Mal99 said:
I changed the oil and it came out clean, no sign of any coolant in it. All hoses and seals look good with no apparent sign of damage.
How I lost my coolant; had some problems with some single track and a hill and lost a bit of coolant out the overflow when the bike was on the ground (a number of times). I was surprised how much coolant I lost but it was full when I started and only had 250ml when I drained the system.
Mal
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07 FE450
HI Mal,
I'm not sure how much the cooling system actually holds but I'm guessing it to be around 1250-1500 ml's based on how much was left in a half gallon bottle when I was done filing the radiator.
So a question would be what size container did you fill the system from, and about how much was left over?
Having the bike come to a stop because it over heated so bad is not a good thing. However, there have been stories of this happening and rider and bike living happily ever after.
And I agree with the TheSav, if you didn't do it when you drained the cooling system, it would be a good idea to flush the system thoroughly, and replenish with a high quality coolant.
If this happened to me, and I had lost I'm guessing 1000ml's of coolant, and my bike over heated so bad it stopped, this is what I would be checking and on the look out for:
While the bike is running, and with the radiator cap off, (take it off before it gets hot), have a good look down inside the radiator, and slowly increase the rpm's of the bike to a moderate level, say around 2000 to 3000 rpm's. You should see the level of the coolant go down and you should see the coolant flowing in from the left. When you let the motor go back to idle you will see the fluid level come back up again. This will verify that you still have good flow through the cooling system, and one could reasonably ASSUME that the impeller was not damaged. By the way, was any coolant coming out of the weep hole?
#2. On your next outing, keep an eye out for the coolant coming out of the overflow tube, be sure and stop when you check this so you don't have a shunt. You might have a little bit come out as the bike comes up to normal operating temps, especially if you put in a bit too much, which is easy to do.
( The coolant level is supposed to be about 10mm above the radiator tubes.) This will be caused by the fluid expanding, and without the proper air gap between the fluid and the cap, the fluid will push it's way out and seek the proper level.
However, if your radiator cap has, or is going bad it will start leaking coolant out at much lower temps. If all this is checking out good, and no coolant is observed leaking from the over flow tube, after your ride, or on the trail when bike has cooled down enough, check the coolant level on a level surface. If the coolant level is good then things are looking up.
However, if coolant is magically disappearing then you have A) got a leaks somewhere, or B) damaged the head or head gasket on your over heat and your are losing fluid through the exhaust. You will probably notice this as the exhaust will smell funny or you will see some vapor.
Also, keep an eye out for oil consumption. You might want to measure how much you're putting in, and how much is coming out. Depending on the type of riding you do, you might normally have some oil consumption, but, not a lot.
Judging from your description of how it's running, the prognosis is good so far. I would just keep watch over those things I've mentioned for a while. On your next ride you might want to try and pay a bit more attention as to whether or not the bike is boiling over so you can stop and let it cool off and add some water to tide you over. If you do a lot of this kind of riding you might want to invest in the optional cooling fan.
Hope this helps,
Dale
