Cooling system help needed...

[jp4evr]

So - I'm not sure what the heck is going on so I'll start from the beginning.



2000 885i

38000 mi

had 36k major service at 35,000. rode 1500 mi trip to AZ and no problems.



About 4-5 months ago I noticed a small build up of coolant on what seems to be a drain bolt on the left side of the engine. ok - no biggie, right. No major change in coolant levels.



Then about 1 month ago I'm riding in some cold weather (40-ish) to work and I get off only to see coolant dripping from high on the engine block. I ride it home and back to work one more time and now the coolant resevoir is way low.



Last night I had everything off (tank, airbox, etc) to see if I can see a source. Seems that it might be leaking from just around the top of the engine block or near the throttle bodies.



Any idea what might be going on? Loose bolts causing poor seal? gasket breakdown?



Help - TIA.



Eric

[apache]

Sounds like the head gasket is going south. The green goo is from the liquid part of the coolant evaporating and leaving behind the silica/additives etc. It seems to hane been mentioned here several times on newer bikes and recall reading about it on 855`s. Get a pressure theter kit and give it a go to see if the leaks develop.

[tyrebyter]

It's the head gasket. The T5 motor is known for that and it happened to my T509 Speed Triple. Same symptom; leak from rear of cylinder head at about 32k miles. New head gasket and she's good as new.

[jp4evr]

So I thought I would update everyone.  I thought it was the headgasket or perhaps a return hose to the resevoir.  Buttoned everything up the other day and went for a ride.  ...



... Note - BykBoy - I finally finished the process of lowering the beast.  Love being able to put both feet on the ground and made the dirt roads much easier to slide around on.  



....  back to our story.  So I had refilled the resevoir with our 50/50 mix and hit the road.  Not a leak to be found.  Nothing.  Dry as a bone and I did everything from 90 on the freeway to 5 mph over rutted two track.  



what gives?  perhaps it's the notorious "shrinking" engine and hoses which decide they don't want to seal well in cold weather.  Either way, I had no leaks on the ride and nothing after a day in the garage once I was back.



I'll keep an eye on it and update.... I'm having the recall work done on the plastic fuel connections at which time I'll have the tech take a look see.

[davensocal]

FWIW- My '00 885i leaks when it is cold (maybe less than 50f).  



In the winter, I will find a small wetspot under the engine, and I will get some deposits on the cylinder sides.  It has not leaked after starting, or at any temp above "chilly".  



I wonder on yours, you said you had a ride at about 40f (damn cold riding).  What was your indicated temp on that ride?  I wonder is your thermostat is no good, and the bike was actually cold the whole ride, never got warm enough to expand and reseal.



Just a thought..



Mine warms up to about 20% of the temp scale and stays there no matter what. (well, at least as long as the engine is running)



-Dave

[jp4evr]

FWIW- My '00 885i leaks when it is cold (maybe less than 50f).  



In the winter, I will find a small wetspot under the engine, and I will get some deposits on the cylinder sides.  It has not leaked after starting, or at any temp above "chilly".  



I wonder on yours, you said you had a ride at about 40f (damn cold riding).  What was your indicated temp on that ride?  I wonder is your thermostat is no good, and the bike was actually cold the whole ride, never got warm enough to expand and reseal.



Just a thought..



Mine warms up to about 20% of the temp scale and stays there no matter what. (well, at least as long as the engine is running)



-Dave

So, I was wondering about this myself.  My ride to work is only 3 minutes if I hit all the green lights.  Temp gauge got to the standard point but that's it.  Not nearly long enough on those day to get the engine warm and "expand."  I never had this issue on my TT600 so I had no idea what to expect.  

3 days after my ride and the thermo was fluctuating as expected with slow speed dirt roads, lots of sitting, fan came on, but once I got up to speed, the temp would stabilize just above the "warm-up" mark.  



I think I'm good to go.  I over filled the res tank, but oh well.