675 coolant leak help!!

Thanks for the photos, as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words
Well, the pipe joint for the expansion pipe is defintly perished. Seems someone way overtightened the clip and shattered it!
I couldnt work out what that was on the second photo, it seems something is jammed into the pipe and is protruding about an inch. That would certainly not be doing any good for the radiator cap if it is.
There does appear to maybe be enough of the pipe remaining to attach the pipe, but you would need to get that pipe right butt up against the radiator and the clip too. Danger being of over tightening it again as it is already weakened

From what I can see, I would remove whatever that is that is jammed into the pipe, I am pretty sure it should not be there.
Slide the pipe onto the joint as far as it would go and tighten it gently, when you refill it, let it leak and gently tighten it until the leak stops. If it cracks and really buggers it up at least you gave it a go.
Other than that it would either be a welding job to get a new connector on there, or a new radiator.

Others may well say don't risk it and get a new radiator.

One observation is that from what I can tell the coolant seems to be a dirty brown colour, if this is the case, please, please do drain it out, top up with fresh water only, run the engine for a few minutes to get it circulating, drain and then replace with fresh clean sweet smelling motorcycle dedicated coolant.

 

Posted before I could get my reply in

You would need to remove all sealant from the inside of the cap area. It needs to be smooth so not to obstruct the new cap. Don't use rough sandpaper as that would cause the surface to get micro scratches which would mean the seal is compromised

 

While it has some fresh coolant in there, what was it like to start with?
It is just a matter of getting the coolant from your local Halfords or Amazon, about £5/£7 a bottle, you may need a couple.
Disengage the lowest pipe (left hand side of the engine I beleive) and let it all drain out. Run water from a hose into the filler on the radiator to flush all hte crap out you can, connect it up, refill with water, run it 5/10 min, drain and then fill up with coolant.
As all the crap sits at the bottom of the coolant system, there could be a lot of sludge there that you dont see at the filler cap on the radiator.
While you have this issue, I htink it would be a good opportunity to clense the whole system

 

Regarding the cap, there are two stages before it is secure, in total it is a little under a half turn I think. You need to push the cap down for the final bit to secure it.
But make sure that the whole area where the seal sits is clean and smooth, no gunk, sealant, or anything else in the area

 

Quite clearly the pipe on the rad has been snapped off and the previous owner has bodged it with that piece of pipe to try and get the pipe back on, as this has to be airtight to enable cooling liquid to return to the rad under vacuum as well as let coolant escape to the tank i would recommend you remove the radiator and get a professional repair done with the pipe as it's an easy soldering job for a rad repair company. Clearly the rad cap has failed as well. As above nothing less than a full flush and new coolant are req as it's far better to do it correctly now than later after you done more damage

 

Hi Dave, I just came across this and wondered if it might interest you. As the rad fits a range of Triumphs it could fit yours and the spigot (which is broken on yours) appear to be intact.

Plus this guy is a good spare parts supplier so he might have other bits for your machine ???????????

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-S...681676?hash=item3d24fec60c:g:8MIAAOSw3mpXLzsM

 

No worries mate, just hope you get your bike fixed, that's all

 

Reg/rec sounds like it's working ok as it shows 14.4 so it could be a dodgy connection somewhere, try checking all the ignition lead connections inc the starter for a start, will think some more on this. Worth checking the clutch/side stand switches and start switch for corrosion on the contacts.

 

OK Dave, all efi triumphs have a built in volt meter in the ECU , every time you hit the starter button it monitors voltage drop !!! If voltage drops to 12.1v or less the starter won't be allowed to work, the bike symptoms for this is all electrics drop out for a few moments/seconds then everything comes back online. Is your bike doing this ??? If so definitely new battery is required. Its cranking voltage not idle/storage voltage that you need to take notice of, idle batteries die if left for too long without a battery monitor/charger. I have had 4 triumph since 1994, the longest a battery has lasted me was 4 years with regular daily or at least weekly use. And we don't have the long or coldest of winters here in Australia, We get to ride all year round if we like!!!

 

P.S. when referring to a location on a vehicle you always assume you are standing behind looking at it, for future reference.
Good Luck sounds like you got it sorted.

 

if I am right a charged battery can read good and only have one sell working , so you start bike deplete cell and next time it wont start. seems like your prob. new battery should solve this.

 

Just for your info Dave, whenever I put a new battery on anything - car, bike whatever - I put the new battery on charger with an intelligent charger for 24 hrs, then stand the battery one hour disconnected, then check the standing charge (should be about 13v) then install in the vehicle.

I know the suppliers will tell you it's ready for use - but newsflash for you - the Moon is NOT made of green cheese. Even though we were told as youngsters by the soup dragon that it is.

I do this establish a baseline in case of future starting problems - I want to know it's not the battery !!!!