2018 ec300

[Fieds83]

I picked up my bike 2 days ago, i noticed a drop of coolant near the head gasket upon pick up but thought must have been from pre delivery or something. Got home, noticed moisture the whole way around the gasket, not leaking profusely, just a little moisture.

Has anybody had this before? There are no other symptoms of a blown head gasket or anything, just the tiny bit of moisture forming around the seal between head and barrel.

It has been suggested to me that perhaps the coolant is high in glycol and bypassing the O ring and to perhaps try a low glycol blend.

Has anybody experienced this?

 

[pscook]

I don't know how the 18 compares to the 2011 regarding the coolant plumbing fittings, but on my '11 the coolant "tee" at the head started leaking and I thought that it was the head oring. Might be something to check.

Also look to see if the expansion tank drain/vent is pointed at the head as that can look like a leaking oring a well.

And lastly, I remember that Jakobi (IIRC) had a tree frog or whatnot on his bike that caused him to think that his bike had a leak.

So, it could be serious, or completely not serious. Good luck!

 

[pscook]

I don't know how the 18 compares to the 2011 regarding the coolant plumbing fittings, but on my '11 the coolant "tee" at the head started leaking and I thought that it was the head oring. Might be something to check.

Also look to see if the expansion tank drain/vent is pointed at the head as that can look like a leaking oring a well.

And lastly, I remember that Jakobi (IIRC) had a tree frog or whatnot on his bike that caused him to think that his bike had a leak.

So, it could be serious, or completely not serious. Good luck!

Here's the frog-
http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/showpost.php?p=158578&postcount=4

 

[Fieds83]

I don't know how the 18 compares to the 2011 regarding the coolant plumbing fittings, but on my '11 the coolant "tee" at the head started leaking and I thought that it was the head oring. Might be something to check.

Also look to see if the expansion tank drain/vent is pointed at the head as that can look like a leaking oring a well.

And lastly, I remember that Jakobi (IIRC) had a tree frog or whatnot on his bike that caused him to think that his bike had a leak.

So, it could be serious, or completely not serious. Good luck!

Thanks for ideas, i will be sure to go over everything properly before my next ride. No tree frogs as far as i can see haha

 

[(F5)]

So combustion gas isn't able to get past the inner o-ring from the engine at significant pressure. What chance has glycol past the outer one? If(if) the ring is undamaged; clearly none.

Tell your mate to stick to xxxx consumption.(it's a beer for rest of world - and a pretty sad one at that).

 

[Jakobi]

Yeah that little fella threw a curve ball into a fresh rebuild!

I replaced the thermostat on my car the other day. She's got a very small weep that builds up into a bead after a couple minutes. So small that it evaporates off before it has a chance to get anywhere. Can certainly smell it though when pulling up from a spirited run.

Point being.. sometimes new seals still don't seal 100%. I'll be getting an OEM o-ring for the car and double checking that both mating surfaces are true and replacing it again at some point in the near future.

On a new build bike.. First things first, I'd give the head bolts a quick check to make sure they are torqued down.. sometimes bolts get missed on the production line. Don't crank the crap out of them, just make sure they aren't loose.

As above, check the leak isn't from where the water line enters the head.

Short of that, chase up warranty.. shouldn't have an issue. These things happen in rare cases.

 

[Fieds83]

I did all of obligatory checks and went for another ride. The leak persisted so I took it back to the dealer yesterday. Warmed the bike up with the mechanic and demonstrated the problem.

I will talk to them tomorrow and see what the way forward is. I am sure its a rare occurance, looking forward to getting it sorted. It will be covered under warranty, I had it home for 2 days and it has about 3 hours on it.

 

[Doc Brown]

Probably its only an o-ring. I am curious what they'll find.

 

[Fieds83]

Probably its only an o-ring. I am curious what they'll find.

I got a call the this afternoon and you are on the money. A new O ring kit has been ordered.

It should be sorted by the end of the week. I cant complain with the service, I dropped it off Saturday and had a response by the end of Monday. It sounds like GasGas are express posting the O ring kit so it should be all done by Friday.

It looks like the dealer will be fitting a higher cca battery while its there as well. Looking forward to putting some hours on the bike this weekend hopefully.

 

[Doc Brown]

Great that they got it sorted.

Have fun with your Gasser!

Cheers
Doc

 

[Fieds83]

Its back home

I got my bike back yesterday. It turned out to be a damaged O Ring, it was suggested that it happens from time to time on the production line. All fixed under warranty with minimal fuss.

I also removed the cable choke as mine was loose in the threads and could not be tightened. I pulled it out of the carb by hand with no resistance. Replaced with a genuine Keihin pull choke. I suspect the cable choke was slightly on all the time as the idle settles a lot nicer now.

Today i had the tank and plastics off rerouting some the hoses and cables etc and while digging around i noticed they had installed a NGK BR8ES, i believe the manual says to use an EG...

Whatever the change, the bike it pulling like a train now. Its night and day different power delivery wise. I dont believe the shop made and powervalve adjustments either.

The 140cca battery has been replaced with a 220cca SSB. Starting seems a lot better at this point, i have been for a short ride today and started cold on the kick starter then after 10 min riding i did maybe 5-6 stop starts a few minutes apart on the button. Seems to fire well, not KTM well, still needed a double press a couple of times but much better than before. My bike still only has about 3.5 hours on it so it may improve as it loosens up.

I am about to mix my first batch of 98 and Maxima formula K2. I am still on the first tank from the dealer that was mixed around 40:1 so we will see the difference in spooge with the leaner mix and different oil.

 

[Doc Brown]

The ES spark works, its just the cheaper variant with a copper electrode. The heat range is the same on ES and EG (8), so no worries.

Spooge gets better with less oil. My starter needed 12 hours to loosen up. I tried everything, different battery, thicker cables (negative and positive), additional ground cable between starter and ignition coil.

After 12 hours I have following procedure. I dont let the bike idle and I kickstart it from cold, then when warmed up the starter works as you describe. Not perfect but I can live with that.

CU
Doc