Major Coolant Leak Panigale R from hole near thermostat

Morning all

Sad news again!

Last night while riding the bike the temperature went to 120 and read high

I stopped and notice coolant pouring out of this hole with air pressure behind it ! it wasn't just dripping it was like a pressure washer ! blowing it probably 2 ft out of the side of the bike. (this photo is not of my bike its one of the net but it's the same hole)

The hole is located at the bottom of the thermostat housing on left side of the bike at the bottom of top cylinder head.

I have looked through net and seen few people with drips and dealers saying don't worry. but this blew out half a ltr of coolant with pressure!.

Some people say on internet this is a pressure release drain ?????????????? what is this hole exactly I can`t see any reference to it in the manual or on net? I'm guessing it's a pressure relief hole to stop pressure in head.

I got home let the bike cool down over night. In the morning I opened the expansion header tank for the water it was in perfect place half full I opened the radiator cap and could not see any coolant so I topped it up with 1 ltr to fill it so it wasn't completely empty.

I started the engine and let it heat up and noticed that the temp on dash read low and took longer than normal to register any heat reading. After 5 mins or so it did and the coolant came running out of this hole yet again but slowly this time. I put a funnel and a caught it was still coming out quicker as the bike was heating. I also noticed it bubbling from the hole as if there was air in the system. As the bike got to 102 degrees and the fan came on I had around 500ml in the funnel that I caught there was a huge hiss sound and coolant fired 3 ft out of the bike ! not a lot but enough ! after this mini explosion of coolant no more coolant came out it was just lotsssssssssssssssssssss of air !!! and hot air at that. I let the bike get too 106 and turned it off.

Again I left it for the night indoors too cool and checked the water levels again. Same expansion tank perfect not moved and the radiator was low but not empty the total loss was 500ml

A bit of background behind what happened that I believe to have caused this. Maybe you can help me in whether I am right or wrong? And give me your thoughts and if you have seen this before?

1) While fitting a O2 sensor to the bottom lambda sensor hole to tune the engine I found the oil heat exchanger in the way I removed the heat exchanger foolishly not thinking it would leak!!!!!! (I know you don't have to say that was stupid) to get this sensor on. Of course it did leak and coolant came out.

2) Now this is where I think it's all gone wrong! When I put the heat exchanger back I don't think I filled up the top radiator to re prime the system I filled the header tank. There for not removing the air and its all trapped and when getting hot its expanding firing the coolant and air out of this "blow hole".

3) Another possible option is the thermostat has gone and it's not circulating the water properly and the water in bottom end of the system is heating but doesn't flow as the thermostat is not opening???

4) I read other posts saying maybe a seal has gone in the water pump allowing water to get into this area and leak?? But surely if that was the case then all the water would come out not just a quarter of it as I only got 500ml out of this hole.

I'm struggling a bit with it and getting nervous too that I've damaged something serious. I hope not and hope it's just a case of "trapped wind" if it is how can I get all that air out ? just keep doing what I'm doing ? fill up coolant - run engine - blow out air - time = reprimed system??

Please let me know asap I'm not sleeping with worry over such a stupid mistake

Thanks

Dan

Would imagine the hole is the water pump leakage "tell tale".
Sounds like you have created an air pocket in the water system when moving the cooler.
This has allowed the pump to be running dry for a time which has damaged the pump seals. (Seal is both lubricated and cooled by the system fluid).
Now when you are getting the water round to the pump without air bubbles, it is coming up to pressure and the seal is passing.
Hate to say it but you may need to get the water pump opened up and seal renewed if the hole is the water pump tell tale. Aint got any drawings here to confirm.

This hole is a warning hole letting you know that your water pump is ....... It's sole purpose is to relieve the pressure from the water pump when the water pump bearing and seal lets go so that it doesn't go into the crank case.

I have about 9k miles on my bike and had the same symptoms. Removed the water pump and the bearing and inner seal were gone. To the point where the impeller was rubbing on the case. It is a pretty straight forward fix and should be covered under warranty or under 1k to fix.

Its called a weep hole.

Thanks guys ill strip the water pump how sure are you that its that ? 100% ?

if it is whys it not blowing all the coolant only a quarter of it?

Is it a massive job does any one know to do this?

Water pump weep hole, means water pump replacement. Happened to my R. Had to replace the water pump. Fortunately, it was under warranty.

Mines not in warranty! is it a major job?

From the symptoms, it would appear that this is the same thing that happened to me at my last track-day. Coolant blew out at speed once the bike had warmed up (2 laps) and all over the rear wheel. Very scary as the first indication was when preparing for a corner and the rear wheel tried to pass me.

Tested it a couple of times to see the source, etc. It happens once the thermostat indicates a need to move water for cooling.

The bike is in the shop now getting fixed under (extended) warranty. I'll go pick it up later this week/early next week and then report back to you the specific diagnosis, parts and labor.

P.S. My 2012 bike has about 13,000 miles on it.

It is an issue that is coming up on now that bikes are getting higher mileage. I have 9000 miles and at least half are on track. A friend of mine that I race with has had the same issue.

I was lucky that it started pouring out after I got of track. It did however, completely ruin my race weekend.

1299s oil leak

This happened to my brand new 1299s at 400 miles. In my case I had alot of oil coming from this sweep hole.

http://ducati1299.com/ducati-1299/21758-oil-leak-after-first-service-400-miles-help.html

The water pump cover and gears need to Come apart so gain access to water pump. You will need a new pump which is 500 dollars if I'm not mistaken, plus black sealant. It took the ducati technician 4hours to do the job. Fortunately it was covered with the warranty. My mechanical seal failed.

Update : Bikes opened up and appears the shaft seal has gone as you guys diagnosed . nice one and thanks

Ducati Dubai want 1400 Dirhams or 381 usd to normal folk.

Problem is with all things in middle east it takes time so they said 15 days to get one!!!! I got one on ebay from states from a panigale that's done 700 miles for 32 usd ! not that bothered if it doesn't work now I know how to change it its not a massive issue for me. for 32 bucks ill buy another one and do it again (im having fun)

Any way a update on that water pump with photos of location of it if any one is up for a bit of DIY.

Its a clever design you see that little section of the pump with that small hole in it? that's the fail safe part of the pump so that when the seal does go and be warned yours will go at some stage! all the water from the seal floods into that and fires out of that little hole on the RH side of the bike below the thermostat on the top cylinder.

Its done as someone said deliberately to stop coolant flooding into your crank case which is not a DIY job to fix!!

The location of this pump as you can see from my photo is in top rh part of the clutch housing case not a massive job to do your self and make no mistake if I still had warranty I wouldn't have done this.

any way hope this helps and photos help this is a great forum and helped me a lot so thanks guys keep up the good work

You'll be up and running in no time!Best way to keep this from happening again is to order a new pump just to have. Thought is, since you have a spare.....you'll never need to use it!

I'm in the middle of fixing this on my bike too. Are you guys using any specific RTV to put the water pump back on and same with the side cover?

elements018 said:

I'm in the middle of fixing this on my bike too. Are you guys using any specific RTV to put the water pump back on and same with the side cover?

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Sorry; I can't help you with that one. My bike is under warranty and thus at the local dealer (330 miles away).

can you post up a pic of where this weep hole is in relationship to the overall engine?

Just this past weekend I've noticed that my 899 was steaming as I let it idle. I looked at the radiator and I saw fluid running down the upper radiator area, and burning off on the lower radiator...
After a while, it stopped however, and everything was dry... Would that be about the same as what you experienced?

krays23 said:

Update : Bikes opened up and appears the shaft seal has gone as you guys diagnosed . nice one and thanks

Ducati Dubai want 1400 Dirhams or 381 usd to normal folk.

Problem is with all things in middle east it takes time so they said 15 days to get one!!!! I got one on ebay from states from a panigale that's done 700 miles for 32 usd ! not that bothered if it doesn't work now I know how to change it its not a massive issue for me. for 32 bucks ill buy another one and do it again (im having fun)

Any way a update on that water pump with photos of location of it if any one is up for a bit of DIY.

Its a clever design you see that little section of the pump with that small hole in it? that's the fail safe part of the pump so that when the seal does go and be warned yours will go at some stage! all the water from the seal floods into that and fires out of that little hole on the RH side of the bike below the thermostat on the top cylinder.

Its done as someone said deliberately to stop coolant flooding into your crank case which is not a DIY job to fix!!

The location of this pump as you can see from my photo is in top rh part of the clutch housing case not a massive job to do your self and make no mistake if I still had warranty I wouldn't have done this.

any way hope this helps and photos help this is a great forum and helped me a lot so thanks guys keep up the good work

Click to expand...

I can't believe you are running a Panigale in Abu Dhabi. I lived in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait and I would have thought the summer heat would just melt you on this bike...

Glad you have the problem sorted out.

Cheers.

krissrock said:

can you post up a pic of where this weep hole is in relationship to the overall engine?

Just this past weekend I've noticed that my 899 was steaming as I let it idle. I looked at the radiator and I saw fluid running down the upper radiator area, and burning off on the lower radiator...
After a while, it stopped however, and everything was dry... Would that be about the same as what you experienced?

Click to expand...

No it doesn't sound the same the issue we have is from middle of the bike under thermostat on lh side of bike roughly where your left shin and ankle are as that's what burnt my leg!!!

its a small weep hole photo below

your issue sounds like the radiator cap or something has leaked some coolant out

80shilling said:

I can't believe you are running a Panigale in Abu Dhabi. I lived in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait and I would have thought the summer heat would just melt you on this bike...

Glad you have the problem sorted out.

Cheers.

Click to expand...

YUP been riding it daily all year to work and on autodrome and around yas !!!

Been awesome and as for the heat ! im English and im lucky if we can ride 4 months a year with bad weather so im counting my blessings!!!

attached some photos for you incase you don't believe!

i'm really surprised that these tracks don't require likes to be taped up...

My coolant leak, despite having ALL of the symptoms of a blown pump, just ended up being a split hose. Still, it was between the cylinders and under the air box, so it is not something that is easily accessed.