Modern Vespa

3961 miles, lady bought August 2021 with 3955 miles.

No coolant visible in reservoir..

All mixed in oil lol

Should be fun

Sitting 2 years…

Weekend project.. anyone in Victoria BC.. want to play together

Love the colour. Have fun with the fix.

what do you mean by all mixed in oil? Oil in the coolant?

Nice looking Vespa. If I can believe the picture, the color appears to be the same as my 2007 250ie GTS. Piaggio touch up pencil 820/A ROSSO VINTAGE. I and most likely many here at MV would be interested in your steps to bring your, new to you, scoot back to road worthy condition.

Coolant in the oil.

I'll keep you updated

Head gasket fun.

Hopefully no other damage.

So I asked Chat GPT about possible scenarios

I asked:
( Is it possible that it's only the water pump seals )

Yes, it is possible that the coolant mixing with oil is caused by a faulty water pump seal. If the water pump seal is damaged, it can allow coolant to leak into the engine oil.

To determine if the water pump seal is the cause of the problem, you can perform a simple test. First, drain the engine oil and coolant, then refill the cooling system with fresh coolant and install a new oil filter. Next, fill the engine with fresh oil and start the engine. Let the engine run for a few minutes, then check the oil level and coolant level.

If the coolant and oil have not mixed, you can then shut off the engine and wait for a few hours. After this time, check the oil level and coolant level again. If the coolant and oil are still not mixed, it is possible that the water pump seal was the cause of the issue.

However, if the coolant and oil are still mixing after the test, it's likely that the head gasket or engine block is damaged, and further inspection is necessary. It's best to take the scooter to a mechanic to diagnose and repair the problem.

I'll try this out..

I doubt it's the water pump seals, as you'd see coolant and/or oil dripping out of the drain hole between the seals.

For nearly all the coolant to get into the oil, it'd be the head gasket almost for certain. If a bypass opens between the oil and water channels then the coolant pressure drops, the coolant boils, and it very rapidly dumps into the oil. If it's only a tiny gap, then the coolant may not boil, but it'll be at far higher pressure than the oil and it wouldn't take long for it to migrate.

If either the head or cylinder need replacing, have a look at the Malossi V4 cylinder/piston/head kit. Much more performance.

Didn't want to risk riding with condition unknown, all similar colours haha. I'm not even a huge fan of red?!

It would be grey milky of there was coolant in the oil.

has your coolant level dropped?

He said the reservoir was empty...

I suspect the sump was completely full.

I'll post the results of the drained oil and if any coolant is remaining in the radiator.

Working on my bike

Anyone else working on the grass?

I've got beer though. Might help to have a 24mm socket for the oil drain bolt

Tomorrow's mission!

A homemade wheel chock might help you to get the motor out.

[url]www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYkECh720JE[/url]

Thanks for that suggestion!! I quickly put one together! Slightly different but essentially doing the same thing! Love this community thanks everybody!

Hmmm, interesting, not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

First look under the hood

Looks good!

Edit: Just saw the strap going to the mirror perch. Breaking the mirror stem might be a little bit of an expense but cracking the entire master cylinder assembly could get more expensive.

I would top up the coolant and pressurize the system, perhaps with a mitivac before putting oil back in it. See where the coolant goes. If you run coolant through the oil pump you will do a lot of damage. Nice scoot though, once you fix it it will be very nice.

Little show and shine

coolant drain & added, looked like water no colour in the coolant…

Didn't take any pictures, flushed out with more coolant.

Just going to ride it and check fluid levels regularly.

Hopefully next picture will be out at the Pacific Ocean

Really good idea! Didn't even know what a mitivac was!

Just googled it and posted a picture for anyone else reading this that doesn't know.

Mitivac draws a vacuum and you need to pressurize the cooling system so not sure how that would work.

You would need a coolant pressure tester with a rubber bung that can fit in the top of the coolant reservoir. Also need an air compressor of some sort.

It does both. That's how you use it to bleed brakes.

There are different models, so if buying one ensure it can pressurise as well as pull a vacuum.

That oil looks perfectly normal to me. If it IS oil. If it is 100% glycol, then where did the oil go? Coolant (or just water) mixed with oil will be almost completely white. It certainly wouldn't hurt to pressure test the cooling system, but I have pressure tested cooling systems before with a cold engine and didn't find anything. They would only leak after the engine got hot. A gasket leak can cause that. The metal distorts slightly when hot, just enough to allow a small leak. Then it reseals when the engine cools down.

as i said its not grey milky, coolant looses it colour after awhile. i would check the thermostat for build up. Dont be surprised if the water pump packs it in.

You only get a milkshake in the oil if it has run with coolant in the crankcase. The first photos showed coolant in the crankcase but the bike had been sitting for a long time without running. If there is a milkshake there is a high probability that the bearings and bearing surfaces, like cylinder walls are damaged. Often a milkshake is fatal. Without the milkshake, if you drain out all the fluids, the first thing is to make sure no more coolant can leak into the crankcase. Once that is solved it is safe to refill the crankcase and run it.

are you sure there's coolant in there? that looks suspiciously like motul 300V which has a very green appearance...

anyway, I think you have the right approach. top everything up and run it, see what shakes out. just keep an eye on it-- a few heat cycles followed by some short rides in the neighborhood should be enough to ascertain the condition of the water pump.

good luck!

+1 for Greasy's opinion. British Columbia is a beautiful province to travel though, but must not run off the roads looking at sights most will never get to see in person. I foresee many miles of smiles in you future.

Coolant and oil don't actually need to be mixed together, like by running the engine, to make a milkshake. I have had a few air cooled bikes with sight glasses, and when checking the oil level on a cold wet morning (my bikes are kept inside the garage) the oil looked white. There is no way water or coolant could have gotten into it. What it was, was condensation. Water condensed on the cold inside surfaces of the engine. After warming the engine up and riding several miles, I checked it again. The oil looked normal. The water had evaporated after the engine had been run for a while. I also left a drain pan with used oil in it outside once, and forgot about it. It rained unexpectedly, and when I went to dispose of it, it was almost white.

What is showing on the dipstick and what you drained out of the engine looks like almost new oil. It's not even dirty.

Just going to ride it, it's such a nice bike! Did a small loop with a friend on his 2007 manufactured Italian 1200cc Moto Guzzi.

I certainly did notice that what came out ( oil drain ) seemed very new. Which makes sense from what the previous owner told me.

So far the coolant level hasn't dropped and I've probably ridden 15km

Might try and ride tomorrow to work for a change.. hopefully I can obey Canadian traffic laws and not go to the front of traffic at a red light…

Another view.