2014 Trike is Puke’in

[flynng]

You may well be right. Everything I have seen so far shows it's coming out the overflow after shut down. There was some thought originally that is was a hose clamp, but so far, no one I read about has it leaking anywhere but out the overflow from the reservoir. Time will tell.

Was told the factory was installing a poor design hose clamp at the pump bottom that when pressurized will not hold thus dumping all the coolant. Turned out to be the incorrect clamp, not the one originally designed or designated for use.

There must be more than one issue with the WetHeads. I'm sure there will be more.

 

[Mr.Wizard]

You may well be right. Everything I have seen so far shows it's coming out the overflow after shut down. There was some thought originally that is was a hose clamp, but so far, now one I read about has it leaking anywhere but out the overflow from the reservoir. Time will tell.

I dug into it a little more last night...

Open the reservoir cover and pull out the fill cap. It is similar to the old two position radiator caps on a car. Remember when you tighten the radiator cap it will tighten only so far then you have to push down on it and turn it another 1/4 turn? HD let a few thousand caps loose this way.

So, pull out the filler cap and tighten it up all the way to stop the puking.

Also, to fill the unit to the proper level the coolant must be warmer than the thermostat which is 165* if memory serves. It has no thermostat bypass (bleed) like an automobile.

Let the bike idle until the coolant gets warm. Shut off the bike.

Take two hands and remove the filler cap. Hold the funnel with a third hand and pour the Anti-Freeze with your forth hand.

When it looks full take your fifth hand and turn the bike on (don't start it) and use your sixth hand to open up the throttle more than 50% to start the water pump. Starting the water pump will circulate the anti-freeze and push the air to the reservoir. Top it off to the level full mark.

(Octopus tentacles are optional)

 

[bikerbillone]

Yo Wiz, this was a fun read, I'm still smiling.....

 

[Mr.Wizard]

I know it sounds funny but that's how to do it.

 

[imskier2]

I have heard it is a procedure that is done when the bikes are set up after arriving at a dealership and the techs weren't trained properly hence the sporadic problems. I would be curious to see if bikes from the same dealer are having this problem.

 

[rvance]

It only took HD 110 years to work most of the bugs out of the air-cooled engines. I will look at the 2124 models.

 

[bikerbillone]

I have heard it is a procedure that is done when the bikes are set up after arriving at a dealership and the techs weren't trained properly hence the sporadic problems. I would be curious to see if bikes from the same dealer are having this problem.

Yes, I'd also be curious to learn if it's a particular dealer set up problem, or just HD not accepting responsibility for a OEM problem.

 

[trikermutha]

wow a simple thing like making sure the radiator cap is tight just blows my mind..This should not have happened IMO.

 

[Jim Gee]

Well I took my trike to the dealer last night to have them take a look at it. I pulled into the parking lot, turned it off and it puked all over the parking lot. Loved it!! They said it shouldn't have done that. Really!! Hopefully l'll hear back from them today....

 

[bikerbillone]

What happened to tighten the radiator cap trick? Must be something a bit more technical than that.

 

[flynng]

Wiz,

I respectfully suggest that the reservoir in not a pressure vessel and that a two position cover, while maybe a design by HD to make sure they don't open, makes no sense. Those covers don't seal and are only needed to prevent the coolant from sloshing out. The problem is that the reservoir is seeing pressure when the radiator cap fails during heat soak,sending coolant to the reservoir. No place to go but out the overflow and on the the ground. No one is saying their reservoir cap was off when this happened. Now, is this because there is still air in the system, is the cap radiator cap pressure rating to low, failing, defective, defective radiator neck or what, anybody's guess at this point.

I dug into it a little more last night...

Open the reservoir cover and pull out the fill cap. It is similar to the old two position radiator caps on a car. Remember when you tighten the radiator cap it will tighten only so far then you have to push down on it and turn it another 1/4 turn? HD let a few thousand caps loose this way.

So, pull out the filler cap and tighten it up all the way to stop the puking.

Also, to fill the unit to the proper level the coolant must be warmer than the thermostat which is 165* if memory serves. It has no thermostat bypass (bleed) like an automobile.

Let the bike idle until the coolant gets warm. Shut off the bike. Take two hands and remove the filler cap. Hold the funnel with a third hand and pour the Anti-Freeze with your forth hand.

When it looks full take your fifth hand and turn the bike on (don't start it) and use your sixth hand to open up the throttle more than 50% to start the water pump. Starting the water pump will circulate the anti-freeze and push the air to the reservoir. Top it off to the level full mark.

(Octopus tentacles are optional)

 

[rhino 2]

The canam spyder has a two position cap, and a few of them were over flowing [among other reasons] because the cap wasn't on the second indent..:Shrug: [I had an 08]

 

[screwball]

Well I took my trike to the dealer last night to have them take a look at it. I pulled into the parking lot, turned it off and it puked all over the parking lot. Loved it!! They said it shouldn't have done that. Really!! Hopefully l'll hear back from them today....

I'm not laughing at your situation, but that line was funny! How many times have I taken my Harleys in for a sound, bump, vibration, something that just wasn't there when I got to Harley, and started again 5 minutes after I left. GOD was on your side having your trike puke in the parking lot. Hard for them to say 'couldn't duplicate problem' with a puddle in the parking lot!

Good Luck, lots of us are very interested in what they find.

 

[msocko3]

Well I took my trike to the dealer last night to have them take a look at it. I pulled into the parking lot, turned it off and it puked all over the parking lot. Loved it!! They said it shouldn't have done that. Really!! Hopefully l'll hear back from them today....

If your dealer can't give you satisfaction you could always call Harley customer service. When you talk to them you could tell them your getting ready to tie a burp rag to your bars for when it pukes.

 

[Jim Gee]

Just spoke with the delearship and they are still working on it. They thought it might have been a "kinked hose" but when they ran it for a while, it puked again. According to the service advisor, they are now working with Milwaukee to see if they have any ideas on what is causing it. Will keep all posted.

 

[Oldmsocko]

Lots of luck. The mother ship probably won't know either.

 

[NIGHTRIDER]

Has anyone considered what would happen if you pulled the circuit breaker and disabled the cooling system and rode it as an air cooled TG?

 

[rhino 2]

Has anyone considered what would happen if you pulled the circuit breaker and disabled the cooling system and rode it as an air cooled TG?

Without an oil cooler i would imagine the engine would get off-full hot...:xszpv:

 

[lboos]

Let your dealership worry about it. JMO.

 

[NIGHTRIDER]

Just talked to the Service Manager. He said they replaced the filler neck/cap assembly and then tested it thru 4 cycles including a 50 miles road test with no problems. They are going to test it again tomorrow and if it is OK release it for my 4000 mile trip starting Monday.

 

[bikerbillone]

May good fortune follow you on the trip. No fun riding the long ride thinking about a failure.

 

[iaff84]

Just talked to the Service Manager. He said they replaced the filler neck/cap assembly and then tested it thru 4 cycles including a 50 miles road test with no problems. They are going to test it again tomorrow and if it is OK release it for my 4000 mile trip starting Monday.

It will be a GOOD trip regardless if anything happens ThumbUp
Beats sitting around at home.
Enjoy
Dennis

 

[Jim Gee]

Got a call from the dealership this morning and they said the bike is fixed. Picked it up about an hour ago and rode it about 15 miles backed to work (in traffic). Turned it off and guess what, no pukeing!! They told me they had to replace the radiator cap, an $8.95 part!! Once again, I'm a happy bike-ee!! pepper

 

[screwball]

Absolutely Outstanding! Enjoy your trip and take a zillion pictures. We are just back from a 3300 mile ride, couldn't have had any more fun in spite of the rain, hail and heat.

Hide it in good health

 

[antonio-c]

My TriGlide with 970 mile on it dripped on the garage floor after a 150 mile ride. The reservoir was empty. The dealer came and trucked the bike to the shop. They replaced the rubber cap. I drove the bike home (11 miles), all ok. Next day I drove the bike twice, 11 miles each way. Next morning the garage floor had small amount coolant and the reservoir was empty. The dealer came and trucked the TriGlide to the shop where it is now.

At no time did my bike puke the entire contents of the reservoir onto the floor. The bulk of the fluid was lost while on the road.

I talked with service dept this morning and said I thought the problem was not the rubber cap as I found no evidence of coolant in the lower fairing. I told him I thought there must be a leak somewhere else and that the tech should also inspect all of the lines in addition to whatever else he was doing.

This is not rocket science and I am sure the dealer and Harley will solve the problem.

While not happy about it, I am willing to wait because the bike is great otherwise.

Oct 8, 2013

Just got word from the dealer -- Harley is over-nighting them a new filler neck for my Trike. They should have it ready for me tomorrow afternoon. We shall see what this means...

 

[NIGHTRIDER]

Just back from a 3500 mile trip (Phx-Mpls-Phx). No problems with the TG including the coolant. I rode with the cover off the right side so I could watch the coolant tank and didn't see any changes even with a 650 mile day. The TG goes in tomorrow for the 5000 mile oil change.

 

[iaff84]

Just back from a 3500 mile trip (Phx-Mpls-Phx). No problems with the TG including the coolant. I rode with the cover off the right side so I could watch the coolant tank and didn't see any changes even with a 650 mile day. The TG goes in tomorrow for the 5000 mile oil change.

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