Thought I had a blown head gasket on the 1200.

[John Schmidt]

I had been running/riding it off/on recently and came out a couple days ago and saw a puddle under the left side. It looked kinda oily, ran my finger through it, felt a little oily but smelled of coolant. Oh crap, what next? Looked up under the left side and sure enough, there was some drips hanging off the header flange and studs for #2...the forward cylinder. Started the bike and after a few minutes, it started to drip ever so little, but strangely enough the bike was smooth and there was no white exhaust. What's going on? I posted on a couple GW boards, giving details of my dilemma and came away with numerous suggestions....all of which I'd already checked. I did a compression check and all four cylinders were either matched or varied 2-3 psi. All the plugs looked the same, albeit a bit rich, so that told me there didn't appear to be any coolant getting into the combustion chamber. So what the heck was going on, the last thing I wanted to do was pull the left head without a definite answer. Today I went out, started the bike, parked a box fan in front of it and let it run for over 30 minutes, all the while I'm laying on the garage floor with a flashlight trying to spot the source. Suddenly I see a drip off one header stud, but it appears to be coming from above. More poking and looking and here's what I found. I have a slight drip from a new temp sensor I installed for an aftermarket temp gauge. With the bike on the sidestand it leans to the left, causing the almost imperceptible drip/ooze of coolant to flow to the left and pass under the t'stat housing. It then would pool in a little casting valley on top of the motor....first pic.

It takes a while, but eventually it will collect enough(about a tablespoon) coolant and it will overflow down the front of the head and behind the timing belt housing.

Look closely and you can see the dried coolant tracks. At this point it flowed to the nearest low point which was the header flange and studs where I was seeing the drips, making me think I had a leaky head gasket.


Tomorrow I fix the sensor leak and all should be back in tune in the universe.....well, mine at least. 

[OnaWingandaPrayer]

  persistence in hunting the leak source paid off. Thats a much better outcome than replacing a head gasket.

[Flrider]

Glad you found the problem and that it is not a blown head gasket   

[TJ]

 Glad you found it...    That's where a pressure tester comes in handy... 

[Pappy!]

And......I like the antique black and white photography! 

[Squirrel]

Years ago when I was a mechanic, we used to clean the affected area as much as possible and then use baby powder to squeeze into the area.  Start the engine and look for the wet spot.  lol  It worked pretty well, but a little messy and then there's the cleanup to do afterwards.  Great job as always, John.  Thanks for sharing.

[John Schmidt]

And......I like the antique black and white photography! 

Yeah, an antique taking antique pictures. I got that b/w by accident and now can't figure out how to get back to color, and have no idea where the instructions are for this camera. Oh well, more important things are afoot.

[flsix]

John, glad you found the location of your drip

Sorry....had to do it.

[Flrider]

John, glad you found the location of your drip

Sorry....had to do it.

[John Schmidt]

John, glad you found the location of your drip

Sorry....had to do it.

So far the bike is the only thing with a leak/drip. However, the spring loaded clothes pin does get a bit uncomfortable by day's end.