Coolant draining faster then I can put it in

[Bohdiez]

Hey fellas, I have been trying to fig out where I’m loosing my coolant out of my port side engine. I fill the bottle up to the proper levels and with in the days end it’s telling me it’s empty and going to overheat. I’ve looked for loose hose or bad connections but having no luck. It always ends up in the hull of the boat.
Annoying

Any help would be much appreciated
Cheers

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Are you putting the right type of coolant? How old is the coolant? Is your ride plate in good working order? No modifications to your boat?

Otherwise, yeah... it has to be a line that isn't clamped properly. It's also possible, but less likely that your ride plate is leaking or the ride plate plug is loose and letting coolant out. Did you check the plug?

 

[Bohdiez]

Are you putting the right type of coolant? How old is the coolant? Is your ride plate in good working order? No modifications to your boat?

Otherwise, yeah... it has to be a line that isn't clamped properly. It's also possible, but less likely that your ride plate is leaking or the ride plate plug is loose and letting coolant out. Did you check the plug?

I’m putting in standard coolant. This is what I’m using. I have done zero mods to the boat. The plug?
Also what is the ride plate and where is it located? If I can find that maybe it’s the prob. I have followed the coolant lines and they all seem tight.
Thanks for getting back to me. Nothing worse then a boat not running right lol

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Red is the ride plate. It's a large metal plate in which antifreeze circulates through. Acts as a radiator by exchanging heat from the antifreeze with lake water. It must be in contact with water (aka, not painted for example) in order to function properly. Do NOT drill that plate obviously.

The drain plug (yellow) allows you to drain the antifreeze. Do NOT open it. Make sure it's closed tight. Don't over torque it either. If you do remove it, antifreeze will stream out very fast.

The approved antifreeze is a 50/50 mix ethylene glycol/water mixture. Typically green. I'm presuming this is what you have in that jug? If that's the case, normally I'd say you're good... but since you're having coolant problems, I'd recommend switching to the official XPS brand stuff from BRP to rule that out. How old is that antifreeze? Because it does expire. Did you test it? You can test it with a hygrometer, very cheap at Canadian Tire.

When was the last coolant change? Again, even the official XPS stuff expires after 2 years of use. I've tested it and compared it to the original bottle after two years. It was completely done by that time. So it's pretty important to perform regular coolant changes. Every 2 years with the XPS green stuff. Very easy to do.

If it's old antifreeze or it just isn't good enough, antifreeze will boil and go out of the overflow hose of your coolant tank and go into your bilge. It will also overheat your engine. This is sounding more and more like your issue. But obviously rule out the drain plug.

If you want to perform a coolant change, PM me and I can walk you through the steps. Really isn't hard. But I highly recommend getting the official stuff if you do to rule everything out. Once you've proven it works, then you can consider switching to Prestone later.... but when troubleshooting, it's not worth the few dollars savings. I personally switched to the XPS orange stuff last year. 5 year life span instead of 2 and works the same. Costs a bit more, but less frequent changes and it actually saves you money and trouble in the long run. I'm still planning on testing it every year with the hygrometer.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

 

[Bohdiez]

View attachment 205349

Got it. Perfect. Ton of info which is great. I found the problem. The coolant reservoir has a crack in it. I ran it to find where it coming from and followed it back to the bottle. Trying to find the part now is another hurdle. Pretty sure this is a warranty issue and be covered but I don’t wanna wait. Haha
Here’s a pick of it…

Thanks again for your help

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Excellent! BRP #0460287 or Sea-Doo #276000086.

That looks pretty minor... you could just melt the crack temporarily. Use something like a soldering iron, melt it so it's sealed up. Then re-inforce with gorilla tape. That would get you by until you get a new one under warranty.

But yeah, take all of those notes above seriously. You don't want to discover your coolant froze over winter. I know where you live haha