coolant coming out overflow update 26/10/13 HG time ??

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spudboy6
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coolant coming out overflow update 26/10/13 HG time ??

Post by spudboy6 »

Wondering if anyone could help me with a small issue I have with my l9

I purchased the bike not long ago and changed the coolant this week as I past my test , I pulled the pipe off the waterpump and cleaned the coolant filter out , refitted filled up and ran it to warm got all pipes warm and put the cap back on .

Went out for my first ride today did about 10miles and noticed my l9 was running at one line over running temp and no fan , stopped and noticed coolant dripping on the floor , removed rad cap and loads of air came out , topped up and got air out and went off again for about 15miles on the open road and it was fine. I got to my destination and it had another wee on the floor but the fan was going this time.

Third journey and was fine all the way home say 20miles at 70ish but in traffic temp creeped up and it wee'ed again

But its never hit the red marker

Anyone got any advise it never did this before I changed the coolant :(

I can't see where its coming from as panels are still on but it looks very high up possible rad cap I think

Expansion bottle is still on max mark and only minimal is being lost from rad when its getting hot

It ran fine before I changed the coolant as I had it running all the time and a friend was running it around for me
Last edited by spudboy6 on Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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RedexRobB
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by RedexRobB »

get the side panels off, ride it and then see where its coming from. May well be that you have undone something and not torqued it back up properly.

Additionally, when refilling with coolant, start the bike (when cold) with the radiator cap off, the coolant will circulate and bring any trapped air with it and out of the cap. you cant do this for too long as the coolant will begin to warm and overflow at the rad cap.
spudboy6
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by spudboy6 »

Image

That's how hot it runs in traffic but fan cuts in fine , rode it around today with no panels and didn't leak a drop so possible an air lock ,

I'm going to run it around Abit more today with the panels off

Looked like rad cap it was coming from
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by CaNsA »

just to be a Camel..... :/

When you drained the coolant you may have shifted a bit of crud that was preventing the HG from popping.
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RedexRobB
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by RedexRobB »

Have you checked the radiator cap is on properly?
spudboy6
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by spudboy6 »

Right I did a coolant flush this morning and refilled , bike temp sits dead on the running temp now apart from traffic it creeps up but the fan brings it back down

Its leaking out the over flow pipe from the expansion bottle , expansion bottle has the correct amount of fluid in and I have checked my rad cap is seated properly.

When I stop it still puffs out some coolant on the floor but nothing like before ,

Where would the coolant level idealy sit just above the rad core in the rad ?

Wondering if I'm over filling the bike


Strange thing is when I stop I hear bubbling from the expansion bottle , but I can ride it for mile after mile but soon as I stop it leaks
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RedexRobB
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by RedexRobB »

some coolant will come out of the radiator into the expansion bottle but should be syphoned back as the bike cools. So im assuming that the level in the expansion bottle settles back once cooled?

My versys starting bubbling last year when stopped, although it didnt overflow, and turned out to be the radiator cap, so i would suggest changing it.

Unfortunately, it is sarting to sound a little like the suggestion CaNsA made.
spudboy6
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by spudboy6 »

Yea i hope its not HG only been riding it for two days !

will keep an eye on it and will replace the cap as im suspicous of it , and will do a compression test and if it persists shal have to have the head off .

where would you lot like to see your coolant level sat at in the rad ?
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by RedexRobB »

You should fill up to the cap and it should sort itself out. Expansion bottle i would say keep between the two upper and lower marks.
spudboy6
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Re: Bike keeps dumping coolant on the floor when stationary

Post by spudboy6 »

Fixed ! Was a poor rad cap after all that !

New cap and now the system presurises as efire there was never no pressure behind the cap .

So fitted one from a Toyota for time being fits fine but is only 0.9bar so need a1.1 bar and now it seems to be all good and dandy !
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Still losing coolant and overheating after 10miles ...

Post by spudboy6 »

right after i thought it was all running snoothly ive done about 50-100 miles issue free , this afternoon i was riding it home 15mile journey got about 10miles in after a hard blast and thought i would take the back roads , so went down the back roads at a slower speed and the temp started creeping up again ,

pulled over as it was pretty dam hot but no fan once again ! ,

right so get home and stripped it down and found a few things ,

1- the coolant filter was empty no coolant in and the gauze was blocked with crap - should this have coolant flowing in al the time ?
2- the sensor on the thermostat housing controlls the temp gauge on the dash and the fan is run from the sensor on the front of the rad , so this is showing that the engine in hotter than the rad side of the system , so i remove the thermostat its grubby but in hot water working okay ( ordered new one to be sure )
so my engine is hotter than the front and ive already ran a flush and as i had no temp gauge for the water possible the thermostat isnt opening at the bikes temp as my kettle would be 100'c + , and i would expect the thermo to be 88'c ish ?


so changing the thermostat and whilst the tank is off ill grab a compression tester for it from work and hope my HG isnt my problem ,

anyone got any advise on other things to check whilst its all apart ?

thanks

Image

Image
spudboy6
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Still losing coolant

Post by spudboy6 »

Right as you've read I'm having cooling issues.
No I'm preparing to change my head gasket
So far I've changed :
Rad cap
Have checked :
Rad has been flowed tested and came back fine
Fan works when shorted out but not when riding
All pipes cleaned out

So what's happening basically is my cooling system is functioning properly or about 30 miles but what happens is the expansion tank is getting pressurised and the coolant is then coming out the sateen to the expansion tank then straight out the overflow until the system is empty hence fan won't kick in because the rad is dry

Then as it cools down the system doesn't suck the coolant from the expansion tank back to the rad so the system just emptied and stays dry ,

I ran a compression test

Can anyone tell me what's acceptable for a compression test

I got out of mine dry bore

Starting chain end
170
160
145
170


That's all psi

I have rough running issues intermittently and a massive hessitation at 8k almost misfires 8-9k and when cold produces lots of white smoke

I also put a combustion leak tester on the rad and the fluid didn't change colour so indicated no combustion gasses in the coolant but there must be ! It doesn't smell right in the coolant

So looks like HG any Guthrie advise before I get on with it ? Bikes on 30k and I don't think its bet had one done
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Re: coolant coming out overflow update 26/10/13 HG time ??

Post by CaNsA »

The cylinder @ 145 is where the HG has popped causing uber, hotter than the sun, gas to seep into the system.
That's exactly what happened to my old zxr a few years back.

Stop caning the bike as you are risking warping the head, if it isnt warped already.
If it does/has then you will need to get it skimmed - Pricey :/
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spudboy6
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Re: coolant coming out overflow update 26/10/13 HG time ??

Post by spudboy6 »

Thanks as I thought just wanted to be sure before I did it , I'll get a straight edge and some feelers to check the head and have it skimmed if need be

So for the job I'll need
Rocker gasket
Head gasket
Exhaust gaskets
Timing chain (as I'm in there ) what gasket do I need for that cover ?

Then valve clearances and carb balance and I should be okay

Have i missed anything ?
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Re: coolant coming out overflow update 26/10/13 HG time ??

Post by ross46 »

Pulse cover gasket, and technically you should replace the 4 O-rings from under the bolts of the rocker cover, the 4 on top of the spark plug tunnels and the 4 at the bottom if you take them off. And I think there may be 1 or two others, but with O-rings they can sometimes be ok if your gentle but some people replace them every time others dont, its up to you. And isn't 170 higher than stated in the manual? I could be wrong I can't remember
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