Hi Everyone,

I have had a chocolate milk color liquid rising to the top of my coolant resevoir lately and I am wondering if it is oil. I just bought the bike six weeks ago from a dealership. I brought it back to him and he told me he flushed the cooling system and changed the oil, I'm not sure if I believe him. He also told me the bike runs perfectly which it does.

So I guess my question is this, is there a way for the coolant to be taking in oil from the engine?

Thanx!

Eric

Yes, if a head gasket is bad would be the main reason. or if someone put oil in the coolent resivore, I have herd of people doing that thinkiong it is a oil tank.
How does the oil in the motor look, is any coolent geting in there? If so you may have a crack somewhere.
The best case is if the old coolent was verry dirty and the dirt is flotong to the top.
Have you opened the coolent system and looked what is in the radiator?
Also what year and miles is the bike?
Hope this helps

Take it back to the dealer and insist that coolant doesnt look the way it does. If you have extra cash take a sample of the coolant and take it to a lab and have it tested for motor oil. Its not an expensive test,, maybe 20 bucks. then take the results back to the dealer and tell them you want your money back. They sold you a defective product. Im sure they wont give you a hard time if you have lab results that state you have motor oil in your coolant. Are you loosing oil? and is your coolant level rising?

The oil is leaking very slowly and there is a drip underneath the bike.

The dealer has agreed to replace the headgasket after all!!

I was worried I would have to return the bike for a refund.

I have grown quite fond of the bike and I plan on doing quite a few upgrades ie. cruzers, windshield and whatever bolt on chrome I can find.

And a dealership surprises us again !!!
Glad to hear they're fixing it for ya. Be sure to ask if ya get any warrantee for the work they do. (in miles, not days)

will do, thanks!

Eric

Is this a new bike or an older one? One other point of failure for mixing coolant and oil is the mechanical seal that separates the oil pump from the water pump. Both are on the same shaft. The water pump impeller is external and the oil pump is internal. If the mechanical seal is leaking, oil can get into the cooling system and vice versa.

That's good to know. Thanks, Jim.

Hey! Just drain the water and put new 50/50 antifreeze (prestone at O'reillys)in. If you see oil in it afterwards then look for problems. Be careful about flushing, some of that flush stuff is harmfull to aluminum.Good luck!

The dealership told me that they think it is the water pump seal so they are going to take a look at that first, two weeks after I dropped it off!

#@#$% dealership!

Hey skyrider, The bike is a 1997 with 3600 miles on it. So you may be on the right track! I can seal that seal going from sitting in a dry storage shed unstarted for a few years.

I guess I can't complain, I only paid 2200 for the bike and they are doing the work for free. The dealership is probably losing money on this deal.

Sky Rider,

BTW I was in the USN also, I got out in 2000 ASM3 in a SAR DET, San diego. Are you on shore duty?

What I am doing now is listed as shore duty but I'm away almost as much as if I were onboard ship. We are in stand down for now (end of fiscal year woes) but once Oct rolls around, the travel will get hot and heavy again. The joys of playing with experimental gear. I play with Unmanned Underwater Vehicles for Mine Warfare. It can be loads of fun, but alot of work.

As far as the mechanical seal goes, it's an easy enough job to take care of. It shouldn't take an experienced wrench more than an hour to replace.

Sounds like a good gig you've got there. We used to use our years money in 6 months replacing tranmissions alone! At 500,000 a peice they would really chew up the budget!