Coolant out the weep hole, bike froze?

[mgentz]

I winterized the bike correctly and put in 50/50 coolant/water but when I went outside to put my forks back on the bike I noticed a smal amount of coolant on the stand under the weep hole...

Could the bike have frozen? Just the water pump Froze?

What will I most likely need to replace?

Bike is an 06 250X with only about 30 hrs on it. I started it up to see if it ran and it ran well. I checked the oil and it is still perfect (I changed it before storage), not milky at all.

[mgentz]

anyone?

[Hit_the_set]

I would guess that if it did freeze once it warmed up you would have a lot more coolant on the floor than a small amount. If you ran the bike and there is not coolant coming out you should be ok. Just keep an eye on it. You could have over filled the rads when you winterized it.

[dennit1]

The rubber seals got cold and weeped, hose clamps will do the same thing. You could try a different antifreeze with distilled water. If it keeps leaking need to change the seal. You can't over fill the radiators because any excess coolant would be pushed to the over flow tank.

[mgentz]

I ALWAYS use distilled water and I used a long-life coolant. I only used long-life becuase I that's what I had. Every Spring/Fall its changed for Engine Ice or equivalent.

When I started the bike up, more weeped out but it was not excessive.

[Hit_the_set]

Is your coolant full now? I would drain the system and re fill it with what ever you are going to run this year and see if it holds coolant. Warm it up and see what happens. Check to see if you have water in your oil. I would guess that if you froze anything and it broke you would have no coolant.

[mgentz]

oil is a pretty amber Luckily it seems like the head is A-OK!

I will check the coolant levels tonight.

[Jakeblues]

oil is a pretty amber Luckily it seems like the head is A-OK!

I will check the coolant levels tonight.

not sure if this applies, but, thre weeks or so ago my friends and i went riding when it was very cold. two out of the five bikes, both a couple years old leaked at the water pump when they first cranked. they stopped leaking after 30 sec to a min. the only thing we could figure was that the seals were cold therefore hard. when they warmed a little they began to function again. if you don't have water in the oil or water still leaking, i would not worry too much, just keep an eye on it for a while.??

[joegencon]

Just a guess but plastic or rubber will shrink faster than metal in cold conditions. Therefore a small amount of coolant could have gotten by the seals causing the weep. With a 50-50 mix it would have to be very cold to cause damage. I would keep an eye on the levels(oil & coolant) but i doubt you have anything to worry about. If you want a real piece of mind change your coolant to Evans. It is completely waterless which helps with cooling and it never freezes. Awesome stuff but expensive. Good luck!

[jbusa8]

yeah i saw this on mine too. nuthin to lose sleep on

[mgentz]

yeah i saw this on mine too. nuthin to lose sleep on

Happened to you to?

[jbusa8]

yeah...we went from the negative numers for a few days to the 40's. i noticed a tiny puddle on the floor. i only see it when there is a big temp change

[mgentz]

yeah...we went from the negative numers for a few days to the 40's. i noticed a tiny puddle on the floor. i only see it when there is a big temp change

I bought all the parts just in case, but if what you're saying is true I shouldn't have to worry. I'll keep an eye on her for my first few rides and see what happens.

Thanks for all the help!

[jayc250x]

I winterized the bike correctly and put in 50/50 coolant/water but when I went outside to put my forks back on the bike I noticed a smal amount of coolant on the stand under the weep hole...

Could the bike have frozen? Just the water pump Froze?

No and no. 50/50 freezes at -40F. Unless you were putzing around when it was -40F (thats just about when spit freezes before it hits the ground) then you didn't freeze anything. I suppose it is possible that the waterpump seal might leak when cold -- seems unlikely, but you never know.

JayC