 bars so I just shut off the bike. About an hour later I returned to the garage and there was coolant running into the floor drain. I pulled off the left side plastic and found the overflow tank empty and overflow hose damp.

No leaks found so I am assuming heat soaked engine caused the coolant to expand to the point it flowed out of overflow tube. I am surprised that there is no logic in ECU to turn the cooling fans on after the ignition is shut off if it reaches a high temp. Does anyone have any experience with this issue?
 
I had the exact same problem with my 2010. The first time it happened I had been out for a long day ride, about 300 miles, stopped at a McD's to grab a drink, came out and the bike had a wet spot about 24" diameter right under the overflow tube that still had a drop left on it. Rode it home, watching the engine temp carefully. After the bike cooled all the way down, like the next day, I pulled off the fairing and filled the overflow tank to the FULL mark. About a week later it happened again, another coolant puddle under the tube. Couldn't figure out what the hell was going on though. Bike ran good, no overheating sings while riding, no leaks, just the occasional burp of coolant. At some point I brought the bike to one of the valve adjusting mechanic from COG I was referred to. After the valves were adjusted he "burped" the coolant system of air and I never had the problem again, it's been a couple of years now. Some how the air in the system was causing the occasional overflow.
 
Do you have any idea how he "burped" the cooling system? I ran mine on the side stand until the cooling fans came on, turned it off and cooled it down with a box fan, topped off both radiator and expansion tank, ran it again, cooled it down, checked levels and all seems good.
 
trasche122506 said:
Do you have any idea how he "burped" the cooling system? I ran mine on the side stand until the cooling fans came on, turned it off and cooled it down with a box fan, topped off both radiator and expansion tank, ran it again, cooled it down, checked levels and all seems good.
Click to expand...
With the cap off?
 
I ran the bike with the radiator cap on each time and fluid level was basically unchanged in the radiator and slightly lower each time in expansion tank.
 
I consider this procedure in the service manual coolant change section to be "burping":

Maintenance Procedure
•Bleed the air from the cooling system as follows.
○Start the engine with the radiator cap removed and run it
until no more air bubbles [A] can be seen in the coolant.
○Tap the radiator hoses to force any air bubbles caught
inside.
 
lather said:
I consider this procedure in the service manual coolant change section to be "burping":

Maintenance Procedure
•Bleed the air from the cooling system as follows.
○Start the engine with the radiator cap removed and run it
until no more air bubbles [A] can be seen in the coolant.
○Tap the radiator hoses to force any air bubbles caught
inside.
Click to expand...
Yes, that worked for me following coolant change. I also took the bike for a 1 mile neighborhood spin (with fairings off and rad cap on), then came back and did the procedure Lather noted one more time before I buttoned everything up.
 
Road Runner said:
Yes, that worked for me following coolant change. I also took the bike for a 1 mile neighborhood spin (with fairings off and rad cap on), then came back and did the procedure Lather noted one more time before I buttoned everything up.
Click to expand...
I did the exact same thing this spring as part of my valve adjustment. I'm the kind of guy that follows the FSM to the letter. Burping took a little time but the last thing I wanted was a coolant level issue after putting the plastic back on. Three hot days to Lake Guntersville and two hot days home and the level is exactly where it was when I finished the job. (y) (y)

BTW, I've shut my bike down many times after a long hot ride, with the fans running. I've never seen or smelled a drop of wayward coolant...
 
TRM-KS said:
BTW, I've shut my bike down many times after a long hot ride, with the fans running. I've never seen or smelled a drop of wayward coolant...
Click to expand...
Same here almost always shutting down fans are on….

ONLY leaking I’ve ever encountered was from factory the hose clamps were loose, made a mess a couple times…. Dealer tightened.

After radiator removal for header install I fully flushed system and burped per manual instructions above and tightened clamps to torque setting and no leaks.
 
Ran the bike with cap off and watched for bubbles until fans came on. I didn’t see any so I let it cycle through again, still no bubbles so let it cool off, topped off radiator and expansion tank. Plastic going back on, thanks for your input on this issue.
 
Sorry, I was away for a couple days. No...I don't know how he burped it, but the bike hasn't had a "Depends" event since. I just bought this Airlift coolant system tool that fills your (empty) coolant system under a vacuum, eliminating all air from the system, and then fills the system with new coolant using the vacuum. I haven't tried it on my bike yet but, it worked great on my Honda Accord. Years ago there was a problem with coolant system service on Goldwings, it was very hard to get all of the air out of the system after draining and refilling, lots of Goldwings were overheating due to air pockets preventing the coolant from circulating. This tool solved the problem.

 
Well after 4 or5 trips in hot weather with no issue, today with temps in mid 80's I came back to my house and the cooling fans were on when I shut the bike off so I turned the ignition back on and the bike was on the side stand. I took off my helmet, gloves, jacket and I turned around and coolant was running on the ground even with cooling fans running. I started the bike again for about 30 second, shut it off again, turned ignition on (cooling fans on) and no additional coolant came out of the overflow tank.

If I was dealing with a Honda 4 cylinder car engine I would suspect a blown head gasket causing combustion gases to pressurize the cooling system and resulting in an overfilled overflow tank and after several trips the overflow tank would be overfilled and would burp. Usually with a Honda car you would see some bubbles when you would run it with the radiator cap off, which I did with my bike and never got a bubble. I am going to replace the radiator cap even though I don't think it is the issue, it is a cheap try and eliminates it as a possibility.

Does anyone have any experience with bad head gaskets on a Concurs or any ideas as to why my bike is fine after multiple several hour ride in 90 degree weather but when it is the 80's (now two times) it burps coolant out of the overflow tank when I complete the ride.
 
After replacing the radiator cap and leaving the fans run if they are on when I finish a ride, I have had not any more issues. Over 2,500 miles since replacing the cap.
 
Radiator caps are common fail items and everyone forgets to check them. The first sign of a bad cap is that it releases pressure too early and overfills the reservoir.
 
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