Ok, I'm confused

[Aelwulf]

See what happens when you poke around for things?  Ya find more broke. :P One thing that bugs me is the boots that seem to connect the carbs to the cylinders seem pretty cracked.  Not sure if that's a serious issue or not as it hasn't seemed to affect anything so far however...

The other thing is when I took the air filter cover off there was a bit of oil in the housing.  Not flooding it mind you, but enough to pool a smidge on the side with it on the kickstand.  There was a light film of it inside the rubber parts that connect it to the carbs as well however the carb intakes still look clean far as I could tell.  So where'd that oil come from?

My bike's back in pieces and I really don't have the knowledge, time or facilities to work on it properly right now. :( I know when I get the battery charged I can put it back in and it should run fine again after putting it back together but it won't be fixed, it's unreliable now and that bit of oil has me wondering now as well.

I think maybe the gremlin giving kwells his fuel issue Sunday jumped on mine while we were talkin' inside. :P

[kwells]

that's possible.  I would have figured the monsoon would have drowned it out though.  I havent ridden mine since sat so it's hard to say if my fuel gremlin is gone.

[YellowJacket!]

Gremlins are cranky when you wake them up.  They tend to call their friends and wake them up to ad invite them over for a party.  NAsty little buggers.

As for the boots, the easy fix is to get some "liquid electrical tape" and paint it on the outside of the boots.  I got some in the auto section at wal mart.  It comes in a metal can with a screw off top and includes a brush of sorts.  Its a bit messy painting it on and looks like crap if you are not patient like me but it works and lasts a long time.

I have a little oil in my breather box but it doesn't seem to cause any problems.  I think its a normal result of the crankcase ventilation.

David

[Aelwulf]

As for the boots, the easy fix is to get some "liquid electrical tape" and paint it on the outside of the boots.  I got some in the auto section at wal mart.  It comes in a metal can with a screw off top and includes a brush of sorts.  Its a bit messy painting it on and looks like crap if you are not patient like me but it works and lasts a long time.

I have a little oil in my breather box but it doesn't seem to cause any problems.  I think its a normal result of the crankcase ventilation.

I'll have to try that, thanks.  Even if it does look a bit like crap it's not like they're easy to spot and the rest of the bike isn't exactly spotless for now either. :-\

As I have no clue where it might be from I'll have to go with that for now as nothing else is even hinting of leaking, never have any spots under it (which is interesting since it drinks through coolant pretty quick so far yet no leaks evident yet).  If it is a problem I'll find out sooner or later.  For now I'll just stick with getting the fan fixed so it stops killing the battery.

[h2olawyer]

The oil in your airbox is typical for those who fill their oil to the top - or overfill.  It's just normal breather action.  I've found that keeping the level a tiny bit below the top of the sight glass keeps the interior of the airbox oil-free.

The boots may look cracked on the outside.  Chances are they are still solid enough to keep from leaking.  It would act like a huge vacuum leak.  However, painting them with the liquid electrical tape may make you feel better about them.

Sounds like you found the switch / sender pieces.  Yes, removing them prior to draining coolant will get the stuff everywhere.  Check the circuit for a worn wire where it could be making contact with the frame & completing the ground.  That would make the fan run when it doesn't need to.

H₂O

[QBS]

Red flags.  Vs don't normally use much, if any, coolant.  If you're using coolant and its not hitting the ground, the only place it can be going is into the engine oil.  Check your oil for a milky appearance.  If you've got it, change your oil asap and look for a coolant leak out of the water pump weep hole.

We are going way back for this next one so the exact details of this situation are a little fuzzy.  Many years ago my '83 developed a really bizarre problem where if the throttle twist grip was positioned a certain way, the radiator fan would come on and stay on forever.  Hot or cold made no difference.  I could barely touch the grip and the fan would come on.  The problem finally got so bad that the "off" sweet spot was non existant.

Turns out that the throttle cable had worn through its vinyl sheath where it was routed against/by the aluminum coolant bleeder/temperature coolant hose connector.  The steel inner sheath was in direct contact with the aluminum connector and whenever I moved the throttle just so somewhere in the twist grip assembly it would make a ground contact and ground the aluminum connector through the throttle cable cover.  The fix was to slit a length of fuel line lengthways, slide it over the worn spot of the throttle cable sheath and hold it in place with two zip ties.  That was at least 15 years ago and no problems since.

This is the first place I'd look regarding your fan problem.  Just remember the fan is wired to have 12 volts positive all the time, unswitched.  It is the negative side that is switched.  So somewhere, the fan negative wire is getting grounded.   Hope this helps somebody.  Cheers.

[kwells]

It can also go out the exhaust.  It is very easy to detect when going into the crankcase though.  If none is found leaking, or in the oil, smell your exhaust for that oh so sweet aroma of ethylene glycol.
The other scenario to consider is that it is leaking through the overflow while riding. This would be caused by a boil over.  That is from not having a 50-50 mix in your coolant causing it to prematurely boil. 

[Aelwulf]

The oil in the window doesn't look milky, just getting dirty so shouldn't be that.  Overflow is possible, had that one pass through my head.  Another is coolant settling in the cooling system after sitting so long (and the pressure drain from last week).  I filled it up mostly but didn't want to overdo it so I might be filling the rest up l'il by l'il via the reservoir.  I'd reckon the heat lately has a lot to do with it.  The only thing I'm smelling so far (I think) in the exhaust is the tinge of gas from it running a l'il rich again.

I'll double-check the throttle cable in case but it's a new one so shouldn't be a problem there.  Good fix for it though. :)

[kwells]

ah yes...i remember you telling me that you put distilled water in there.  That would have thinned your coolant out.  Also, the higher altitude will cause your coolant to boil over earlier than at sea level.  I would add straight coolant to the radiator to top it off as well as the overflow bottle.  To do it right though you would have to do a complete drain and put new 50-50 mixed coolant.

[Aelwulf]

Yeah, forgot to mention that.  The large majority of the distilled water was likely shot out the hose the last time it popped off before I fixed it at the dealership. :( Since then it's been Yamacool (which is 60/40 if I remember right).  I did put some of the Honda HP stuff in as that dealership didn't have any Yamacool, that's 50/50.

[kwells]

a good coolant will boil at 276 instead of the 212 of water...

[inanecathode]

The boots: Don't monkey with them, if they're cracked they're fragile, if they're fragile poking them will make them worse (trust me on this one lol)
The air cleaner: Mine has the same thing, i think its just oil that somehow gets tossed up the valve cover breathers
The coolant: If its not hitting the ground, its not in the oil, and its not in the exhaust then its not a problem, i suspect its just boiling off early and gassing off in form of water vapor

[ColinthePilot]

My boots looked pretty crappy too, but i took them off and the cracking was superficial. at least 75% of the thickness was perfect, so I liquid taped them to make them pretty and have had no probs since.

[inanecathode]

I ended up just replacing mine with brandy new ones.
Expensive, but it fixed it :)

[kwells]

and now your bike is running GREAT!

ok..low blow

[dj]

and now your bike is running GREAT!

ok..low blow

Sheesh Kwells, why you picking on Inane so much lately.... Your gonna give the poor guy a complex.  ::)

[inanecathode]

Pfft :P
It actually does run great now, thats the funny part :D
Just need to monkey with the accelerator pump rod a bit, might be dumping a bit too much or a bit too little for my tastes.

Oh yeah well. Uh... At least uh.. My bike isnt um, red? Hah!

[kwells]

yes, that is a good thing.  Red is a horrible color!