'09 Coolant overflow

At the track yesterday i finished my 2nd session and pulled into the pits. I went to grab some water and when i came back to the bike there was a huge puddle of coolant under the bike. I checked and it seems that it all leaked from the coolant overflow pipe. The coolant level was fine, i checked it the night before and the bike didn't overheat during the session, any ideas?

When I was at my local Yamaha dealership yesterday, a guy came in on his 09 R1 with exactly the same problem as you've just described. He was stuck in traffic with his engine getting hotter - pre fan switch on. The guy in the car behind got out and told him that something was coming out of his bike - turned out to be a load of coolant from the overflow pipe. The dealer topped it up and said that they would report it to Yamaha UK. I sense a recall coming on here - bigger coolant tank????

It happened to me once. A small puddle, maybe 2" in diameter under my bike after riding to work on a really hot day. Never had an issue since then. Even at the trackday I did on it..

It's worrying to hear this is not an isolated case. My previous 3 track days were run in much hotter conditions and i had no problems. Booked it in with the dealer this morning to check it out but i'm expecting the "we can't see anything wrong with it" answer again (still having issues with a grabby clutch when cold). Thanks for your thoughts guys, i'll keep you posted if the dealer actually finds something wrong...

Picked the bike up from the dealer yesterday, apparently it was a faulty radiator cap which wasn't releasing the pressure when hot pushing the coolant from the radiator into the coolant reservoir and out the overflow.

Hmm, so you think that could be the case with all these others? I as well had about a two inch diameter puddle under mine the next morning after putting her in the garage after letting it set in the breeze, and the fans coming on, and then turning off.

Mine overflowed coolant 2 of the 5 days I owned it. It was really hot in the mid 90's. Bike was running cool enough (180's) till I got near the house then it went way high in the 220's. I parked it in the shaded garage, shut it off. 1/2 hour later green puddle on the floor.

Mine did it as well on a Hot Day during practice. This was before I changed out the Fluid to Engine Ice. I only race mine and have not had the problem since. Change out your coolant to Engine Ice.

Picked the bike up from the dealer yesterday, apparently it was a faulty radiator cap which wasn't releasing the pressure when hot pushing the coolant from the radiator into the coolant reservoir and out the overflow. That is exactly what I was going to recommend checking. I recently had this problem with my 04 (after several wrecks) and the radiator cap got bent. The cap is the only thing that can prevent excess fluid from being pushed to the overflow bottle. If it is giving way at to low a pressure, then you will dump fluid early. Also, for those having this issue, make sure youi check your radiator fluid in the radiator (once the bike is cool). I'd beat you are running around with low coolant levels!

when u ride in hot weather and the engine gets pretty hot , stopping the engine and shutting off the bike will cause the coolant to overheat and it will spil if the reservoir is very small. when u sudenly stop the bike , the hot coolant is no longer flowing trough the radiator , and the fan no loner works .so it continues to get hot from the hot engine , then it leaks. did any of u noticed that on a hot day , when u shut your car , sometimes the rad fan kicks in ? this happens for the same reason , the diference is the bike cant turn on the fan ,once the gnition is off. on the track , u need to do a cool down lap ,which should solve the problem . on the street , i would tell u to turn the bike off with the kill switch , then wait till the fan kicks in , and only after the fan is stopped ,turn the igition key to off also. but this is a probem for us bikes , as u guys got the light on all the time , so it will drain your battery. or u need a bigger reservoir :drunk:

After you turn off the engine, even if the fans kick in, the coolant pump isn't working so it would take at least 5 minutes to cool the bike off. The best way to lower the temperature after parking is to stop the motor, allow the fans to work for 30-40 seconds then start the engine for 4-5 seconds, so the cooler coolant is moved around. It's a pain in the ass and I'm sure playing with the engine like this isn't the best idea in the world but it works.

when u ride in hot weather and the engine gets pretty hot , stopping the engine and shutting off the bike will cause the coolant to overheat and it will spil if the reservoir is very small. when u sudenly stop the bike , the hot coolant is no longer flowing trough the radiator , and the fan no loner works .so it continues to get hot from the hot engine , then it leaks. did any of u noticed that on a hot day , when u shut your car , sometimes the rad fan kicks in ? this happens for the same reason , the diference is the bike cant turn on the fan ,once the gnition is off. on the track , u need to do a cool down lap ,which should solve the problem . on the street , i would tell u to turn the bike off with the kill switch , then wait till the fan kicks in , and only after the fan is stopped ,turn the igition key to off also. but this is a probem for us bikes , as u guys got the light on all the time , so it will drain your battery. or u need a bigger reservoir :drunk: I agree with 99% of what u said. I would add just a little to this sentance "on the street , i would tell u to turn the bike off with the kill switch , then wait till the fan kicks in , and only after the fan is stopped ,turn the igition key to off also." Before you turn off the bike check to see if the fan is running 221 and higher. If you are in the fan run temp range I would let the bike idle for 5 min. If you watch the coolant temp the bike will gain a little temp then start to drop. I would let it drop to 216ish before walking away. You can speed this up two ways from my expierence. 1 you can idle the bike at 2K rpm, I belive this ciruclates the coolant more (correct me if I am wrong). 2 you can shut the bike down with the kill switch, let the funs run for a min or 2, then start the bike again. This will cool of the coolant in the radiator, then send it back into the motor when you start again. I have some reservations about this idea, not a huge fan of send cooler coolant into a hot engine. But I believe the delta of the 2 temps is not that great, so prob not a big deal.

Hey I am down here in Florida and when I am in traffic with no clean air flow my bike sky rockets into overheating. It has shut down on me several times! I also have had that overflow problem, so I recently purchased some Engine Ice and will be flushing the system this week. I will keep you up dated of the outcome.

So I flushed and replaced the factory coolant with Engine Ice, I didnt realy see any differance....the bike still go up to 220 and the fan kicked in like normal. So I have no qlue. Maybe it needs to run through the system a couple times to get aclamated.

I'm not sure if I'm having the same issue or not... When I park the bike outside on hot days, I'll see a small puddle under the bike when I return. When I pull it into the car hole and it's reading over 212 degrees (the fan is running), I never see a puddle under the bike. Over time, the coolant level gradually drops. I've added coolant to the overflow reservoir twice now. I'm hoping it isn't anything really bad...like a head gasket leak. Maybe I'll take it into the shop and ask them to check the radiator cap.

I'm not sure if I'm having the same issue or not... When I park the bike outside on hot days, I'll see a small puddle under the bike when I return. When I pull it into the car hole and it's reading over 212 degrees (the fan is running), I never see a puddle under the bike. Over time, the coolant level gradually drops. I've added coolant to the overflow reservoir twice now. I'm hoping it isn't anything really bad...like a head gasket leak. Maybe I'll take it into the shop and ask them to check the radiator cap. Yea man no big deal it's just the way the bike is when we run them hard on hot days. You have three options 1: Get a higher regulated pressure ratiator cap 2: Engine Ice 3: After a ride keep the engine on to circulate the coolant. (Just because the fan is on doesnt mean its cooling the inside of the engine, thats where the coolant comes into play.) After about two minutes the engine temp will go down. Your choice....

Yea man no big deal it's just the way the bike is when we run them hard on hot days. You have three options 1: Get a higher regulated pressure ratiator cap 2: Engine Ice 3: After a ride keep the engine on to circulate the coolant. (Just because the fan is on doesnt mean its cooling the inside of the engine, thats where the coolant comes into play.) After about two minutes the engine temp will go down. Your choice.... Thanks. On your point 1... Yeah, that makes sense. An earlier post said that the cap wasn't relieving pressure, which didn't make any sense that it would somehow then push out the fluid. On your point 3... Exactly. I know a guy that turns off the engine, but lets the fan run and thinks that his engine temp is dropping. It's hard to drop the engine temp without the coolant circulating through it. Wait... If the issue is just that the cap relieves presssure too early, wouldn't keeping the fan on without the engine running fix the problem. I realize that the engine temp isn't dropping, but the temperature of majority of the coolant will be dropping quickly. Anyway, I may end up taking it into the shop, tell them about the problem, and ask them to check the cap to ensure it is opening at the correct pressure. Then, if it does turn out to be something worse and my warrenty period is up, I'll have a better case in getting them to fix the issue on their dollar if it still happens.

I run Waterwetter in my bike. It can be a Hot 100degree day at the track or on the street and I have no problems. In my experience waterwetter runs cooler than engine ice (that is just my experience)

Getting silicone coolant/oil hoses would also help and a high pressure radiator cap. At track days/race days I have a fan blowing on the bike in the pics between sessions...also I have found that spraying water onto the radiator(from a spray bottle) 2-3 times while the engine is still running after coming into the pits works wonders. Overall, if I rode this bike on the street I would get a race lower (belly pan) in case the coolant leaked...nothing like highsiding into a Volvo.

I was at the Yamaha dealer last week and they said the factory purposefully overfills the coolant tank so that when the coolant evaporates as the bike sits on the showroom floor (or in the crate), it still has enough coolant for when the bike is first started. I think the technicians are supposed to drain some of the coolant as part of the set-up. They started a brand new, never run before '09 R1 and after a minute of running there was a 2" diameter puddle of coolant on the floor. I don't know if this is true, but it could explain the coolant puddles, especially if you just purchased your bike.

Ferocity02...that sounds like a load, as all bikes would overflow not just the 2009 R1.

Ferocity02...that sounds like a load, as all bikes would overflow not just the 2009 R1. I didn't say he was just referring to the '09 R1, but all Yamaha bikes, and probably even other brands.