Coolant and gaskets

Green §lime · Post by **Green §lime** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:44 am

Hi I have a 96 yzf1000, and i've had my tappet cover gasket leak. So I got a new rubber gasket but i'm wondering if I should use some of that number 3 non hardening locktite on it to make sure I have no more leaks?

Also there were two types of coolant to choose from, the more expensive one had a boiling point of 135 degrees C but is it needed? Because someone told me the fans don't come on until the engine is at 100C but I don't want my radiator boiling. I'm not sure what the boiling point of the cheaper stuff was.

And in the manual I got off the Internet it says use 50/50 of coolant and water but on the bottle it says do not dilute? Hmm...

dragracer1951 · Post by **dragracer1951** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:43 am

No sealant on the gasket!!!
The bottle is already diluted 50%

creed12r · Post by **creed12r** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:03 am

dragracer1951 wrote:No sealant on the gasket!!!
The bottle is already diluted 50%

The manual shows putting some sealant yamabond? (I use hermatite blue) on the half moon parts of the rubber valve cover gasket.

They are known to leak even with a new seal.

Chris

dragracer1951 · Post by **dragracer1951** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:38 pm

Ahh...I stand corrected Chris. I was thinking the original poster was intending to put sealant all over the gasket.
My bad.

Green §lime · Post by **Green §lime** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:23 pm

dragracer1951 wrote:I was thinking the original poster was intending to put sealant all over the gasket.
My bad.

Yeah that's what I meant. So should I put this loctite no.3 stuff I have on the half moon bits? I'm using a brand new seal.

Btw the coolant in there before was orange, but my new stuff is green. Would the orange stuff be that special high temp coolant maybe?

Post by **Hooligan** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:44 pm

orange coolant in the states is "dexcool", green is the original stuff. yellow is also now available.

i think dexcool was originally designed with aluminum engines in mind? jim will chime in here soon...

Green §lime · Post by **Green §lime** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:49 pm

Which one is better?

F5 · Post by F5 » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:55 pm

Whatever you do take the thermostat out (hidden under carbs but easy to get to once you poke around) & flush the system with a low pressure hose both directions before putting it back in. Amazing how much gets caught up in that low point.

djalbin · Post by **djalbin** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:12 am

Green §lime wrote:Which one is better?

I don't remember the brand but I bought the motorcycle coolant formulated and pre-mixed for motorcycle engines. Bought it at the bike shop. I added Water Wetter to it and it keeps the engine running cooler than just coolant alone.

Green §lime · Post by **Green §lime** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:37 am

F5 wrote:Whatever you do take the thermostat out (hidden under carbs but easy to get to once you poke around) & flush the system with a low pressure hose both directions before putting it back in.

I had a look in the manual and there doesn't seem to be a gasket for the thermostat housing.. do the two halves just get put together like that or am I supposed to use gasket glue or something?

dragracer1951 · Post by **dragracer1951** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:43 am

There's either a gasket or an O ring. I can't remember. I'm old...

Use what ever coolant you like but make sure it is OK for use with an alum engine or you will toast the water pump seals

Water wetter is a good thing but I would make sure I upped the actual coolant concentration to make sure it was 50% and the water wetter comes out of the water 50% (what ever percentage thatworks out to be)

sickle44 · Post by **sickle44** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:30 pm

I use a red sticky spray stuff called High Tack, I think by Permatex, on my gaskets and have never had a problem with seal, hope this helps. It's also quite helpful in placing things as it will stick the gasket to a surface so that when you place it, it doesn't move all over hell's half acre. Hope this helps back with your original question.

F5 · Post by F5 » Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:22 pm

Could be wrong (was once, but it was disproved) but the thermostat is surrounded by a rubber seal & the housing seals on that. Never seen one leak, but worth checking it is not damaged or anything.

Green §lime · Post by **Green §lime** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:54 am

Yeah I think F5 got it, didn't have any leaks and didn't use a gasket or anything. Bad news is.. got my bike back together but throttled too hard around a corner and wrecked one side of the bike

silver · Post by **silver** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:36 pm

Man ! That was quick ! Gravel or water in the turn ? Sorry to hear about the damage. YZF plastic is kinda rare.

F5 · Post by F5 » Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:39 pm

Sorry to hear that man. Hope it is fixable.

Nah they don't have an spare water for lying around on the roads in Queensland. Maybe he slipped on Green slime?

Green §lime · Post by **Green §lime** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:58 pm

F5 wrote:Maybe he slipped on Green slime?

Lol

Nah I gave it heaps of throttle turning right from a stop sign in first and was almost out of the turn when it hit the powerband at about 6k and bam out went the back. I'm not used to these peaky sort of bikes and the powerband keeps surprising me.

But my tyre could have been a little oily because when the tappet gasket was leaking the oil went along the bottom fairing and dripped under the back tyre :/

F5 · Post by F5 » Sun Mar 30, 2008 11:05 pm

Never really thought of mine as peaky, but when I first got it the original tyre was squared off & old & groady. I went around a moderately fast up & over type corner unweighting the bike a bit & the rear tyre lit up McCoy style.

Cool,:cool . . . but aware that it was totally unintentional & could have gone away - so I booked in for new tyres the next day. Made it handle much better too. Vic bike wreckers probably are a good source if nothing up your way.

silver · Post by **silver** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:03 am

Green §lime wrote:But my tyre could have been a little oily because when the tappet gasket was leaking the oil went along the bottom fairing and dripped under the back tyre :/

Always clean your tires. I like a little bleach-water mix combined with ample throttle and a lot of front brake

sickle44 · Post by **sickle44** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:38 pm

I never pictured you as a squid John,

LOL