Need HELP ...No Coolant ??

[furg69]

Just purchased a 2007 Apex SE. It is a 162 "mountain but i figured i would post this question here as the cooling system should be the same. I notice there was very little coolant in the bottle. I added maybe a half a gallon before it showed the right level. Seems i bought this second hand, im wondering what could have caused this much coolant to be missing, I do know the sled was bottom up before because the headlight assembly and some brackets are cracked. Would this cause that much coolant to be missing ?

 

[furg69]

I did check for leaks overnight on a clean floor. No signs of leaking. I sure hope it's not a leaky headgasket.

 

[heelingcowboy1]

How many miles are on the sled?? It seems the more miles that are on these things the more they tend to leak in little places. My apex has about 8000 miles on it now and I have two very small leaks on my running boards that need addressed this year. my bottle was down a bit this fall as well.

 

[Grimm]

When running these sleds hard and hot, the overflow bottle fills up and even pukes out coolant.

Did you check the level in the rad? Maybe there had been an air lock in the system as a result of a rollover? Opening the rad cap may have cleared the air lock which allowed you to add extra coolant.

I'd say run the sled until the overheat light comes on and shut off the sled. Then check everywhere for the possibility of a leak.

Now might be the time to replace all the coolant in the sled. It's possible that it's original and due...the owner manual even recommends replacing the coolant annually, a little excessive I think. Also, you can mix the coolant to the right strength ratio. Yamaha's stock strength is excessive at -60 degrees imo.

 

[furg69]

Thanks for the info guys. I did fill it with approx 50/50 coolant. Ran it for awhile but not until the light came on. No signs of leaking anywhere.There are only 3500 miles on the sled. So i hope it was due to a roll over not a headgasket leak.

 

[Super Sled]

I'd air leak check the system for hidden air pockets. It's a gravity fed system. Easiest way is to jack up the rear end, start the sled up, remove the air bleed screw back by the rear heat exchanger, run the sled until coolant is warm, allowing all bubbles to escape. During process, keep filling new coolant into the reservoir in front and replace the rear screw when bubbles stop escsaping. Durung process make sure you keep adding new coolant into system. I'd do this just to be certain their is no air locks or bubbles in the system. Then top off coolant when finished so it's full.

In terms of other possibilities, you more than likely have a leaky hose or hear exchanger than a leaky head gasket, which is rare unless your sled was badly overheated. But lots of guys have leaky coolers, which can be repaired.

 

[ecopter]

Should be 60/40 mixture.

jf

 

[guardrail]

do a pressure check, that will tell you for sure

 

[furg69]

Found coolant leaking around the head gasket today Guess i got ripped off on this sled

 

[TBay Sledhead]

Not that big of a job to replace the head gasket if u are mechanically inclined. I replaced mine last year trying to find a leak. Finally found the leak on the running board cooler at the rear mount. It didn't leak when I pressure tested it, not until I ran it and got it good and warm. Just had it welded.