[Tom-s]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum (hope I'm posting in the right place) and I don't know where else to turn to for this issue. I had a small oil leak form the water pump and followed SuperMotoRuss tutorial (which worked perfect besides my f*ck up).

When I was putting the water pump back together it turns out I forgot to replace the bolt that holds in the impeller (see picture 2). After a quick test ride (~1 mile) it leaked coolant everywhere and I took it back apart and discovered the missing bolt. See the second picture for the damage this caused.

I have no clue what to do. The water pump appears to still work because since putting everything back together properly, the bike temp stays normal. However, I am very worried about the metal shavings that came off from the impeller. Looks like about 1/16" was ground down. I'm not exactly sure how the water pump works. Would this stay in the coolant system or would the shavings go into the engine oil and cause more damage?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[TheGeek]

I'd just laugh it off. The only thing that really moves in the cooling circuit is the pump. Beyond that, the thermostat and cap move a bit. The only one you'd have to worry about is the cap. As long as it doesn't overheat, those shavings are going to eventually settle in the low spots. As long as they don't clump together and clog something, but I seriously doubt that would ever happen.

 

[what?]

Well, I think this advice is good advice.
You could possibly try to flush the system, but it shouldn't be a problem otherwise.

And, any shavings from there can NOT get into the oil/lubrication system- Without catatrophic failure.

 

[Clipper]

As stated, I wouldn't worry much. Personally I would remove the radiator and back-flush it because that's where the narrowest channels are in the system.
But I'm more concerned where the coolant spilled from when you rode it?
Did it overheat and spit it out of the header tank?

 

[Tom-s]

Thanks for the replies guys. That's reassuring that it's not gonna get into the oil system! I was very worried

 

[Tom-s]

As stated, I wouldn't worry much. Personally I would remove the radiator and back-flush it because that's where the narrowest channels are in the system.
But I'm more concerned where the coolant spilled from when you rode it?
Did it overheat and spit it out of the header tank?

I don't think I rode it long enough for that to happen. It started gushing out of the weep hole on water pump (or at least that's what I assume it was). Luckily I wasn't far from home

 

[craigfer63]

I guess this is an obvious question, but when you put everything back together and there was one extra bolt, did you notice ? I know myself when I carefully lay everything out on a sheet, I still manage to lose something !

 

[Tom-s]

I guess this is an obvious question, but when you put everything back together and there was one extra bolt, did you notice ? I know myself when I carefully lay everything out on a sheet, I still manage to lose something !

Unfortunately my garage is is too messy to lay down a sheet ha! I thought the "extra" bolt was to the fairings but I should have known since they look very different. Oh well.