White plastic tank by the horn

StratTuner · Jul 1, 2013

so I'm cleaning the bike today, and i have the plastic cowling off from the bottom of the bike.... theone that covers the oil filter...
and I notice a white plastic tank or "reservoir" just behind the horn....

What is that?

It has upper and lower measuring lines on it, but when I sit and level the bike the fluid in it is almost empty ... doesn't come anywhere near being between the upper and lower limit lines.

How do I fix this? It seems important?

showkey · Jul 1, 2013

http://nc700-forum.com/forum/nc700-technical/2823-recommended-coolant.html

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Pretty much covers the coolant and the bottle.....

ziggie · Jul 1, 2013

Same as you would find on a car for coolant.i check mine all the time.

StratTuner · Jul 1, 2013

This is the first time I've checked and it was WAY low.

It was just in for it's 8000 mile service (valve check + oil change), and I presumed the mechanic would check all the fluids... Honda car mechanics do that... but not Motorcycle mechanics, it seems!

I got the honda coolant from the dealer and took off the black cap on top of the coolant tank and topped it off.
It's now between the upper/lower lines as it should be.

Have I missed anything?

670cc · Jul 1, 2013

StratTuner said:
This is the first time I've checked and it was WAY low.

It was just in for it's 8000 mile service (valve check + oil change), and I presumed the mechanic would check all the fluids... Honda car mechanics do that... but not Motorcycle mechanics, it seems!

I got the honda coolant from the dealer and took off the black cap on top of the coolant tank and topped it off.
It's now between the upper/lower lines as it should be.

Have I missed anything?

Normal progression. With each passing "incident" with the "mechanic", you come one step closer to eventually deciding that you'll do all the bike's service and maintenance yourself.

Greg

StratTuner · Jul 1, 2013

670cc said:
Normal progression. With each passing "incident" with the "mechanic", you come one step closer to eventually deciding that you'll do all the bike's service and maintenance yourself.
Greg

No mechanic cares about my bike or my safety as much as I do. I get that.

I was thinking about why this happened, and I concluded I'm spoiled by my Honda "CAR" mechanic. If I have my Honda Civic in for a valve job an oil change, the mechanics always top off all fluids.
I'm used to that "top off all fluids" behavior and expected it from my motorcycle mechanic.
I guess.. that's just not how it is with MC mechanics!

At first, I was kinda mad at my MC mechanic, but checking the fluid levels is really my job as rider.
My MC mechanic will do what I ask him to and not much else. I know that now.

L.B.S. · Jul 1, 2013

It's great to show an interest in your machine, Strat

It doesn't mean straight away you have to commit to becoming an engine rebuilder, but great point posted by 670, a little bit at a time, and soon you will be comfortable with doing routine things, and better, an active involvement versus a passive one. With motorbikes, IMHO, this can only be a good thing.

Having the coolant reserve level in the reservoir show a little low is (again, IMHO) not a real cause for too much concern, as it will vary depending on various conditions day to day anyway. As the bike warms up/cools down, and the thermostat opens and closes, the level can change in the reserve tank. It can show differing levels all the time, but you are pretty safe as long as you can always see some showing in the tank. Keep it too full, and you have no room for expansion, and a potential mess.

With my BMW, it was pretty much common knowledge for owners to have to keep the level as low as possible, because the er..."interesting" F800ST design, caused coolant to be sprayed out the vent hole in the reservoirs plastic cap when hot. This went all over the bike's fairing, the engine, and worse, the rider! It was messy, and rather unpleasant to have your leg and boot suddenly get doused with extremely hot fluid as you were minding your own business sitting stuck in traffic.

Owners knew this after years of ownership, but apparently (most of) the BMW "professional" mechanics didn't, because they would, by rote, top up the reservoir right to the brim if the bike was brought in for service. Sure enough, scalded legs and messy cleanups would be required until the bikes finally p*ssed out the excess coolant, or the owner eye rollingly had to siphon off the stuff to avoid the leaking mess again.

The engine oil level in the F800's had the same malady with almost always being way over filled because of the quirky semi "dry sump" design, but that's another story...

docb91b · Jul 1, 2013

StratTuner said:
No mechanic cares about my bike or my safety as much as I do. I get that.

I was thinking about why this happened, and I concluded I'm spoiled by my Honda "CAR" mechanic. If I have my Honda Civic in for a valve job an oil change, the mechanics always top off all fluids.
I'm used to that "top off all fluids" behavior and expected it from my motorcycle mechanic.
I guess.. that's just not how it is with MC mechanics!

At first, I was kinda mad at my MC mechanic, but checking the fluid levels is really my job as rider.
My MC mechanic will do what I ask him to and not much else. I know that now.

It is sad that we have to check up after our mechanics. A few months ago, I took my car in for a service and they wanted to charge me 500 for the 40000 service.. I looked at the procedures.. L.O.F, fuel filter replacement and the rest was inspection... Remember the good old days when you got a LOF and they inspected for free? Granted they told you that everything was broke (including the flux capacitor), but you had an idea of what was needed coming up. Seems like everyone wants to get a piece of you.

D

L.B.S. · Jul 1, 2013

I would point out though, we can't tar all mechanics with the same brush. I bet for every iffy tech, there are 100 worse owners, lol.

Our very own favourite gentleman HondaBikePro, for example, strikes me as great a guy as you're likely to find, and I would feel ashamed if he ever thought I was insulting him with sweeping generalizations.

I am guilty of going over board with my own dealer/mechanic rantings, so I have to own up to needing to change my ways and try not be (as much of) a prat.

showkey · Jul 2, 2013

L.B.S. said:
Having the coolant reserve level in the reservoir show a little low is (again, IMHO) not a real cause for too much concern, as it will vary depending on various conditions day to day anyway. As the bike warms up/cools down, and the thermostat opens and closes, the level can change in the reserve tank. It can show differing levels all the time, but you are pretty safe as long as you can always see some showing in the tank. Keep it too full, and you have no room for expansion, and a potential mess.

...[/QUOTE

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^first thing I thought of was too full when I read "topped off the bottle"...............Strat where you live and ride expansion space is critical.

You thought oil on the rear tire was bad ........hot coolant not much better..........as mentioned too full is a huge problem......giving tech the benefit of the doubt they may have a standard if there is coolant In the bottle that's good enough to avoid highway spills in triple digit heat. ??????????????

MZ5 · Jul 2, 2013

Glad you were able to expand your mechanical horizons on the NCX, Strat!

Personally, I'd guess that the mechanic topped off the actual radiator when he completed the valve clearance check, and the expansion tank was probably (again, guessing) left as it was. However, it's often the case that there's an air bubble in the cooling system after a drain-and-fill like that. So, once that air bubble works its way to the 'top' (meaning at the rad cap), the system will pull the needed coolant in from the expansion tank to fill that small void.

Who knows, but I'd guess it was something like that, as opposed to anything more nefarious or even negligent on the part of the tech/mechanic. I haven't done this NCX yet, but I can tell you that it's a GIGANTIC pain to completely 'burp' most late-model Subaru cooling systems. You pretty well have to find a nearly cliff-like hill to drive the front end up on to get all the air out of them. If you don't do that, what usually happens is your heater doesn't work 'cause the air bubble stays there. Even a good mechanic can struggle to get all the air out of some systems.

Chestnut · Jul 2, 2013

If they did they 8000 mi service, they most likely pulled the radiator to get to the valve cover. Even if they don't top up the fluids, he should have replaced the coolant lost when he took it apart.

670cc · Jul 2, 2013

Chestnut said:
If they did they 8000 mi service, they most likely pulled the radiator to get to the valve cover. Even if they don't top up the fluids, he should have replaced the coolant lost when he took it apart.

Excellent point, Chestnut. After reinstalling the radiator and topping off the coolant, there was probably some air in the system that was gradually purged, causing the reservoir level to drop.

Greg

StratTuner · Jul 2, 2013

MZ5 said:
Glad you were able to expand your mechanical horizons on the NCX, Strat!

Personally, I'd guess that the mechanic topped off the actual radiator when he completed the valve clearance check, and the expansion tank was probably (again, guessing) left as it was. However, it's often the case that there's an air bubble in the cooling system after a drain-and-fill like that. So, once that air bubble works its way to the 'top' (meaning at the rad cap), the system will pull the needed coolant in from the expansion tank to fill that small void.

Who knows, but I'd guess it was something like that, as opposed to anything more nefarious or even negligent on the part of the tech/mechanic. I haven't done this NCX yet, but I can tell you that it's a GIGANTIC pain to completely 'burp' most late-model Subaru cooling systems. You pretty well have to find a nearly cliff-like hill to drive the front end up on to get all the air out of them. If you don't do that, what usually happens is your heater doesn't work 'cause the air bubble stays there. Even a good mechanic can struggle to get all the air out of some systems.

Chestnut said:
If they did they 8000 mi service, they most likely pulled the radiator to get to the valve cover. Even if they don't top up the fluids, he should have replaced the coolant lost when he took it apart.

670cc said:
Excellent point, Chestnut. After reinstalling the radiator and topping off the coolant, there was probably some air in the system that was gradually purged, causing the reservoir level to drop.

Greg

It's refreshing to see that you guys think it was something other than mechanic error. It would be easy to blame the mechanic. Like you, I'm more inclined to think it had something to do with removing the radiator. I'm sure he did that, and when he did, his mechanic's mind told him,
"oh yeah, I've got to fill the coolant back up". Even a lesser mechanic would have that thought.

In any case, it was a gentle lesson (for me) in paying attention to that fluid level. I went to the dealer last night and got the Honda coolant and topped off the reservoir. I will watch that more closely from now on... especially in the California heat!

White plastic tank by the horn

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