OMG whats this liquid mess under my bike?

[Borislav]

Came out to the garage today. And there's a puddle of what looks like Antifreeze and or oil under my bike....

Am i Screwed?

[benVFR]

I bet it's antifreeze...

I don't understand why it happens, but my roommate's triumph has done it the last 2 winters too.

When we de-winterized his bike last year he was really worried the bike was screwed.

He flushed the coolant, added new coolant, no problem all summer. The stuff apparently came out of the overflow... I'm wondering if he is using the wrong mix.

Ben

[Borislav]

I'm really worried the engine is screwed up, because I didnt winterize the bike.

[Rye]

Boris, trace the coolant back to it's source. That's the only way to start a diagnosis. Don't flip out too soon, it could be as simple as an overlow through the catch tank. Winterizing isn't going to have any issues with respect to coolant....unless you were running water/wetter mix in which you should have flushed and added glycol coolant to your bike prior to the deep freeze.

[Honclfibr]

You can tell what it is by dipping a white tissue/TP in it, if it's green it's antifreeze. If it's brown and slick, it's oil. If it's brown and not so slick, it's gas.

If it's oil, you probably have an oil leak. Start at the puddle and look up. It should be obvious where it's coming from.

If it's gas, you probably have a float bowl problem. Did you leave your petcock set to On/Reserve? If so, and your float height was set incorrectly or stuck, gas will continue pouring into your cylinders and eventually out....well actually, I'm not really sure where it pours out, but I'm told it does. Regardless, if it's gas, don't try and start the bike, fluids can't be compressed and you could damage the engine.

If it's antifreeze...yeah, like ben said, probably poured out your overflow hose. Especially if you didn't winterize the coolant, there's probably a lot of water in there. Water expands as it freezes, and could push the antifreeze level up and out the overflow tank. You probably want to flush the coolant, water freezing inside your engine and radiator might not be too good for it...

If it's a mixture of fluids...yeah, that's not a good thing. Gas, Oil, and antifreeze shouldn't mix in a happy engine.

[Honclfibr]

Oh yeah, forgot a fluid. If it burns your skin, it's battery acid, and means your battery has exploded. Mop up the acid before it dissolves your bike.

[Borislav]

thanks for the help guys gonna go check out the color...

Also how do i flush the antifreeze out on a 600 GSXR ?

EDITED :

If it is in fact antifreeze what should I do at this point.

[Borislav]

Ok, i checked, the towel i dipped in the liquid is green and not slick.

it is in fact antifreeze or at least i think so.

[Rye]

That's good news....kinda. Now try and track it to a source....hoses, filler throat, overflow (the caps are prone to not hold pressure well), radiator, and around the motor's gaskets.

[Rye]

Make sure the petcock is in the off position for peace of mind.

[TLRMan]

Damn...use a tissue? I just dip my finger in it and taste it...

[twrayinma]

Originally posted by TLRMan
Damn...use a tissue? I just dip my finger in it and taste it...

didn't your mom ever tell you NOT to drink the antifreeze?

sheesh, and i thought you were SMAHT!

[TheIglu]

That stuff tastes very sweet like sugar.

[R7]

It's not uncommon in these cold temperatures for the water pump wheep hole to leak. All the seals shrink just enough to let some antifreeze by, then when it warms back up, everything is usually fine. My guess is that is where it is coming from While none of my streetbikes have had this happen, all of my liquid cooled dirt toys leave a few drips here and there when they sit in these cold temps

[Stoneman]

I wouldn't suggest flushing out your coolent system in the middle of winter, especially in this weather. It'd take about 3 minutes for any residual water in your system to freeze. R7 hit the nail right on the head. It's not entirely usual for some coolant to weep in these severe temps...

FWIW, you're Gixxer shouldn't have a fuel petcock. Not that it was the problem. Some folks mentioned it here, just wanted to make sure you weren't tooling around looking for it...

[Borislav]

nope i dont have a feul shutoff on the gixxer, I've done my looking around for it the first day i bought the bike, and i was like WTF, where is it.


Thanks for all your help