First start up, coolant smell....

[TopheCR250]

Hi guys....my first post here...Ill introduce myself in the intro forum later, but im lookin for some advice, my bikes a 00 CR 250.

I just started up my bike for the first time of the year, didnt do much to winterize it besides drain the gas.

A little backgound:
I put a new top end in the bike last spring, and I didnt have many hours on it last year....maybe 50 the whole year. Everything was fine when I put it away.

So...I warmed it up, rode it around my little acre lot about 8 times or so, it was running great, felt normal. I pulled in the garage, put it on the stand and could smell, what to me smelled like coolant. Nothin drippin or anything. Drained my oil out, which was from last year and it looked pretty good. A little white ish at the end, but i think it was just from trickling in the can....could be wrong though. Checked coolant level, just belowthe holes in the radiator. ( I use engine ice btw).

So, I changed the oil, rode it around a few more times, stopped and smelled the exhaust while it was running and smeled fine, put it back in the garage and didnt smell coolant htis time.

Im worried I may have a bad gasket....Would it most likely be the head gasket? could it be the gasket between the cylinder and the crank? Is there a way to easily test this. I was going to go riding tomorrow, but Im not sure now.

 

[Red Ryder]

That white oil you saw was coolant that had entered the transmission. I think it is a slower leak though, but it's still a leak. I wouldn't suggest riding it until you get that fixed. :( I would start by checking the coolant pump shaft seal, if that looks perfectly fine then check the head gasket. Have you always used Engine Ice? If not what other brands did you use, did you ever use automotive coolant? I would drain the coolant and see if there is any oil at all in it.

You can speculate all you want but you can't really tell until ya.... check things out.

Jim Carrey

 

[just_a_rider]

It very well could be entering the gear box by way of the impeller shaft but if it was I don't think you would smell it. Oil that sits a while can turn white as is the case a lot of times with a lawn mower that has set for the winter. It could have been a case of some somewhere on the engine or the radiator fins where you may have checked it and some ran out or a cold leak where some got the end of a hose wet and didn't leak enough to get on the floor and when it got up to temp you smelled it but not really a leak. You said that you did not smell it the second time so there is a good chance it burned off but like Red said in short words ((better safe than sorry))

 

[Red Ryder]

Oh ya, that's a good point justarider. Hey Tophe, did you refill your coolant before riding it? You should start it up again and see if you still smell coolant. I would remove the expansion chamber and stick your finger up the manifold and see if you feel any coolant.

 

[TopheCR250]

Hey guys, thanks for replying. I didnt do anything else with it yesterday. Im going to go buy some more engine ice since i cant find the partial I had.

Last year was the first time I changed the coolant, and I dont think it had engine ice in it when I replaced it.

Im going to start it up and run it again today and see if I can smell anything again first off, then if I do I will definatly start pulling things apart, and might even do it even if i dont. I'll update ya later.