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| Andy C |
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Andy C
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Joined: 26 Apr 2005
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 Posted: 18:42 - 30 Sep 2010  Post subject: When you get off your bike to see boiling liquid pouring... |
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So being the end of summer and having to go to Bristol I decided I would take the bike and not the car (have got lazy lately) which resulting in a great 15 mile hard ride reminding me how fun riding is and how much better my front brakes are now I have EBC HH new pads on.
I get off the bike to see a puddle forming underneath. I shat myself as I changed the oil and filter this week when I did the front pads so first thoughts were the drain plug wasnt back in properly. 
After closer inspection I find that the fluid is coming from some sort of overflow pipe and the fluid seems to be coolant (this is a guess as I have never really done much with coolant).
Bike (CB400sf)
https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/CB400%20Super%20Four/DSCF3800.jpg
Pipe where fluid came from:
https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/CB400%20Super%20Four/DSCF3801.jpg
https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/CB400%20Super%20Four/DSCF3803.jpg
My guess is that either the coolant was very low and so the heat duty and small volume made the remaining coolant boil
OR
The coolant pump has gone so it is not circulating properly.
Be be honest Im only guessing and would love some advice from people on here who know much more on this area than I do!
I have the manual (not 100% in english due to being a grey import bike) but will have a look over the weekend when I do the chain and sprokets.
Also, how do I find out whether the pump does work?
Any help/advice would be great!  
____________________
99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet |
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yuri2085
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c-m
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steppen22
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MarJay
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stinkwheel
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| Andy C |
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Andy C
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Kickstart
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Andy C
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stinkwheel
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| Andy C |
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Andy C
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| ulster exile |
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ulster exile
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Skudd
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| Andy C |
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Andy C
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| stinkwheel |
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stinkwheel
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| Posted: 01:25 - 02 Oct 2010 Post subject: |
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| Andy C wrote: |
Due to being in Bristol (15 miles from home) I had to ride home so took it very easy, checked the heat dial all the way home and stopped half way to check no boiling liquid.
It was fine on the way home so think it may just be low as surely after 15 miles if it was the head gasket it would have overheated? |
Not necessarily.
In my experience it's more rev dependant (which makes sense, the higher the revs, the higher the gas pressure in the engine). Last head gasket I had go (on a GPZ500s), you could ride the bike all day long as long as you didn't push the revs over 7,000rpm. As soon as you did go over that, it would start pissing coolant out almost immediately. You could JUST see the expansion bottle from a riding position and you could see it filling up as you went.
Not that I want it to be the head gasket mind but what you describe is exactly what happened on both bikes I've had blown head gaskets on (one due to me thrashing the knackers off it for an extended period, the other due to some idiot spanner monkey in a bike shop thinking it would be much quicker to clean up a gasket facing with a wire brush than all that tedious scraping). They pumped about half the coolant out of the radiator then overheated and boiled the remaining coolant.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles. |
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| londonbill |
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londonbill
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| Posted: 01:41 - 02 Oct 2010 Post subject: Re: When you get off your bike to see boiling liquid pouring |
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| Andy C wrote: |
After closer inspection I find that the fluid is coming from some sort of overflow pipe and the fluid seems to be coolant (this is a guess as I have never really done much with coolant): |
If, as you think, it is coolant, and you're happy that the liquid came from an overflow, it could be one of a few things.
Most likely two are.
1) The expansion tank was overfilled, meaning that once the engine reached optimum operating temperature, the water level in that tank rose to the overfill level, meaning it would vent straight out of the overflow, the pipe for which will be routed to terminate somewhere under the engine, much like happens in a toilet cistern after flushing, if the ball cock sticks.
Water expands when hot and the level rises.
2) If you're happy the expansion tank level was fine, then an air lock in the system could be the culprit.
An air lock is basically a big air bubble that is locked in one place for a long time, and then suddenly moves to another part of the system, displacing the coolant as it goes causing a pressure surge.
The liquid has to go somewhere, which is what overflow pipes are there for.
This situation can be rectified quite quickly.
With the engine STONE COLD , remove the radiator cap, and run the engine for about 10 minutes, which will allow the air to escape, rather than being pushed back around the cooling system. |
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Andy C
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Andy C
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| petrolhead19 |
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petrolhead19
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Andy C
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
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Posted: 16:55 - 02 Oct 2010  Post subject: |
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Does it have a radiator cap?
If so fill at the rad, not the expansion tank.
Expansion tank is there just to give water some-where to go when it expands, when engine cools down it should suck it back in.
But, if the coolant level goes low, you get an air-gap at the top of the rad.
So, if the engine is cool, and theres no contraction to suck water in from the expansion tank, filling the expansion tank, often the water will just stit there, making it LOOK like the level's fine, becouse the air in the rad has no way of escape and nothing pushing it out.
Then, you get the bike hot, air in rad gets hot, expands a LOT more than water would, and litterally blows the water out of the expansion tank.....
You see the tank empty or low, so fill from the expansion tank again.......
& you have a repetative fault!
IF you have a rad cap, ALWAYS fill from it.
If you DONT have a rad cap, look for a vent nipple on the rad, and after filling from the expansion tank, bleed excess air out of the rad to let the water you have put in get where its supposed to be.
Also check the spec to see whether you should be using water + antifreeze, or pure Glycol coolant, or a mix.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?' |
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| Andy C |
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Andy C
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| Andy C |
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Andy C
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| Posted: 17:00 - 02 Oct 2010 Post subject: |
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| Teflon-Mike wrote: | Does it have a radiator cap?
If so fill at the rad, not the expansion tank.
Expansion tank is there just to give water some-where to go when it expands, when engine cools down it should suck it back in.
But, if the coolant level goes low, you get an air-gap at the top of the rad.
So, if the engine is cool, and theres no contraction to suck water in from the expansion tank, filling the expansion tank, often the water will just stit there, making it LOOK like the level's fine, becouse the air in the rad has no way of escape and nothing pushing it out.
Then, you get the bike hot, air in rad gets hot, expands a LOT more than water would, and litterally blows the water out of the expansion tank.....
You see the tank empty or low, so fill from the expansion tank again.......
& you have a repetative fault!
IF you have a rad cap, ALWAYS fill from it.
If you DONT have a rad cap, look for a vent nipple on the rad, and after filling from the expansion tank, bleed excess air out of the rad to let the water you have put in get where its supposed to be.
Also check the spec to see whether you should be using water + antifreeze, or pure Glycol coolant, or a mix. |
 There is a cap near the radiator. Silly me....
How do you know when it is at the right level or do you just fill to the top?
____________________
99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet |
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| Teflon-Mike |
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Teflon-Mike
tl;dr
Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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| Posted: 17:07 - 02 Oct 2010 Post subject: |
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| Andy C wrote: | | Teflon-Mike wrote: | Does it have a radiator cap?
If so fill at the rad, not the expansion tank.
Expansion tank is there just to give water some-where to go when it expands, when engine cools down it should suck it back in.
But, if the coolant level goes low, you get an air-gap at the top of the rad.
So, if the engine is cool, and theres no contraction to suck water in from the expansion tank, filling the expansion tank, often the water will just stit there, making it LOOK like the level's fine, becouse the air in the rad has no way of escape and nothing pushing it out.
Then, you get the bike hot, air in rad gets hot, expands a LOT more than water would, and litterally blows the water out of the expansion tank.....
You see the tank empty or low, so fill from the expansion tank again.......
& you have a repetative fault!
IF you have a rad cap, ALWAYS fill from it.
If you DONT have a rad cap, look for a vent nipple on the rad, and after filling from the expansion tank, bleed excess air out of the rad to let the water you have put in get where its supposed to be.
Also check the spec to see whether you should be using water + antifreeze, or pure Glycol coolant, or a mix. |
There is a cap near the radiator. Silly me....
How do you know when it is at the right level or do you just fill to the top? |
Fill to the top.
Fit cap.
Add coolant to the expansion bottle.
Loosen rad cap, let coolant in (higher) expansion bottle bleed down and purge any air in the system.
Watch to make sure expansion tank doesn't completely drain.
Let a little coolant dribble oit of the rad cap, so you know its purged of air.
Top up expansion tank to between level markers.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?' |
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The last post was made 16 years, 25 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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