metal shavings in coolant

[vasteve]

I'm getting my bike serviced at the 25,000 miles. Pretty much doing everything. The service guy called and said there were metal shavings in my coolant and he thought my waterpump could be going bad. While he had the fairing off it would be a good time to fix it. I have never heard on here anybody else having to rebuild there water pump. I haven't seen the coolant yet, but I guess I trust the guy. He said parts and labor it would be a little over a 100.00. Just worndering if anybody else has run it to this. Thanks, Steve

 

[vabrzn]

It seems to me if there are metal shavings in the coolant the water pump would be in such bad shape, that you would have heard some grinding away or coolant leaking from the pump before you took it in. Maybe someone put stop leak in at some point. Some of these products have rsidue that resembles metal shavings. My two cents.....

 

[Geezer]

I have not heard of shavings in the coolant before. A couple of folks have reported coolant leaking from the pump and they rebuilt the pump to solve the problem. The pump is not sold as a unit, you have to buy the individual parts. If the bearing was wearing badly enough to leave pieces of metal behind I would expect a severe leak. The same is true of the impeller, if it was wobbling enough to rub and wear then there would be a leak.

If it were me, I'd do a complete thorough flush (see blow job coolant flush here) , fill it with water, run it up to temperature, let it cool, then flush it again and refill with coolant and see what happens.

 

[vasteve]

I bought the bike new so I know its never had stop leak put in it. When I checked the coolant level I've never seen anything in the tank. No noise or leaking. He said he was taken the pump apart and checking the seal and bearing today. I'm having new ones put in since it's already a part. I will know more when I see the old parts.

 

[Bounce]

Hearing the pump go out is rare in my experiences. The weep hole will begin leaking before that usually. Swapping coolant every other year with silicate-free choices is a must to maintain a long-lived, healthy cooling system.

It's easy to do at home and saves a ton of cash of a pump replacement.

Ask him what the difference in price is if you do it now or wait until it fails. You might decide to ride it to failure. If so, take it home, do a flush and refill with silicate free coolant and distilled water and run it until you get the weap of coolant from the bottom of the bike.

 

[Fred W]

It's a 2007. Do you have a YES warranty?

If so, this discussion should be between the shop and Yamaha...

 

[FJRBluesman]

It's a 2007. Do you have a YES warranty? If so, this discussion should be between the shop and Yamaha...

Gunny. This could have been from some poor quality control on assembly.

 

[reecebike]

Pay the man the hundred bucks and ride!!!

 

[shuswaper]

vasteve...my `07 started leaking one year after I bought it new and it only had about 11,000 kms . The pump got a new mechanical seal under warranty. I had always suspected that the engine block/heads weren`t adequately flushed clean after the milling process and some leftover grit caused the seal to prematurely wear. Sounds like your bike was part of the same batch on the line! :assassin:

 

[UHOH]

Pay the man the hundred bucks and ride!!!

agree, you trust him.

Shavings in the coolant can't be anything acceptable.

'course that was probably taken care of yesterday, by now.

 

[bramfrank]

Heck man, it's just $100 - authorize it and ride. You don't want to be there when the impleller falls off and you are 500 miles from everything.

 

[vasteve]

I went and checked on my bike this weekend. The waterpump is fine, but there is some kind of settlement in the coolant. It's non magnetic, but I'm not sure what it is. The mechanic said it could be the head gasket breaking down. All the plugs look fine and the bike runs great. He's doing the coolant flush and try to get the rest of the settlement cleaned out. Does anybody know where this stuff could have come from?

 

[Zorlac]

Does anybody know where this stuff could have come from?

? maybe ?

 

[FJRay]

Sediment in a coolong system is very common. I would agree with the flush and refill option. I would be very carefull about what kind of repairs you authorize as this sounds a bit like somebody is looking for some winter work. I can't remember of a FJR ever losing the head gskt and yours is real low milage. Start doing as much of your own work as you are comfortable with and the folks on this forum will guide you through the rest. What you spend on tools and supplys is minimal compared to the cost of the dealer and you don't have to wonder if it was done right or at all. IMHO.

 

[vasteve]

Thanks a lot, I didn't think it was anything that bad. I try to do some of the stuff myself, but I need the valves adjusted and the throttlebody synchonize. He change the plugs coolant brake fluid put a front tire on and balanced the back. Rebuilt the front shocks and changed the fluid, they were leaking a little. He is a one man show. He seems to know his stuff pretty well. I like the fact that I'm talking to the person that does the work. I'm sure I'm going to have a bill between 7 and 8 hundred dollars. You could buy a lot of tool for that. Thanks again for the help.

 

[OldSwartout]

I went and checked on my bike this weekend. The waterpump is fine, but there is some kind of settlement in the coolant. It's non magnetic, but I'm not sure what it is. The mechanic said it could be the head gasket breaking down. All the plugs look fine and the bike runs great. He's doing the coolant flush and try to get the rest of the settlement cleaned out. Does anybody know where this stuff could have come from?

Even though all the engine parts are diecast, there have to be sand cores for the cooling passages in the cylinder and head. Those cores are broken up and shaken out after casting. It is difficult to get completely clean, so the sediment may be residue from a core. It also is possible to form small beads of aluminum in the cooling jacket during casting and those may eventually flush out. It sounds like your bike's castings were made late on a friday afternoon.

 

[Crash Cash]

Rebuilt the front shocks and changed the fluid, they were leaking a little.

WHAT?!? At 25K? Are you kiddin' me? Yeah, someone's taking you for a ride, and it's not your FJR.