Coolant boiling out?

[Quick281]

When I got home from my ride today I noticed that my bike had boiled some coolant out onto the garage floor. I am pretty sure this happened shortly after I backed the bike into the garage and shut it off.

While riding the temperature had been at a perfect 180 and I never had any problems with the temperature at stop lights.

What could be causing this to occur?

My bike did not come with an owners manual so there may be a little bit of riding ignorance on my part. The fan came on while I was off the bike opening the garage door, so when I got back on the bike I just turned it off and backed it in.

Was I wrong in doing this? Should I leave the engine on until the fan finishes cooling the bike down?

Thanks

[Mr Lefty]

your fan should continue to run after the bike is off if the motor is too hot. It could be that your coolant was filled too much to begin with. when you came home how long was it running? was your last stretch of road before your house a hard riding one? next time try shutting the bike down then backing it in... no need to let it idle and build up more heat. (and your just pump'n CO2 into your garage)

check your coolant level... make sure it's still full... check the overflow bottle make sure it's not full of coolant... (mines usually empty until the bike warms up)

Did you see the bike boil it on to the floor? if so did you check to see what the temp said? if you just turn your key to on the temp should still come up. I doubt it... but if your boiling over and your temp still says 180 you could have bigger problems... but like I said... I seriously doubt it.

[Quick281]

The fan will stay on if I have the ignition on when the engine is not running. Although I was wondering why it didn't say on after I turned it off.

The last stretch of road is mostly my neighborhood, so its very slow speed. The fan kicked on at 220, which is when I turned the bike off. I suppose that this is more or less my error, but without a owner's manual its hard for me to know if there is a proper procedure.

Think I might wonder out into the garage and investigate.

[WARputer]

It would helpful if you could find where it came out at. Too many possibilities ...over-filled, loose hose clamp , overflow bottle cracked ....list goes on & on.

[Mr Lefty]

I mean before your neighborhood... (obviously I don't imagine your riding mach 1 through there)

sounds odd about your fan... if your ignition is off but the bike is that hot the fan should continue to run... (at least it does on my bike and every car I've ever owned)

I'd look into that. if your fan isn't running after your bikes off... that's your issue... and potentially a big one... Heat soak is on joke... just becaue the motor is off doesn't mean the bike isn't still heating up... after a good high speed run if you stop you bike and let it sit with the motor off the heat will continue to rise for a couple minutes... same in cars.

[WARputer]

I mean before your neighborhood... (obviously I don't imagine your riding mach 1 through there)

sounds odd about your fan... if your ignition is off but the bike is that hot the fan should continue to run... (at least it does on my bike and every car I've ever owned)

I'd look into that. if your fan isn't running after your bikes off... that's your issue... and potentially a big one... Heat soak is on joke... just becaue the motor is off doesn't mean the bike isn't still heating up... after a good high speed run if you stop you bike and let it sit with the motor off the heat will continue to rise for a couple minutes... same in cars.

Ebbs ...both my Suzukis, the fan shuts off when you kill the ignition ....I guess it depends on the bike.

[Mr Lefty]

really... huh... that's odd to me...


well then I'd say invest in a battery tender and when you get home... let your bike sit with ignition on till the fan shuts off itself (indicating the bike is cool enough)

[6doublefive321]

I mean before your neighborhood... (obviously I don't imagine your riding mach 1 through there)

sounds odd about your fan... if your ignition is off but the bike is that hot the fan should continue to run... (at least it does on my bike and every car I've ever owned)

I'd look into that. if your fan isn't running after your bikes off... that's your issue... and potentially a big one... Heat soak is on joke... just becaue the motor is off doesn't mean the bike isn't still heating up... after a good high speed run if you stop you bike and let it sit with the motor off the heat will continue to rise for a couple minutes... same in cars.

Weeeeeeeell, technically, the heat will not rise after the engine is off, but the coolant temperature will rise as it absorbs the energy from the metal, which can cause a boil over. The purpose of the catch tank is to prevent spillage in the exact case described. A spill over could occur if the engine was extremely hot (doesn't sound like this was the case), or if there was too much coolant in the system (don't know if this was the case). I would look for leaks, check the level in the overflow tank, and go from there. I doubt you have a serious issue, but better safe than sorry.

[Mr Lefty]

well in HIS case heat will rise because air is no longer moving over the motor and cooling it... once the air stops... so does most of the heat dissipation. granted no extra heat is being produced... it's just not being dissipated

[Quick281]

Thanks for everyone's replies, I think I can help clear up some of the uncertainty here. It is good to know that the fan shutting off it normal.

I had been on the road into town going about 60 mph most of the way. From there is was about 1/2 of a mile to my house where the speeds were bellow 30 the rest of the way. Because it was wet I was very gentle to the throttle and the engine didn't see over 6k rpm.

I am 99% sure the coolant boiled over from the reservoir through the line that runs down to the ground from the tank. I am also sure that the coolant reservoir was not full because I noticed that it was at about half 1 week ago when I was putting the fairings on it.

On a different note, if I did set up a timing system which allowed the bike fan to run when the engine was off, would it help much?

Obviously the fan would cool down the coolant in the radiator, but with the engine off I would assume coolant would stop flowing and therefore the fan is only cooling down the radiator versus the engine. Or would the minimal air being blown on the motor combined with the cooling radiator make a difference?

[6doublefive321]

well in HIS case heat will rise because air is no longer moving over the motor and cooling it... once the air stops... so does most of the heat dissipation. granted no extra heat is being produced... it's just not being dissipated

Agreed. I guess I'm feeling extra anal retentive tonight. God I'm bored.

[WARputer]

On a different note, if I did set up a timing system which allowed the bike fan to run when the engine was off, would it help much?

Obviously the fan would cool down the coolant in the radiator, but with the engine off I would assume coolant would stop flowing and therefore the fan is only cooling down the radiator versus the engine. Or would the minimal air being blown on the motor combined with the cooling radiator make a difference?

So it was just run off from the bottle overflow. I guess running the fan with the engine off might help but it's not the best for your battery. Next time you service the bike you could try "EngineIce" .....it runs alot cooler .

[Quick281]

I was just thinking about ordering some. If the bike is pulling this crap now, I don't want to know what it will do when it gets Georgia HOT with 100% humidity.

Can I order it as a straight up mix?

[WARputer]

I was just thinking about ordering some. If the bike is pulling this crap now, I don't want to know what it will do when it gets Georgia HOT with 100% humidity.

Can I order it as a straight up mix?


Yes....no need to mix with anything. It's ready to go as is.

[Quick281]

Yes....no need to mix with anything. It's ready to go as is.

Excellent! I am about to 4k miles, and I hope to give my bike a good full service to get familiar with it before riding season really gets under way.

[Cutty72]

My SV the fan will not run after the key is turned off
On the 1125, it will... for a long time.
The fans also come early and often. haven't seen over 180 on it yet.

[Quick281]

Put a bit of water in the resevoir today and let it idle through a couple fan cycles, no issues. Hopefully the sun with be out tomorrow and I can put some traffic wear on it.

Should order my engine ice so the non distilled water wont be in there long. :panic:

[marko138]

My SV the fan will not run after the key is turned off
On the 1125, it will... for a long time.
The fans also come early and often. haven't seen over 180 on it yet.
A trend that started with the Sporty-based engines. Overheating rear cylinder jones.

[z06boy]

Glad you hopefully have it figured out.:dthumb:

The only time this happend to me was with a 93 ZX-11 that I had just had an aftermarket exhaust (full system) and a jet kit installed. Trailered it to Daytona for bikeweek...rolled it off the trailer...rode into town...got caught in traffic...hot as all get out in Daytona and yep...coolent started bubbling out.:zowned:

What my issue turned out to be is that my aftermarket header was bigger and was too close to my "plastic" fan:panic: and yep...the fan blades melted. :hss:

The rest of the weekend was ok as long as I kept moving and kept the air circulating...no more downtown riding.:idk:

Got home...swithed to an aluminum fan and no more issues. :rockwoot:

Live and learn.:dthumb:

[6doublefive321]

Another tip: when using water to top off or mix coolant, always try to use distilled water. Calcium and other minerals in regular tap water will come out at high temperatures over time, and coat the inside of the radiator, thus lowering the cooling effectiveness of the system. The same thing happens to water heaters in homes. Granted, the problem will only happen over a long period of time, but it does happen.

[Quick281]

Another tip: when using water to top off or mix coolant, always try to use distilled water. Calcium and other minerals in regular tap water will come out at high temperatures over time, and coat the inside of the radiator, thus lowering the cooling effectiveness of the system. The same thing happens to water heaters in homes. Granted, the problem will only happen over a long period of time, but it does happen.

Thanks, I knew that from my automotive experience. I used tap water, but I figured it was only going to be in there for a couple days at most and probably wouldn't cause much harm. :dthumb:

Have been driving around in traffic today and it is a bit cooler, however the temp seems to be behaving. I will be keeping on eye on it for sure though until we get through a summers day of traffic.

[Cutty72]

A trend that started with the Sporty-based engines. Overheating rear cylinder jones.

I can see that.
but the sporty is air cooled.

[Quick281]

Well bad news, she did it again while cruising around town last night.

I decided to pull over in a parking lot and address my beeping cell phone. While replying to a text I figured I would leave the bike on to test the over heating issue.

Slowly go up to about 226, and the outside temp is maybe 70? It was a cool evening. Bike was definitely not being run hard, but I was going from stop light to stop light around town.

The bike started boiling out around that temp and I figured I would let it keep going to see what it would do and if it was only a minor issue. The temp continued on up to 230 where is was definitely not going back down with the fan on at full speed.

I figured this was getting good and decided to get the bike rolling and within seconds of cruising in 1st gear the temp came soaring down.


Gonna pull the fairing off today and address the issue. Maybe T stat or something that might have been damaged when it was layed down on its right side? Might even have an air bubble or two, will try to bleed it today.

Ideas, thoughts?

[Cutty72]

is there a bunch of shit on your radiator so the fan can't suck air through it?

[pickle.of.doom]

Don't forget that there is usually 2 lines on an overflow... one for when its cold, one for when its hot. If its up to the hot line when its cold, boiling over is going to happen.

[Quick281]

is there a bunch of shit on your radiator so the fan can't suck air through it?

Nopes :(

Don't forget that there is usually 2 lines on an overflow... one for when its cold, one for when its hot. If its up to the hot line when its cold, boiling over is going to happen.

When it boiled over last night it emptied the entire reservoir. If it doesn't rain this weekend I am going to spend some serious time overlooking the entire cooling system.

[papapoi]

Check the Radiator Hose might need to reseat it slide it foward on the radiator and re tighten down i had it happen with my SV. Just looseened it enough to slide it foward on not pour out then re tightened it and whalla it was fixed unlless that is not wear leak is its late and im tired lol.

[Gas Man]

Did you say the fan was working? should come on around 210-218

with the bike cool, remove the rad cap, start it... watch the temp. Around 160-180 degrees the thermostat should open... then with throttle applied you should see movement in the rad thru the cap opening.

if not, then you must determin if its the t-stat or water pump that has went out.

[Quick281]

Did you say the fan was working? should come on around 210-218

with the bike cool, remove the rad cap, start it... watch the temp. Around 160-180 degrees the thermostat should open... then with throttle applied you should see movement in the rad thru the cap opening.

if not, then you must determin if its the t-stat or water pump that has went out.

I will try that tomorrow. I haven't been able to address the issue yet, but I have my morning planned for the bike. Going to change the oil and spend some quality time with the coolant issue.

[Gas Man]

my best advice...

work on one issue at a time.

Otherwise its hard to figure out what is going on and what is wrong or what you THINK fixed it.

[6doublefive321]

Work on the simple things first, like the radiator cap. If you have a bad cap that doesn't hold pressure, the coolant will boil at a lower temperature.

[Quick281]

I have been to busy to update all of my threads, but this seems to be a case closed. After flushing the coolant system before putting in the Engine Ice, I did a very thorough examination of the cooling system.

As logic should have told me, the right side of the radiator has suffered minimal damage in the previous owner's crash. One of the tabs on the radiator inlet was bent just enough so that the cap could not sit flush. After pulling it back out and putting Engine Ice in everything has been just fine.

Yesterday I pulled over for gas and when I turn the ignition back on I was shocked to see the temp at 228. I turned the bike on to get the coolant flowing again and the temp plummeted back to 210 in less then a minute with some help from the fan. No boiling out or anything. :dthumb::rockwoot::twfix:


Picture of the convicted culprit, after being pulled back out a bit with a flat head.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/pootiestang/Bike/Maintenance/Bike027.jpg
Case closed.

[marko138]

Nice job.

[Quick281]

Nice job.

Thanks, put her through mid day traffic today and she didn't drip out anything. I will double check the coolant level before tomorrows ride just to make sure I didn't miss it.

Seems to be solved though.

[Mr Lefty]

SWEET! love simple fixes like that!

[Gas Man]

It is normal for the temp to rise after you turn off the bike. no more water flow = more temp

[Quick281]

It is normal for the temp to rise after you turn off the bike. no more water flow = more temp

I did know that at the time, but in the past the bike didn't cool itself down at all. I could have worded it better but I was just trying to emphasize how quickly the temp came back down when turned on versus old times. :dthumb: