Leaking radiator cap 16 Apex

[Apexpat]

Seeing all the snow in the Dakotas has me excited. Brought my trailer home for some sled maintenance and started up my 16 Apex. Started right up and noticed a pretty good leak under the sled. Only been running a few minutes so wasn’t overheating. Confirmed with no warning light. Noticed leak coming from the over flow bottle. Pulled off the small panel around the steering column and confirmed leak coming from the radiator cap. I assume replace the cap and all will be good?

 

[Apexpat]

Anybody have a bad radiator cap? Unusual that the sled was fine when I put it away for the summer.

 

[maim]

never replaced one myself.

 

[Apexpat]

Update on my coolant leak. Purchased a new radiator cap from Yamaha and installed. Started the sled and within a few minutes, it started leaking from the same inside spot past the cap. Before starting I topped off the reservoir and over flow bottle bottle to the cool line. Really at a loss with this one. I thought for sure a new radiator cap would solve the problem. I’ve ridden this sled for 2 seasons and no issue. Not sure why this is happening after summer lay up? Anybody with suggestions please let me know. I don’t want to travel 2 hours to the dealer for something easy.

 

[maim]

try it with a rad pressure tester. tank might have a split in it.

 

[Apexpat]

try it with a rad pressure tester. tank might have a split in it.

Thinking you’re probably right. I’ll take a closer look and see if there is a split at the top of the tank.

 

[Apexpat]

Wanted to give an update on this post. Sled was leaking radiator fluid past the cap. Replaced with a new cap and was still leaking. Sometimes a lot and sometimes not at all. Decided that the problem may be the plastic radiator tank. Replaced with a new Yamaha tank and currently no leaks. Examining the old tank revealed a groove and thin lip on the underside from where it was leaking. When looking from the top side, the tank appeared fine. After removing it and looking at the underside, it was clear that the underside lip was thinner/grooved compared to the good side. I’m pretty confident this should resolve the problem. I spoke with several dealers who felt I had a bad head gasket and wanted to tear apart the motor. I was leaning towards let’s look at the simple stuff first. When I picked up the tank the dealer said he recalled a 16 or 17 having the same problem and was resolved with a new plastic tank. Maybe they had a run of a few bad tanks. I’ll give an update when I take the first ride of the season which looks like it may be early this year.

 

[MrSled]

Wanted to give an update on this post. Sled was leaking radiator fluid past the cap. Replaced with a new cap and was still leaking. Sometimes a lot and sometimes not at all. Decided that the problem may be the plastic radiator tank. Replaced with a new Yamaha tank and currently no leaks. Examining the old tank revealed a groove and thin lip on the underside from where it was leaking. When looking from the top side, the tank appeared fine. After removing it and looking at the underside, it was clear that the underside lip was thinner/grooved compared to the good side. I’m pretty confident this should resolve the problem. I spoke with several dealers who felt I had a bad head gasket and wanted to tear apart the motor. I was leaning towards let’s look at the simple stuff first. When I picked up the tank the dealer said he recalled a 16 or 17 having the same problem and was resolved with a new plastic tank. Maybe they had a run of a few bad tanks. I’ll give an update when I take the first ride of the season which looks like it may be early this year.

Awesome!! It had to be the tank after the new cap was installed!! Glad she is fixed.