how to fill the radiator properly
- Thread starter wumember
- Start date
When I fill the radiator, I usually pour it in till it comes to the top. Then I'll start the motor and let it idle. Then continue pouring coolant in untill the level is at the top. After that, I'll fill the overflow tank. If I have time, I'll go for a quick ride, then top off the coolant again..if needed.
- Jan 8, 2000
- 3,331
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Don't forget to bleed the air out of the system. There is an air bleed on top of the cylinder. Open it until coolant comes out.
cweingartz
Member
- Jun 6, 2000
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You should never open the radiator unless it is cool but it is fine to start the bike with it open as it will not build pressure and therefore won't push coolant out. This is one way to make sure that your waterpump works, you should see the coolant flowing in the radiator.
- Jan 8, 2000
- 3,331
- 1
The bleed valve is a 12mm bolt on the top center of the head.
First of all, What bike do you have?? It makes a BIG difference. IF you have a 220 that's overheating, ANY water in the cooling system will allow it to boil and no amount of witchcraft will make any difference. You must fill it with a coolant [Evans NPG+] that contains absolutely NO water. [Commercial antifreeze contains a large amount of water right out of the bottle]. A motor running with the Evans glycol mix -boiling point 375F- actually runs cooler than the same motor running with water.
toalco-kdx
Member
- May 16, 2002
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With my 220 I mix 50/50 and its never boiled over and ive ridden some pretty slow trails.
i just changed my rad coolant but i never opened the bleed bolt on the head. will the coolant force the air up to the cap by itself? i filled it up while the bike was running and i thought i got it all filled but the coolant was really low today when i rode. i kept putting more in and running the bike and once i would stop the bike the radiator would kind of 'gurgle' then coolant level would drop quite a bit. i did that a few more times and now the level stays the same. do you think that it is still necessary to loosen the bleed bolt?
i just changed my rad coolant but i never opened the bleed bolt on the head. will the coolant force the air up to the cap by itself? i filled it up while the bike was running and i thought i got it all filled but the coolant was really low today when i rode. i kept putting more in and running the bike and once i would stop the bike the radiator would kind of 'gurgle' then coolant level would drop quite a bit. i did that a few more times and now the level stays the same. do you think that it is still necessary to loosen the bleed bolt?
I have a 2002 kdx 200, I use 100% coolent, it has a much higher boiling point than water.I do a lot of slow technical riding in very hot weather and find that with 100% coolent I dont have any overheating problems.Another advantage with using just coolent is that if you is you spring a leak you can smell it straight away.
r.2 stroke
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- Dec 29, 2001
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Ive got a 220r as well,that has gotton pretty hot on occasion,is there any more info about on what works and what dosn't,or specific problems and remedys on this subject?
Yes, BUT --only while it is water. Once it's turned to steam it's useless for cooling as the forming bubbles become insulators -starting a vicious cycle ..................Spend a little time on this website for some technical enlightenment:............. www.evanscooling.com
jaguar
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Don't forget to first use radiator flush to demineralize the metal surfaces. The mineral buildup from using tap water keeps the coolant system from doing its job efficiently.
100% antifreeze absorbs less heat than 100% water and has a higher boiling point. So it allows the piston/cylinder to get hotter while avoiding any loss of coolant due to boil-over.
100% water absorbs more heat but has a lower boiling point. So it keeps the piston/cylinder cooler (and therefore more powerful) but is also prone to boiling under high load conditions.
That's why it's recommended under most conditions to use 50/50 of the two together.
100% antifreeze absorbs less heat than 100% water and has a higher boiling point. So it allows the piston/cylinder to get hotter while avoiding any loss of coolant due to boil-over.
100% water absorbs more heat but has a lower boiling point. So it keeps the piston/cylinder cooler (and therefore more powerful) but is also prone to boiling under high load conditions.
That's why it's recommended under most conditions to use 50/50 of the two together.
- Thread starter
- #19
radiator filling properly
i wasnt able to post on the other thread so here it goes, i have a 125kdx sr 1993, i think the bleeding, screww is on the clutch cover(i think thats what its called) anyway when i unscrew liquid comes out after a while i guess thats the air, ok another thingf, doi i have to put any liquid on the little bottle i the back...???
i wasnt able to post on the other thread so here it goes, i have a 125kdx sr 1993, i think the bleeding, screww is on the clutch cover(i think thats what its called) anyway when i unscrew liquid comes out after a while i guess thats the air, ok another thingf, doi i have to put any liquid on the little bottle i the back...???
- Jan 8, 2000
- 3,331
- 1
Yes, fill it to the top line. It is an overfull bottle but when the system gets low it draws from the bottle as well.
Pure water has more heat carrying capacity than antifreeze (twice the heat transfer capability when compared to 50/50% glycol antifreeze/water mix).
In other words it takes more heat energy to raise a given mass of water one degree F than it does to raise the same mass of antifreeze by the same amount. So yes, at the same pressure, it will boil at a lower temperature than the coolant, but it will take more energy to get to that point - which is why distilled water is more effective than ethylene glycol in keeping an engine from boiling over. Redline has a neat graph on their page that illustrates this by quenching a aluminum bar heated to 304 deg F into a variety of coolants and measuring how fast heat is removed.
One thing I like about Redline - they are not shy about posting technical data on their website:
http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/wwti.htm
In other words it takes more heat energy to raise a given mass of water one degree F than it does to raise the same mass of antifreeze by the same amount. So yes, at the same pressure, it will boil at a lower temperature than the coolant, but it will take more energy to get to that point - which is why distilled water is more effective than ethylene glycol in keeping an engine from boiling over. Redline has a neat graph on their page that illustrates this by quenching a aluminum bar heated to 304 deg F into a variety of coolants and measuring how fast heat is removed.
One thing I like about Redline - they are not shy about posting technical data on their website:
http://www.redlineoil.com/redlineoil/wwti.htm
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toalco-kdx
Member
- May 16, 2002
- 282
- 0
what about mixing different types of coolant? i had to add some more antifreeze but i didnt have the same stuff that i used before with me so i filled it up with another kind. does it matter?
jaguar
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you'd have to read on the labels to see if there was a different percentage of glycol in each.
