When I was up riding at the beginning of Nov. I noticed a problem with my Scrammy. I had it parked at a slight angle so that the left side was slanted down. I noticed a small pool of antifreeze gathering on the bottom of the radiator cover . I could see it slowly dripping on the left side. I checked my recovery bottle and it was at MAX. I opened my COLD radiator cap an saw that the antifreeze was a about 3/4 full. All I had with me was bottled water so I had to fill it up with that. I also noticed that one of my radiator hoses was rubbing on the frame and almost rubbed all the way through. So I put everything back together and took an easy on the way home, I kept an eye on the recovery bottle and noticed that it didn't loose any fluid out of the bottle, even when the engine warmed up. I also didn't notice any overheating. I plan on changing ALL fluids this spring and replacing the hoses for the radiator. But, why was it leaking and not going back into the radiator from the recovery bottle. I haven't noticed any leaking since then. Is there some kind of overflow?
Thanks - Jason

 

ANYBODY??????????????????????????????????

 

mine leaks a little out of the tube that is hooked to the top of the radiator its the one on the right hand side. it hasn't leaked much because the level hasn't gone down any so im not too worried about it

 

You sure it didn't over heat and spray out of the hole on top of the cap on the recovery bottle?

 

If you have a leak anywere in the system the recovery bottle will not work. When the engine cools off it will pull air in through the leaking area instead of from the recovery bottle.
I would check for a leak somwere in the system.
Good Luck.

 

It could also be the tube to the recovery bottle is partially plugged, but more likely a leak somewhere else in the system.

 

Where should I check for leaks and how? That is what it seemed to me, that it was pulling air in instead of the fluid from the recovery bottle. Could it be a leak in a hose? Are there vent hoses for the cooling system?. Thanks for any help.

 

Check all hoses, especially where they connect to the radiator or engine.
One place to look, that is sometimes hard to find, is the water pump seal weep hole. This is on the underside of the waterpump housing, and is just a little hole that allows coolant to leak out to the ground if the water pump seal starts leaking. Do NOT plug the hole, because if it is leaking, coolant will be forced into the engine crankcase, causing all sorts of nasty things to happen. It is a small hole, and may be hard to spot, possibly requiring skid plate removal to see better. Find the part of the engine where the lower radiator hose goes into, and look more or less at the underside of the engine below where the hose connects (and maybe a little towards the center of the machine). If any coolant looks like it was seeping out there, it is time for a new seal. Should take a qualified mechanic an hour or less to replace.

EDIT: Just so you know, there is an air bleeder screw on the top of the engine, not too far from the spark plug. It is the bolt with a phillips head screw slot built into the head.

 

One more thing, make sure your radiator is not packed full of mud. I see this about a half a dozen times a year. Some of these guys even kept their quads really clean but didn't realize that their radiator wasn't clean. If you can't see through the radiator then air can't flow threw it either.

 

My 98 scrambler 400 was doing something similar, it ended up being the head gasket. The anti freeze would blow out the overflow into the holding tank and leak out. Then when I lost enough fluid it would overheat.