kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
I have a question about my cooling system. I recently had my whole engine re-done and got a new cylinder put on my 1993 KDX 250. I got it back together adn broke it in. It seems to be having a problem wiht the coolant comin gout of the over flow hose. The odd thing is everytime i check the level of the coolant(after each ride) it seems to be at the perfect level when cold. I filled the radiator up when it was 10 degrees out and it is now around 50. no idea if that makes a difference. It seems to spew out the most when i stop and shut the engine off. The last time that the coolant come out of the over flow hose the head gasket was bad and was causeing presure to build in the cooling system, but i was losing quite a bit of coolant when that was the case. Just trying to figure out if it is the head gasket or something else....????:whiner:
 

r.2 stroke

~SPONSOR~
Dec 29, 2001
73
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maybe see if the head is tourqed down correctly.
check to see if there is any oil residue floating around in the coolant when you take the radiator cap off(cold!)
Sounds like the coolant system is getting over pressured by a leak in maybe your head gasket
just my thoughts.:think
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
I have no oil in the coolant. I think it might be the head gasket but i don't want to have to pull it off and have that not be it. I just find it odd that i am not losing any coolant. Is this just normal expansion and contraction or is there extra pressure in the cooling system? Is there any way to check this??:think Could it be the head isn't torqued down? I think i will check that tonight to make sure they are in specs.
 

David Trustrum

~SPONSOR~
Jan 25, 2001
1,396
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The head may be warped a little. They sometimes get a hard time from the head stay when the frame flexes on an old bike. Make sure the stay has a bit of slop in the holes. Check the head is flat on a flat surface, perhaps with some engineer’s blue ink to see if it touches all around or if there is an area that is pulled up. This might be why it leaked before.

When it cools after loosing some liquid, it will replace it sucking it in from the reservoir.
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
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no you see on a 250 there is no coolant resivor by the left side panel liek there is on a 200. This is why it is so puzzling to me. The last time it happened i just put in a new gasket and it worked fine. On the bad gasket you could see where the pressure had blown by the gasket into the cooling system. there is plenty of copper coat on the gasket by the looks of it so i highly doubt that it is the head gasket but that is the only reasonable answer i can come up wiht. As for the head stay i don't think that is it cuz the last tiem i checked it, it had plenty of slop. Should i ride it a few more times and just see what happens or bite the bullet and try a new head gasket??:whiner:
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
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Could it be a problem wiht my cap as i am runing a higher pressure one? I just got it like a year ago. Could it be that i didn't get ALL the air out of the system before i put it into operation? I have heard other guys say it goes down and 3/4 of an inch on their's and after that it just stays there. Could this be do to normal expansion and contraction??? GOD i hate cooling systems!!!
 

r.2 stroke

~SPONSOR~
Dec 29, 2001
73
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I kinda think that you have got: a leaking head gasket(head not tourqed down properly,warped head-cheek on a sheet of glass)
:Trapped air in system(bleed it)
:Stripped water pump gear
But my bet would be on the leaking head gasket,and you have to find out why :whiner:
 

r.2 stroke

~SPONSOR~
Dec 29, 2001
73
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ahh,i think i mean't to say "check on a sheet of glass"
you could put your cheek on a sheet of glass,but you'd probably bust the glass.........and your ass!:cool:
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
ok thanks for the help, i think i will take the head off this weekend and look at the gasket to see if it is leaking in the same spot or not. I think i will give my money to MOOSE gaskets as when i did last time, it did not leak. IF it still does it I will have to check the head for warp. Whats this thing about checking it with a piece of glass??? DO you mean you can use it to check for warping? thanks for the help.
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
could this problem be not a problem at all but a mishap while i filled it? I mean I acciduendtly filled up the rads wiht coolant while the bike was sitting on its side stand<hence putting in more coolant than if i woudl have fille dit up while parrallell to the ground like i should have. Could this just be the extra coolant that i accidentally added being pushed out becasue there is no room for it? This could be why it seems to not be low after i ride it. should i ride it a few more times and see if it still dripps coolant out? As i said before i am not losing any coolant in the rads after a ride. I haven't filled them up since my first ride, which is where i made the "mistake" of putting th soolant in while the bike was on it's side stand. I have rode it like 4 times since then and the coolant isn't low but it still seems to be dripping out the tube.right now it looks to be at about the perfect level while the bike is parrallel to the ground. Any ideas if this could be the reason all this is happening?:whiner: :whiner: :mad: :whiner: :whiner:
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
I called up Fredette today and he said the only thing that could cause it come out the overflow tube constantly would be something pressureizing the cooling system more than it should be, I.E. a leaky head gasket. So since our school got canceled today(Ice storm) I took the head off. It looks as though it may have been leaking slightly, which was pressureizing the cooling system. I will put a new Moose gasket in it(it fixed it the last time this happened) and see what happens from there. Hope all works out good.:ugg: :eek: ;) thanks for all the help. How do you check the head for warping? Just take a straight edge and use feller gauges?? :think
 

Durt Cycler

Trial Subscriber
~SPONSOR~
Nov 13, 2001
1,173
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Put the head on a super smooth flat surface such as a glass surface or mirror and see if there is any play from side to side on the head. If there is that means it is warpted, if it doesn't it means it is not the problem.
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
sounds good I think i will try that while i have the head of that way if it is warped i can fix it now instead of doing it later. If is warped how would i get that fixed? Is it fixable? machine shop? thanks for the help. GOD I LOVE DRN!:aj:
 

kevinkdx

Member
Mar 25, 2001
481
0
well i checked the head for "warpage", if that is a word, and it has none so i will try putting a new head gasket in and see what happens. thanks for all your help.
 
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