[blue trawler]

DEALER REPLACED MY CAP..SAID THAT WAS THE PROBLEM..THE SMELL STOPPED AND NOW ABOUT 2 MONTHS LATER THE SMELL IS BACK AND I HAVE TO TAKE A 1/2 DAY OFF TO TAKE IT UP TO THE DEALER AND THEN 1/2 DAY AGAIN TO GO GET IT? ANY IDEA'S NOW? LOOSE HOSES? SHOULD I HAVE THE EMC DONE AT THAT TIME?

BRUCE AKA 'THE BLUE TRAWLER"

 

[plug]

anti freeze smell

Had the same problem, took to my dealer and they found that all hose clamps were loose. tightend them up and no problem since. good quality control at factory. plug

 

[MotorcycleBoy]

Have you added antifreeze lately? I spilled some down the radiator when topping off and the smell remained for 3 weeks until I sprayed water through the right radiator.

 

[BlackWinger24]

My 2004 is doing the samething. Took off the easy covers and tighten what clamps I could get to. I just don't like letting anybody HACK on my stuff (missing screws, push pins, etc). Took off the belly pan and you can see where it is laying in the bottom. It smells for about 10 minutes after you start it up then burns off. Guess I'll have to bite the bullet soon and see how good my dealer is. :roll:

 

[blue trawler]

No, I don't ck the fluid and i don't see anything leaking.. I have the bellie pan. Gonna take it to the dealer and let them fool with it. Maybe another bad cap? They didn't ck the hoses just did a pressure ck on the tank and cap and found the cap was leaking or not sealing.....I ain't to handy! :roll:

bruce aka "the blue trawler"

 

[Jerry Roebke]

Bruce there are several common points of leakage along the Radiators and the most difficult but perhaps the most common is under the Fuel Tank. See the post about that. It can be a real PITA to get to. There are 2 Y connectors under the Tank, Inlet & Outlet for the Water Pump, and most never look there.

Good Luck, Jerry

 

[Fred H.]

Hose clamp position warning

While we are on this topic, let me relay something I recently discovered.

The first time I pulled my fuel tank off I rotated the three hose clamps so that I could more easily get to them. At the time, I wondered why Honda mounted them the way they did, with the screws on the bottom, and I wondered if they were afraid that the clamps would rub through the bottom of the gas tank.

Well, about 5K miles later, I pulled my tank again and inspected the bottom of it. I found marks where the edges of the hose clamps had indeed been rubbing the tank. I ended up putting a piece of hard rubber over the top of the hose clamps to protect the bottom of the tank. So be warned, if you have rotated your hose clamps, you might want to rethink it. Having a hole in the bottom of your tank 100 miles from Tiimbuktu would not be fun. It also could potentially cause a fire if it began to leak on the hot engine.

 

[cycledude]

I am usually a pretty loyal Honda fan but when it comes to these antifreeze leaks it's disgusting! This problem has been ongoing for years and it seems like the solution would be fairly simple....just install the clamps properly at the factory and avoid all this hassle. Many folks wind up taking thier bikes back to the dealler several times for such a simple thing that would not have happened in the first place if the clamps had been properly installed.

 

[ED norton(CT)]

Bruce.....hose clamps

Bruce

Had the same problem's with my 01 and NEW 04 :banghead: my dealer found that all hose clamps were loose :22yikes:

 

[blue trawler]

Forgot to mention I have almost 32k on the bike. Seems like 28k things started to show up........but i will let them deal with it.......thanks for all the great answers. I will tell them to the dealer what it could be....

bruce aka "the blue trawler"

:blw1:

 

[mrgl02]

Mine is in the shop right now for a coolant leak (and a few other things). Mine was leaking worse as the temperature outside got colder... :?:

I should know what was causing mine to leak in a few days. I suspect that it will be loose clamps.

 

[BobsGL1800]

I had the ecm update along with the cooling system check done a few weeks ago. Last week I took a 300 mile ride to and from Americade. It ran fine but today I took another 300 mile ride and many times I could smell antifreeze. I checked the level in the fill bottle both times with the engine at operating temp. and the level is fine. I also checked everywhere I could and did not see a leak. Any ideas? I am going to try hosing off the r/s radiator as posted above.

 

[Guest]

Make sure that the Y connectors are tight. This is also a safety issue, IMO.
Mine were just barely seeping ( after being "fixed" by the dealer - by the way ). If you ride a long way on the flats and the connectors are seeping, coolant can pool on the engine casing. Then, the first time you take a nice wide sweeper the bike leans over, the pooled coolant runs over the side and right onto your rear tire.

I almost crashed once because of this.

I finally and in disgust took the bike apart myself and fixed the leaks. Even the dealer had the clamps finger loose under there. I just don't get it.

BTW, I'm talking about a very small amount of coolant pooling. It never showed as a "loss of coolant" in the overflow reservoir. At first I thought the rear end was breaking loose from gravel or sand on the road... that I hadn't seen. Only a fellow following me discovered what was really going on.

 

[BobsGL1800]

When my dealer did the ecm/cooling system tsb, I don't think it would be the Y connector in my bike since I know the dealer didn't remove the fuel tank so he couldn't have touched the Y connector hoses. No doubt the dealer spilled some coolant as he refilled the cooling system so tomorrow I will hose down the right radiator from the outside as suggested above. Hopefully that will do the trick. I just thought that after putting on at least 600 miles since the tsb was done, any spilled coolant would have dried up by now.