P700 Another Newbie Question....

[BKelly]

Took my new 2018 700-4 Deluxe off of my home property for the first time and into the mountains of Idaho last week. Everything seemed to go great! Learned a lot driving it...still babying it but I'm closing in on 50 miles on it. Anyway, when I returned home I parked it in my barn. When I moved it today (5 days later) there was a small puddle under it of oily like substance (blueish clear). Freaked me out. So I went to look under where I moved it to and there are a couple more drops under it coming from a hole in the skid plate (for reference, right behind what looks like a drain tube coming from the engine). There is clearly a leak of some sort, and I can't imagine this is normal? I'm still trying to track down the source, but wondered if anyone else experienced this? How worried should I be? It's still under warranty.

 

[Hondasxs]

Sounds like your talking about your water pump weep tube. Should be a black tube fairly short. Its job is to releave any water that passes the seal allowing it to drain vs entering the motor.


With 50 miles, i would being this to the attention of your dealer.

It could be a slow leak and never much more. It want cause any problems othwr then thr small drops on the floor.

Or

It could get worse over time and will need to be replaced.

I had to replace mine within 2 year of ownership too. I have some pictures somewhere.

Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

 

[BKelly]

Sounds like your talking about your water pump weep tube. Should be a black tube fairly short. Its job is to releave any water that passes the seal allowing it to drain vs entering the motor.


With 50 miles, i would being this to the attention of your dealer.

It could be a slow leak and never much more. It want cause any problems othwr then thr small drops on the floor.

Or

It could get worse over time and will need to be replaced.

I had to replace mine within 2 year of ownership too. I have some pictures somewhere.

Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

Thanks! Makes sense from what I can tell that its antifreeze-like fluid; versus oil--so your suspicion seems spot on. Here are a couple photos. To be clear, it is not coming out of the tube in the photo but dripping out the hole next to it. I can track the "trail" of the leak back on top of plate until it disappears. Can't see origin--yet. Is the weep tube that far back on the engine? My education continues....

Also, I did call my service department about having them look at it...great advice again....waiting to hear back from them.

Again, many thanks for the insights and help. This is a great forum. Much appreciated.

 

[Hondasxs]

Thanks, That pic rules out the weep hole as I was describing. But something else is up.

Keep trying to track it. There have been 1 or 2 reports of the following.
- Loose hoses
- Loose bolts on the thermostat
- Head seal.

 

[Hondasxs]

Oh, that black tube there in the last picture is the weep tube. That tube is 6-8 inches long and connects to the water pump.

 

[BKelly]

UPDATE: My service department called back to affirm your advice Hondasxs. They definatley want to see it, but advised as long as overflow reservoir has antifreeze I should be fine, for now, if I had to drive it. Will bring by for them to check out...thought it could be loose hose, nicked hose or weep tube/overflow; but as long as its just a few drops here and there...they said ok for now....

 

[BKelly]

OK, tracked it as far as I can without jacking up and removing skid plate (gonna let Honda do that). Here are photos...everything is clean (spotless still) except for what you see in first 2 pictures (taken from passenger seat access). "Trail" of leak disappears under engine. Looking from rear (last photo), all is clean. Does this makes sense? is there something between the motor mounts under engine that could leak? I'll keep checking if its dripping from somewhere higher and running down...thanks again....

 

[BKelly]

OK, here's my theory...there was nothing on my trailer when I hauled it home last week. No leak stain. So I think you are correct Hondasxs...its something associated with the water pump. The leak seems concentrated near where weep tube connects. Either the weep tube is not connected correctly or there is some other issue with the water pump (thermostat loose?) and it leaked onto the skid plate. Why it looks like it leaks from the rear is that when on the trailer the 700 rides a bit up in the front (trailer sits a bit higher in front) which likely caused what leaked to flow back under engine, making it looked like in leaked in the rear more and ran forward. Will wait for the real verdict from my honda service folks. Thanks again....

 

[jinx]

Check your thermostat housing. There’s been multiple occurrences I’ve read about where the gasket wasn’t seated properly and needed replaced.

 

[BKelly]

Thanks, Jinx. I admit to being a bit frustrated having this issue out of the gate with 52 miles on it (one reason for buying the Honda was reliability). Even my service guys--who have been great--noted they have had some problems "off the assembly line". The bright spot has been this forum and folks like you and Hondasxs (and others on other questions) being so helpful; and that I really like the 700-4, if I can put this behind me. Thanks, again. Will report back after service does their thing...

 

[Tflynn]

Have you tried checking all the coolant hose connections? Might be something as simple as a broken or loose hose clamp that only leaks when the engine gets warm and the system is under pressure.

Sorry about your luck, this must be very frustrating with a brand new machine

 

[Simpleman]

Simple check to see if it's petroleum based or not is to get some on your finger and run water over it out of the tap...if it beads up and doesn't wash off and is still slick on your finger it's petroleum based..aka oil...either way that's a bad deal at 50 miles....keep an eye on the coolant resivior to confirm as well..

 

[Conner]

I have a 2018 and mine leaked coolant just like yours . Lose hose clamp on water pump . Long nut drive hard to get to put from the driver side you can get to it without taking anything off .
Hope this will fix it !

 

[BKelly]

Thanks, Tflynn, Simpleman and Conner. All good insights. It is coolant, 99% sure of that. It has stopped now (i've not been driving it)--so it sounds like something that leaks when it gets warm and pressure builds a bit. I showed pictures to service dept at my dealer yesterday, and they agreed with what they said to me over the phone. Its a relatively small amount, and probably just a loose hose or a bad gasket. And that while it shouldn't be doing it; that they will fix when I bring it in next week for 100 mile checkup. They said I'd be fine driving it until then and if I was worried keep eye on coolant reservoir. I still think I'm gonna try to check tightness of all clamps before I go though given your suggestions and experience Tflynn and Conner. I could not feel anything on any hoses though so must be at connection or is a gasket.

 

[Gator]

Could it have simply been spillage or overflow from being filled with coolant?
Is the coolant in these things blue? I have never looked at my coolant. Hmmmmm.

 

[swsebek]

Mine was green standard stock, but I drained it and I have been running blue engine Ice for 3 1/2 years.

 

[Mudwing]

The HP coolant from Honda is blue.

 

[1rooster]

Could be a thermostat gasket that ALOT of us 2017 guys had.

P700 - Coolant Leak

 

[Mudwing]

Could be a thermostat gasket that ALOT of us 2017 guys had.

P700 - Coolant Leak

When my thermostat gasket leaked, it was on the drivers side. It looks like he has coolant near filter cover, passenger side.

 

[BKelly]

When my thermostat gasket leaked, it was on the drivers side. It looks like he has coolant near filter cover, passenger side.

Thanks everyone for weighing in. My coolant is blue too.

Yes it is more on the drivers side, or at least that is where it runs to on the skid. Yesterday I decided to reach in and feel every hose connection to the engine where it connects and is clamped at the engine. I found one hose that at its connection with the engine was wet with antifreeze on the engine (my fingers easily wet with antifreeze). Eureka. So I tried twisting the hose to see if it was loose. Would not budge. But I could easily turn (tighten) the clamp 2-3 more turns to where I felt it was how I would tighten a hose clamp if I installed it. Then I wiped it and the skid inside (where it pooled before), of any moisture. Today I ran it pretty hard around my property and put a few miles on it. Ran to two bars of temperature on the gauge, and so far not a drop of coolant visible or touchable at the housing. I wish I could tell you what the hose connects to but I just don't know this engine well at this point (need to get a shop manual or a schematic).

I'll know for sure when I run it more; but this may have been just a loose clamp (as Conner, Tflynn and Hondasxs suggested it may be). Or it just takes more run time/pressure to leak...stay tuned. And thanks again.