mysterious coolant leak

[lucky13]

Please can anyone help? Been working on getting my Voyager ready for the season..just bought her last summer but didn't get to ride much. Anyway, pulled it out of the garage and put on sidestand in the drive while I switch around snowblowers etc. Look down and coolant is running out from somewhere onto the lower part of the cowling below the rad and onto the ground. Naturally I freak, but then it only lasted for about 5 seconds and maybe a half a shot glass amount, then went away. Pulled it apart a bit, can't see any leaks, and reservoir is still near full. Started it up with a fast idle for a few minutes, still nothing more. Dry as a bone. Any thoughts?

[VoyKimmer]

Coolant manifold “O” rings leaking behind the radiator. They start out leaking when very cold goes away then returns.

[lucky13]

Thanks for the info. Will look there first once it warms up. Really like the bike, so kind of eager to get it sorted. (Told my wife how reliable it would be).

[Barry]

Over several years I've seen this topic. I've seen several people claim this only happens at the beginning of the riding season. Then it goes away. When this happened to me, I ended up replacing every 'O' ring and coolant hose. At that point in time we were doing lots of 2 up touring, pulling a trailer. Another incentive at that time was "happy wife, happy life." Best wishes in making the right decision.

[lucky13]

Thanks also to you Barry. That is kind of what I am thinking too. One question though; is the lower cowling around and in front of the rad etc. very difficult to remove?

[Barry]

The vxii is easy to wrench on. It's just a matter of sequence. Start by removing the lower side covers on each side. That will expose the fasteners for the lower shroud and the trim around the radiator. Do you have a factory shop manual?

[tunnelz]

While the O-rings will eventually need replacement, let me relate my experience. It gets around minus 20 in my detached garage over the winter.
Three years ago I first had coolant loss during the off season. About a three inch spot on the floor. Next winter the spot was large and the reservoir was empty. Both times the bike was on the sidestand. Last winter put it on the center stand and opened the radiator cap momentarily to release pressure. No leak at all. This is not advice, just my history.

[lucky13]

Thanks Barry and Tunnelz. Took off the side cowlings like you said etc. Seems straight forward. Thanks for the tip. Also will try leaving on side stand and cracking the rad cap this next winter. I live in Ontario and the temp. gets cold as you mentioned it does for you. Thanks again. Appreciate the advice from everyone.

[Terry052]

Just went through coolant issues myself. Had a leak in the bottom rad spout where the rad hose attaches end of last summer. Pulled the rad a had it repaired at a local rad shop and that solved my problem til I pulled the bike out this year and found a little drip running down one of the exhaust headers . Traced it back to those O rings. Leaked when its cool and doesn't when its hot. I think what happens is they get soft and expand when hot and hard and shrink when cool then leak (and it gets cool here in Nova Scotia). I replaced the O rings and no more leaks It wasn't difficult to do just time consuming. While the bike is apart you may want to consider changing your rad hoses at the same time if you haven't already made your repair. Good luck