Water Pump - Is this a problem or normal?

[madcofz]

 

 
We had an unseasonably warm day last weekend so I took the bike out for a ride, I just installed a Yoshimura exhaust so I couldn't wait.  When I got back I noticed small specks on my exhaust and then realized I had some white/blue which I assume is coolent leaking by the water pump. It isn't much, there were no drips on the floor.  I don't know if it is from the weep hole to the left side of the picture or coming out underneath the pump.  Do you think this is a problem or normal?  I remember one time I had a similar thing with a 250 dual sport during winter that wasn't a problem (but that was definitely antifreeze).  I'm thinking i just need to clean it off, and keep an eye on it, but what do you experts think?  I'd appreciate your thoughts.
 

[ducttapewd40]

I'd suspect the O-ring just behind that cover and would probably replace it next time I changed my coolant out anyway if it didn't seem to leak anymore or just replace it during my winter boredom just to feel better about it. It's only a $3 part. Probably not a bad idea to make sure neither of the water cover bolts have shimmied themselves loose a little.
 
I'm only guessing now why it might be seeping out a little, but maybe the cover and the engine case shrunk at different rates in the cold or it was just installed on a Friday.

[markstertt]

Do a search, there's already a lot of discussion on this and it seems to be pretty common, as a matter of fact, my 2015 with 9700 miles on it looks just like yours, found it yesterday. I can't tell if it's just out of the weep hole or the base 'O' ring or both but mines on the lift right now for other reasons so may just order the 'O' rings and shaft seal and pull it apart. I also need to clean up and paint those 2  coolant tubes coming out of the pump, they're starting to look a little shabby. Good luck...Mark

[markstertt]

A little follow up...this is a problem and not normal and in my case (and no doubt others) was due to a warped pump housing specifically at the 3 thru bolt locations. The thin section housing O ring is not up to the task and or the cover is just to light of a casting to maintain its shape.
 
 
To remedy this I cross filed (?) the high spots down and then cleaned up the surface with some wet/dry sand paper on my surface plate. There is a raised number pad on the back side of the housing that I had to dremel down to allow the housing to lay flat on the surface plate, the pictures should show all this.
 
 
On reinstall, I added a new O ring and a light smear of Loctite 518 gasket eliminator on the sealing surface, added the coolant back and a few days later went for a ride and so far all is dry.
 
 
I never did see any evidence that the weep hole cavity had any wet or dried coolant in it and also saw no reason to buy a new housing that wouldn't be any different than this one...maybe next time should the leak return but with the Loctite I doubt that will happen.
 
weep hole cavity on far left had no coolant, wet or dry inside it but the discoloration on the rt. lower surface
above the thru bolt hole is where most of my leakage was from.

 
this area between my fingers is where warped housing was allowing most of my leakage, from there it ran down and back making it hard to diagnose,
I cleaned this surface with a pc. of scotchbrite.

 
the housing as it came off

 
the housing after lightly dressing with file to highlight high points

 
gif uploading site
 
housing after dressing down high spots and lapping on surface plate, notice number
pad dremeled off so housing would lay flat on surface plate

[rick]

A little follow up...this is a problem and not normal and in my case (and no doubt others) was due to a warped pump housing specifically at the 3 thru bolt locations. The thin section housing O ring is not up to the task and or the cover is just to light of a casting to maintain its shape.  
 
To remedy this I cross filed (?) the high spots down and then cleaned up the surface with some wet/dry sand paper on my surface plate. There is a raised number pad on the back side of the housing that I had to dremel down to allow the housing to lay flat on the surface plate, the pictures should show all this.
 
 
On reinstall, I added a new O ring and a light smear of Loctite 518 gasket eliminator on the sealing surface, added the coolant back and a few days later went for a ride and so far all is dry.
 
 
I never did see any evidence that the weep hole cavity had any wet or dried coolant in it and also saw no reason to buy a new housing that wouldn't be any different than this one...maybe next time should the leak return but with the Loctite I doubt that will happen.
 
weep hole cavity on far left had no coolant, wet or dry inside it but the discoloration on the rt. lower surface
above the thru bolt hole is where most of my leakage was from.
 
 
this area between my fingers is where warped housing was allowing most of my leakage, from there it ran down and back making it hard to diagnose,
I cleaned this surface with a pc. of scotchbrite.
 
 
housing after dressing down high spots and lapping on surface plate, notice number
pad dremeled off so housing would lay flat on surface plate
 

Nice work. That anaerobic 518 sealant is good stuff. I use it for the fuel pump plate on my Aprilia. In this case, the plate is nice and rigid and the o-ring is stout, but that plastic fuel tank flexes and distorts. They were installed dry at the factory, but the repair manual calls for the sealant.  
Mine's not leaking, but definitely filing this fix in the memory bank. I even have a 200 lb chunk of flat granite for such tasks. 

[markstertt]

Thanks Rick, just did a 650 mile ride up the coast and down Hwy 36 (northern Calif.) wow! What a road and scenery, anyway, no water pump leaks and learned a lot about touring on the -07, got some things to reconsider. I did buy a new pump shaft seal set just in case but it would appear that wasn't the issue so far.

[rick]

Gonna go out on a limb and predict yours will never leak from that cover again - you might lose a seal, but that o-ring is not gonna be a problem.
 
The red anaerobic stuff will allow the cover to come back off w/o much effort, but it takes a little work to scrape the stuff off once cured. Of course, you may never see the inside of that thing ever again, so not a big deal.
 
As for touring, I find the motor on this thing a bit busy. Even though my Aprilia will run 1000 RPMs lower all the time in a given gear, and even when it's running at 5 or 6k (out of 9k) in 3rd to 5th gears (that bike will pull redline in 6th at a go to jail, legit 150 mph), the motor has a more relaxed feel to it.
 
So if I was gonna do a lot of long distance traveling, Think I would make the gearing a tad taller - mostly to get around that vibration at 5k where it's at its worst.
 
And the seat, for me, is still a bit of an issue. There might be that Bagster saddle in my future.

[markstertt]

Yes the 518 Loctite is good stuff. I'll be keeping an eye out for future leaks but it's an easy fix if it's only the housing and not the shaft seal. As far as gearing, I'm running 17/44T. and with engine mods think 17/43T. would be better for touring. Now at 65mph I'm seeing about 4200+ rpm and anything faster and the givii short wind screen is only good for keeping bugs off the instrument cluster and directing wind under my helmet, I will post my thoughts on touring in another post, after several tanks of fuel your opinion on certain aspects of this bike changes.