Vulcan 500 leak under the gas tank... | GTAMotorcycle.com

Vulcan 500 leak under the gas tank...

budwizest

Member
Hi all,
So, took the bike (Kawa 2009 Vulcan 500) out to start riding season today. It had been winterized with new filter, oil change, stablizer, and fogging oil in the cylinders. It was stored in an uheated shed over the winter. Battery was on a trickle charger inside the house.

Put battery, saddle bag etc on, and then started the bike. It started fine on the first go with the choke.

Let it idle a couple of minutes and then saw some smoke on the exterior of the engine, and saw some greenish fluid (coolant?) leaking from under the gas tank on the left hand side. Seems to be running in pretty largish drops, and from some kind of plastic assembly just under the gas tank.

Dont have the time to open up the tank right now - but any pointers to what could be wrong would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance!
 
That plastic assembly is your thermostat housing. Remove the tank and you'll be able to see where it's leaking from. Could be a split hose, broken clamp etc.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk
 
Hi all,
So, took the bike (Kawa 2009 Vulcan 500) out to start riding season today. It had been winterized with new filter, oil change, stablizer, and fogging oil in the cylinders. It was stored in an uheated shed over the winter. Battery was on a trickle charger inside the house.

Put battery, saddle bag etc on, and then started the bike. It started fine on the first go with the choke.

Let it idle a couple of minutes and then saw some smoke on the exterior of the engine, and saw some greenish fluid (coolant?) leaking from under the gas tank on the left hand side. Seems to be running in pretty largish drops, and from some kind of plastic assembly just under the gas tank.

Dont have the time to open up the tank right now - but any pointers to what could be wrong would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance!

The plastic reservoir on the right hand side (looking at handlebars) is your coolant reservoir. If my memory is correct there should be a vacuum hose attached to the bottom, check if snug. If the reservoir is leaking you can easily find a used one in eBay quick simple swap.
 
The plastic reservoir on the right hand side (looking at handlebars) is your coolant reservoir. If my memory is correct there should be a vacuum hose attached to the bottom, check if snug. If the reservoir is leaking you can easily find a used one in eBay quick simple swap.

Hello-just wanted to thank both freekey guy and MRSP for offers to help. Ended up fixing it myself after ordering a couple of parts from a dealer.
 
couple parts, awesome.

but what about us gear heads left hanging? you gotta tell us, what/where was the leak..

Haha, fair enough.

Here is a pic of the couple of parts that i replaced...

Basically i had to take the tank off, then find meself some real estate to work with by moving some wires around and taking the coolant reservoir off and opening another bolt on the left side of the bike frame, replaced parts and put it all back together.


Coolant Leak from Service Manual.jpg
 
Haha, fair enough.

Here is a pic of the couple of parts that i replaced...

Basically i had to take the tank off, then find meself some real estate to work with by moving some wires around and taking the coolant reservoir off and opening another bolt on the left side of the bike frame, replaced parts and put it all back together.


View attachment 38779


Glad you got it sorted yourself and saved some money doing it as well. It was a simple task.

If you need any help in the future - feel free :)
 

Back
Top Bottom