I have a 700 twin 2003 and it seems like the coolant is going down...not blowing white smoke but the oil looks a little creamy...engine seems to running fine although it does not idle too well.
had the jetting changed for winter because the exhaust was glowing red right off the engine. When the jetting was changed the pipe no longer got re but now this.
Has anyone ever had this issue...Thank you for the help

 

it must be going in the oil if its milky. maybe the head gasket is bad.

 

This is one of the issue's i had on my 800..the bottle neck was leaking on mine.

 

Had a similar problem with my 02 700 twice. First time it was the head gasket and the seconmd time it was the oil seal behind the water pump. Both places the water can leak into the crankcase.

 

I've got that problem with my 2003 Sportsman 600. I thought that it would be leaking from the head gasket, but i found it was leaking from the water pump.

 

Thanks for the input. Changed the oil last night and there was a little bit of rad fluid when it first started coming out. Filled the oil back up and ran it for a bit...going to go home tonight and see if the rad fluid has gone down at all. Does anyone know if running the bike with a small leak will do more damage? Is it hard to pull the water pump out of the bike or is it relatively easy? What is cheaper the head gasket or water pump seal? Again thank you for the info.

 

its not too healthy to have water in the oil as it will hurt the crank bearing and other parts if its ran that way too much. ive read where a few guys have replaced the water pump/gasket and said it was too differcult. i think the head gasket would be harder.

 

Wondering if you ever had problems with the exhaust getting real hot? Mine was glowing red right off of the block. How much did it cost for you to get the headgasket and water pump fixed? Appreicate the help

 

If you plan to keep that machine for any length of time don't run it with coolant contaminating the engine oil. Water pump seal problems are a lot more common than failing head gaskets, especially on an '03. Replacing either one can be tricky. I'd let someone who knows what they're doing perform the repair.