ok here is my question. Obvious coolant on the external part of the seal. None seen on the top of the head. You sure that your hose is leak free? Maybe spraying? Small crack maybe?

edit: hose related that is if I did not make that clear above. And, I would replace that gasket. Looks nasty. From the nice pics was trying to find some overspray or where the coolant was hitting other areas of the head.

 

here's the thing.. the hose i'm referring to can be see in a few of the pictures.. the one brass hose on the right of one of the pictures... where the valve cover holds down when tightened... that hose DID leak before, pretty bad too... and then i looked it over and we adjusted the pipe, cleaned up the area around it and inside... retightened the valve cover and turned the bike on again.. I looked and stared at the pipe (from the view of picture number two - birdseye) for a while and didnt see any coolant coming up and out of the pipe... like it did before..

most may recall that the pipe goes into a hole in the cylinder head, when in, there is still a little gap surround that pipe of empty space, i was looking at that area, which if there were any leaking to get out and running, it would come back up the gap and pour out the cylinder's coolant pipe socket... (i know my descriptions are off, but its simple in the pictures).. and no leakage... could it be that it's coolant left over from the previous leak?

Could coolant actually get into the cylinder head from a leak there? I drained the oil, and put fresh oil in... but haven't tried to start it up again yet....




In the yellow, I mark the valve cover gasket that's barely visible.
In the red, I mark the little gap between the cylinder and the coolant pipe.
When it leaked, it came from the gap... (which all points to the o-ring) after moving it around again and re clamping... the area has since been quite dry...
The silver (metal) between the gap and the VC gasket doesn't seem wet. I'm seeing that this is the only way for the coolant to get into/under the gasket... from this gap.. am i missing another route the coolant travels?

Btw, the right side crescent shaped part of the gasket is dead dry.. nothing's leaked out from the right side, just the left... why's that.. even when on the center stand and not the side stand.

*puzzzzled*

 

update:

I've changed the O-Ring and the leak seem to have disappeared... Problem fixed.. sorta.

When pulling the pipe out to remove and re-install the O-Ring.. gush of coolant leaked into the open valve cover!!!

I've since drained the oil and put in some new one... However, upon warming the bike up (to check for coolant leak) I noticed in the sight glass, bubbles or foam... How do I clean out all the coolant? Will letting the new oil wash over the cylinder head and then drain that batch of oil, again do it? or do i have to drain, spray water into the head, flush it then refill with oil?

 

Oh thats a bummer. Dontput any water in it. How much do you think you got in there?

What I would do is go to walmart get their cheap oil(NOT energy conserving)and flush the engine a few times. I dont know if pouring it into the valve cover would cause strange pressure problems or not so I wouldnt do it myself. You ll also want to change the filter on the last change. It will eventually burn off but you want to get the most out now.

And make sure you use a good inch/lb torque wrench for the drain and filter plugs so you dont damage your engine, there is no oil pan to replace if you strip it.

 

I got about... I'd say... 1/3 of a regular water bottle size in there.... Drained the entire thing once, then added new oil... do you think the coolant will eventually burn off? Or is flushing it like two more times the necessary?

 

Id flush it a few more times just to be on the safe side. The bearings in these engines dont do well without adequate lubrication. I would also drain the oil after about 50 miles. You dont want the engine to rust or trash your bearings.

 

Sounds good, I just rode about 50 miles today. Everything looked good leak-wise as the coolant pipe seemed dry the entire time. So was the valve cover gasket. i will drain my oil again tomorrow and add a final, setting batch of oil and hopefully I'd be good to go. Thanks for the tips, advice, and help guys.

 

Thats great Just keep an eye on the sight glass and make sure that eventually it looks normal.

 

Yeah, I don't see any foamy white bubbles anymore... perhaps whatever is left has burned off ... i'll continue to watch the oil's consistency and add when needed... if it looks 'too' thin or broken down, i'll drain.