916 Coolant Flush-what went wrong?

[shopper]

A few days ago I drained the old coolant and flushed the system with water. Had no issues (so I thought).

Tonight I went to fill the system again. I poured the first bottle in, as the last few drops were falling thru the filter, I heard the coolant leaking onto to the floor. I was standing on the left side of the bike (left side fairing was removed) and saw the coolant falling from the right side fairing (which was attached).

I went to remove the right side fairing to locate the leak. Knowing I did not removing anything (screws, bolts, hoses) from the right side, I began to panic wondering what could be wrong and how much is it going to cost???

Now I'm a noobie wrencher, so forgive me for not using the correct terminology but here's what I've discovered.

I noticed the coolant leaking from the top opening in the third picture. The opening where the leak was coming from is blocked but you can see bottom quarter of the opening and a smaller copper colored "cap" below the opening.

Middle pic-I found a copper colored "cap" (about the size of a nickel) on the ground about 2 ft away from my bike shortly after removing the right side fairing. The "cap" was dry, making me think it fell out during or shortly after flushing the system (few days ago).

The other picture was taken the same area on the left side, you can see two copper colored "caps" embedded into the coolant tank (???).

Any idea of what I'm dealing with here? Is it as simple as getting to the opening on the right side and using the "cap" to plug the opening? I'm doubting it because if it just pops back in, what's to prevent it from popping back out?

I apologize if this has been covered. I attempted a search but like I said I'm not sure of the technical terms and couldn't find anything similar to my problem. Thanks for your help.

[ZDM]

It appears to be a freeze plug(s) When you drained/flushed the system with water did you install new coolant right afterwards....it appears from what you're saying you did not. How cold has it been in Minnesaota, below freezing? Maybe some residual water was left in the passages and froze over night popping the plugs. I'm not sure of the procedure to replace them. You'll definitely need new ones.....but best see what other members suggest it is first. What ever it's manageable so don't lose sleep over it......

[phil996]

You need to get new freeze plug and install with a small plastic mallet or I had a special tool at one time to do it. Hopefully it did its job and nothing got damaged.

[Tonka]

They are called 'core' plugs in the uk and they don't just fall out unless the engine has froze or sometimes boiled over and the engine pressurised. Normally though the only reason that you may have to replace one is due to them corroding as the anti-freeze/corrosion inhibitor has not been kept up to strength.

Not sure why you tried to flush the system out though as you would normally only need to do this if you have contaminates in the coolant as a drain would normally suffice. Flushing it out is not normal practice but saying that it should not have caused a core plug to drop out.

You should always mix coolant though before putting it into an engine as neat coolant will find leaks where water or pre mixed coolant won't. fill a bike or car engine with pure coolant and you will get leaks everywhere!!

It's an easy fix though.get a new core plug, clean the core hole, put a slight smear of blue gasket sealer around the edge of the core plug, find a socket that fits perfectly over the circumference of the plug and gently tap into place as it effectively seals itself by being an 'interference' fit.

[Dan Q]

Originally Posted by shopper

A few days ago I drained the old coolant and flushed the system with water. Had no issues (so I thought).
.

Look at your 3rd picture. Just above the small freeze plug there appears to be a larger hole without a plug.

Not sure why it would fall out... the first picture shows the two plugs installed on the other side of the engine

[pjonte]

Originally Posted by Tonka

You should always mix coolant though before putting it into an engine as neat coolant will find leaks where water or pre mixed coolant won't. fill a bike or car engine with pure coolant and you will get leaks everywhere!!

Not trying to be offensive but I gotta call BS on this one - what is the scientific basis of this belief?

[Dmitry]

Originally Posted by Tonka

You should always mix coolant though before putting it into an engine as neat coolant will find leaks where water or pre mixed coolant won't. fill a bike or car engine with pure coolant and you will get leaks everywhere!!

Originally Posted by pjonte

Not trying to be offensive but I gotta call BS on this one - what is the scientific basis of this belief?

I agree with pjonte, pure coolant may not be the best thing for cooling system but pouring it in first and then adding water to the system to achieve 50/50 mix is totally appropriate. Being a mechanic I have done this hundreds of times, never a problem, as long as you know the system capacity.

As for OP, I think that motor might be toast, if pure water froze and popped freeze plugs there might be some other damage, wouldn't be surprised if the cylinder or head is cracked.

[fastcan]

How did you "flush" it?
The cap will limit the cooling system to 13 or 15 psi.
If you applied substantially more pressure than that with say a garden hose or an air compressor that could have blown it out.

[ZDM]

Originally Posted by fastcan

How did you "flush" it?
The cap will limit the cooling system to 13 or 15 psi.
If you applied substantially more pressure than that with say a garden hose or an air compressor that could have blown it out.

Yes, thats something that I didn't think of, maybe he did somehow force those out by pressure, but wouldn't it take a lot of force to pop those out. I mean he popped what, 3 or 4 out.
I doubt any damage occured-hopefully the freeze plugs worked as intended.

[shopper]

Hey guys thanks for the knowledge.

Only one freeze cap popped out. The other three are still intact.

Why did I flush the system? I was wondering if that was a necessity, like I said I'm a noob and I was doing my best to follow the directions in my Haynes Manuel.

I poured a couple jugs of water through the expansion cap to flush the system.

Looks like I'll have to stop by Ducati Mpls (great people) to see if I can pick up a cap and get some tutelage.