View topic - Crankcase good news; coolant bad news

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:55 pm 
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 2:11 pm
Posts: 75
Bad news first, and as always I'm seeking feedback from wise forum readers.
A while back I noticed a little pretty green coolant in the wrong place - just enough to notice, on the flat surface that is behind the carb intake on my '23 Touring. In the wide space between cyl 2 and 3, under where the hot air tube connects to the fresh air intake aft of the carb, that flat surface has a weep of coolant on it. I'd tho't that I just had a really weepy carb (and I do), because after a run it would be wet down the side of the oil pan. But most is coolant I think. We're not talking a steady drip, not a visible flow.
So - that had me thinking I better drain my crankcase and see if I have coolant in the oil. Today I did so - is the FIRST crankcase I've changed since I dropped & cleaned my oil pan last year - mebbe 60-80 miles? GOOD news - not a trace of fouled oil.
Ok I should prob'ly check compression (I've never done so) - that might give a clue... Otherwise where could this coolant be weeping from? It is coming from that space I can't see up in to. Is it possible I have a water jacket pinhole, a micro fracture? And, can I reasonably be unconcerned about it, since my crankcase has no sign of coolant in it? BTW I topped off my radiator, mebbe 1 to 1/2 pints- my pleasure drives tend to be short, like 3-5 miles.
Thanks for any feedback, Texas Jim


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 1:01 am 
Jim, you do realize the petcock beside the carb goes into the water jacket?They very often leak and could be the source of your green water. They are not a normal petcock that you turn the arm straight with the drain to open it. That closes it. Quite often they get dirt or rust in them and when open, STRAIGHT, they only drip or not and people think they are worn out. Take a piece of wire and push it into the end to clean out the hole. Then turn it 90 degrees to close it. Hopefully it won't leak anymore. I just went through this on a friend's DB. As soon as I cleaned out the passage and closed it it stopped the occasional drip.


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:07 pm 
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 2:11 pm
Posts: 75
you sent me trotting out to look! Mine has a plug w square head in that passage, not a petcock. And yes, I'd ignored that til now. Its possibly the source, thank you - I need to run it to hot op status then check. Thank you mucho.


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