Coolant leak question

[Orangejbird]

My Dad has coolant leaking by the water hose connector on top on the engine by the left spark plug.
Has anyone ever had this problem?
Was it corrosion of the connector or the gasket? Haven't had it off yet to see which is causing the leak.

[scottolds]

Mine had the same thing. The metal tube fittings where the hoses connect that go into the motor seal with an o-ring on the engine.

You will need to change those.

When I did mine I also took the opportunity to replace my spark plugs, spark plug wires, and spark plug wire caps. I changed all that because my wires and caps were visibly cracked.

Depending on the mileage and condition, yours could be fine.

[Orangejbird]

Did you change the fittings or the o-rings?

[scottolds]

I cleaned up the corrosion on the tubes and replaced the o-rings. Mine had other leaks too so I ended up putting in all new o-rings since I was doing a water pump re-seal as well.

If you go to http://www.kawasakipartshouse.com/oempa ... ycle/parts you can find the diagram below. All the stuff you need is on the Water Pump assembly image. I highlighted the o-rings which are most likely your leak.

[VoyKimmer]

I had what looked like that same leak but found that it was the hose 39062 that connects to the tube. Hose no longer available. Took the defective hose off and went to napa to match up with the closest fit. Not cheap.

[VoyKimmer]

There are no fittings. Just the tube and the o ring. If the leak is coming from the bottom of the tube just replace the o ring. Make sure it's not the hose tho. Gravity and flowing fluid will fool you when it comes to leaks. Don't be in a hurry and assume. Always work your way up to eliminate other sources first.

[Orangejbird]

Did the o-rings have a flat bottom? The one he took out was flat, and I am wondering if that’s just from being seated under the pipe for over 20yrs.

I cleaned up the corrosion on the tubes and replaced the o-rings. Mine had other leaks too so I ended up putting in all new o-rings since I was doing a water pump re-seal as well.

If you go to http://www.kawasakipartshouse.com/oempa ... ycle/parts you can find the diagram below. All the stuff you need is on the Water Pump assembly image. I highlighted the o-rings which are most likely your leak.

[scottolds]

Did the o-rings have a flat bottom? The one he took out was flat, and I am wondering if that’s just from being seated under the pipe for over 20yrs.

I don't recall it being flat.

Honestly, after I had the tubes cleaned up I just opened the package, lubed the o-rings with some coolant, carefully put it on the tube, inserted the tube back in and secured it.

One piece of advice I will give is to order at least one extra o-ring.

When I was doing the ones that go into the water pump I must have had it snag on something when putting those tubes back in. It leaked terribly as I was adding coolant. Of course this was the evening before I was supposed to take a 3000 mile round trip. Fortunately I had one extra o-ring and was able to fix it in short order and still make my trip. So, if your luck is like mine it can't hurt to have a spare or two for the worst case scenario.

Good luck!

[Orangejbird]

The metal tube was corroded through. Cleaned it up and used JB Weld to repair.