Trying to find source of '07 Apex GT coolant leak

[Blue Dave]

1000 trouble free miles until yesterday. Major coolant leak, not heat exchangers, not radiator, not any hose that I can see. Seems to be coming from under the engine?

I am taking it to the dealer tomorow for warranty repair since I am 100% sure that I did not cause this in any way. However I am just curious as to what it could be. Water pump? (where is it?) Any one know of a common problem or is this just a fluke?

 

[BigMac]

1000 trouble free miles until yesterday. Major coolant leak, not heat exchangers, not radiator, not any hose that I can see. Seems to be coming from under the engine?

I am taking it to the dealer tomorow for warranty repair since I am 100% sure that I did not cause this in any way. However I am just curious as to what it could be. Water pump? (where is it?) Any one know of a common problem or is this just a fluke?

I've not seen coolant leak described on the Apex as being a non-fluke problem.

A few thoughts:

Are you overheating and the leak is overflow?

In the absence of heat exchanger damage, it could be either a water pump seal or a leaking hose connection.

I'd also look closely at the radiator (behind right foot panel). I've seen reports of the mounting tabs breaking off. That could lead to damage enough to cause a leak, or it might loosen a hose connection to that unit.

I'd pressurize the system with a hand pump (AutoZone etc), pull the panels, and start poking around with a flashlight and a hand-held mirror. If lucky, it will be an accessible hose clamp that just needs a little twist.

 

[LJ 452]

Strange. When I did the first oil change on my sled there was a bolt sitting on the bell pan. This gave me a great cozy feeling. I looked for hours to try and figure out wear it came from and never did. Just figured maybe someone droped it in there during build and got a new one. It could be something as dumb as a bolt bouncing around and getting jammed it to a hose or something. Oh yeah, no I did not do the old put the bolt back in and maybe it will find its way back to were it belongs trick.

 

[Thewhitedogg]

I had this problem last year. I had about 400 miles on my GT. Here is what happend. Started sled, let it warm up. drove the sled to the mailbox, its over 1/4 mile away. Turned sled around and squared it up on the driveway, was going to practice some holeshots and get my transfer where I wanted it. Well from dead stop pinned it to the bar and ran it back to the house. Turned around and saw the green blood trail. Dumped every bit of fluid in a 1/4 mile. I looked under the sled and there was still coolant dripping from the removable cover on the underside of the sled. I walked back to the mail box and the leak must have started when I nailed it. Green every where. Put the sled in the shop and started to inspect. No loose hoses that I could find. Did an internet search and found a picture of the motor out of a sled. There is a fitting on the back side of the motor right up against the tunnel.

Took it to the dealer and they basically had to pull the motor to get at this connector. The hose had blown right off the fitting. The mechanic said the screw had the blue paint on it which means it was checked for tightness when assembled. He asked me what happend of course and he came to the conclusion that the system may not have been bled properly and the pressure built when I nailed it and it had no where to go and popped the line right off. Took a couple days to fix. The mechanic said he had it all put back together and left for the day, next morning there was fluid on the floor under the sled, He thought it might just be dripping from the machine since all the foam padding was soaked, but coulnt be sure so he had to tear it down again to double check. This time he made sure that he rinsed and dried the engine and foam before he put it back together.

 

[Blue Dave]

Thanks for the ideas guys,

I refilled the system and let the sled warm up. Sure enough, coolant started dripping out of the skid plate. I went as far as pulling the airbox and still could not find the source with a flashlight / mirror.

Definitely not any of the heat exchangers, the radiator, nor any of the hoses that are visible. The leak has to be coming from the engine itself or a connection to the engine that I can not see without taking it apart further.

Decided not to waste any more of my time on it since it is under warranty and I am 100% sure that the leak was not caused by my studs or anything else that the dealer could blame me for.

I will let you guys know what the dealer finds this week. I just hope that it can be fixed in time for my planned trip up to northern MN next weekend!

 

[Thewhitedogg]

I'll bet its the same fitting as mine. Hope you get it fixed before your trip. Mine blew off just before a big trip for me last year. Had to stop at the dealer on our way up and wait for it.

 

[Randy J Beyer]

Had a small leak on a sled a few years back and it turned out to be a faulty radiator cap ! New cap
and problem solved ?

 

[Blue Dave]

The Whte Dog was correct. The dealer said it was a loose hose clamp on the engine end of the hose that connects the front heat exchanger to the rear of the engine.

He said that they had to pull the engine to get to it. Even though he had it done the day after I dropped it off, it sounded like a job that I was very glad to have him do under warranty!