No Coolant - what you say?

[bikersupermot...]

a friend of mine is using his 50cc gilera scooter to get to/from the local train station every day for his commute to work.

problem is on longer runs the coolant kept boiling/steaming and my friend got fed up trying to find out whats wrong and why its overheating so he stopped refilling the coolant as he only rides it 2 miles to the station and back now and nowehere else.
its downhill all the way to the station but uphill and quite steep all the way back.

he gave me a lift back to mine from the station other night on the back and it couldnt get up the steepest bit of the hill, but it could before the overheating probs ( although slowly coz it stuggled hard with 2 of us on it ) - i had to get off and walk up lol.

anyways - thats when he told me it had no water in it!!!

i told him he 's damaging the engine really bad doing that - but he says coz its only 2 miles it doesnt get hot enough to get damaged in only 2 miles and its only coz there was 2 of us on it that it couldnt make it up the other night.

what you guys think? whose right so i can tell him!!!
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[symonh2000]

You are right, running without coolant will soon cause hotspots and damage.

It could cause ther head to warp, the headgasket to fail or the engine to seize completely.
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Four strokes is two strokes too many.

[Matt-]

It should be using coolant even on 2 mile's if warmed up correctly before ridden.

As it's a 2 Stroke it should be warmed up left idling for 5 Min's before ridden full throttle.

Could be a simple thing like a stat
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RIP jack (wheelie king), you will never be forgotten.
Current Bike's - Road Legal TZR 125 Pitbike, Aprilia SR50R 2010

[x alex x]

doesn't take long for a small 2 stroke to get up to temperature, specially on the way back up a steep hill, head is probably warped now or at the very least the head gasket has probably went, i'd imagine the piston will probably heat seize in the cylinder soon.
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Rides: Yamaha FZR 750 & KMX 200
Drives: 2007 Fiat grande Punto Sporting 1.9 Multijet, Remapped, 194BHP

[skatefreak]

Yeah,
I'd say it'll be getting to the end of its life veerrryyy soon.
My NSR 125 2stroke is up to temp in < a mile of gentile 40mph riding from cold so I 2 miles on a smaller 2 stroke without coolant, it will be overheating.

It wont kill it straight away on short trips like that but the barrel/head will probably warp a little at a time, performance will deteriorate and eventually it will just die.

The temp gauge will be useless because without water to heat up it will never register the temperature (it measures the water temp...).

Tell him to throw some water in there and get on here if he wants the engine to last much longer...

*Shrugs*

-Jvr

[dannymassive]

How long has he been doing this for!? As has already been said, running without coolant will cause some damage. The engine was intended to run with coolant cooling it down hence why it was there in the first place! Yes, OP, you are correct in what you say; and to your friend - Good luck to him!
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Previous Ride's - '01 Aprilia SR125 (Sold) '08 HONDA CBF600n (Sold) '96 CB500 (Sold) '01 FZS 1000 (Sold) '06 CB1300SA (Sold) '07 CB600F Hornet (Sold) - '93 Suzuki Savage LS400 (Sold) '98 Honda VTR1000 Firestorm (Sold) '05 CB600F Hornet (Sold) '01 FZS1000 Fazer (Sold) 2016 Harley Davidson Street Bob SE (Sold) '02 Kawasaki ZX9R (Sold) '98 CB600F Hornet (Sold) '04 Suzuki Bandit 1200s (Sold) '13 Yamaha FZ1-N

[Matt-]

If it was on a 4 Stroke engine i would of said keep it going it won't be much harm but it's a 2 stroke, 2 stroke's suffer from heat anyway, so i am guessing it's already taken it's toll on the barrel and warped it the cylinder, at the very most it will be a Top End Rebuild, as long as you don't heat seize it you everything should be fine for just a top end.
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RIP jack (wheelie king), you will never be forgotten.
Current Bike's - Road Legal TZR 125 Pitbike, Aprilia SR50R 2010

[Walloper]

Are you two a pair of fat bastarts????

Too much load can cause problems.
Maybe this is God letting you know that walking will save your soul.
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W-ireless A-rtificial L-ifeform L-imited to O-bservation P-eacekeeping and E-fficient R-epair

[symonh2000]

Actually walking wears out your sole.
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Four strokes is two strokes too many.

[Kickstart]

Hi

I would expect it to be wrecking the engine fairly quickly. I do know of people running 2 stroke drag bikes with liquid cooled barrels but no coolant in them, but then they are only running for under 20 seconds rather than a couple of minutes.

[Teflon-Mike]

If it was overheating and boiling its block before.... something was wrong.

Whats the chances it was already fucked and in need of a rebuild?

Running without coolant, probably fucking it a bit more.... but it ent quite dead yet, by the sounds of it!

So at what point do you call it a day and do something about it?
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[Noxious89123]

[symonh2000]

Probably best to fix it before it goes bang. It could seize up and throw the rider off.
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Four strokes is two strokes too many.

[Walloper]

[bikersupermot...]

its been doing the overheating thing since about june - he rides it every mon - fri since then and its still going lol so mebe it doesnt get very hot on the 2 mile down hill run to the station an i dunno about the uphill all the way back

but the things still running ( not v fast uphill mind haha ) but no signs of it seizing up yet

an no we are not 2 fat bastids lol - weigh 11.5st and 10.5 st - but 22st is a lot for a 50cc scooter with no water in it an a steep hill to ty to get up - so thats why even at max throttle it just slowed down till it wudnt go any more an i hopped off. then it just about carried him to the top. lots light blue smoke coming from the pipe so its defo burning up i thinks.

but he just gonna keep riding it like that an then get another engine to stick in or rebuild the one thats in it depending on the cost.

just hope he puts coolant in the next one lol
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[Vincent]

As above, there's a good chance it will seize and it's not much fun having the wheel lock up in traffic. Is your mate not too bright
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[bikersupermot...]

coz its an auto scooter driven with a rubber belt - it ll prolly just coast to a stop if it seizes - but he said its gone this long doing the 2 mile there and back journey that he cant see why it wont go on lolol

i have my doubts - but its his scoot, i dont really care what he does with it but its kinda funny that its lasted this long an still going!.

but as iv said to him - its his money his wallet when / if it goes pop!
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