ilanr1 Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 Hi , today i see a high temperature of the cooling liquid while i was at low speed in town. I let it cool down and when i open the radiator i see that the level of the water inside of it were low. I noticed that the expansion tank is totally full ! , the cooling liquid is not at the high level mark !. The missing level of cooling liquid was there... Why is the vapor coolent didn't went back to the radiator , it should be a vacum there... Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 2and3cylinders Posted October 1, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted October 1, 2021 Your engine is toast, buy a new T9GT! Sorry. Did you let it cool sufficiently (to under 68F) before removing the radiator cap? If not you broke the vacuum that would have drawn the coolant from the recovery bottle back into the radiator. Or the cap on the recovery bottle was not fully sealed, which is easy enough to dislodge while cleaning the bike, or if hit by debris; and thus vacuum was lost. Was the coolant color normal (blue)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 2and3cylinders Posted October 1, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted October 1, 2021 Siphon the coolant back into the radiator. Be sure the recovery bottle cap is fully seated and has no tears (and all the coolant hoses are not leaking), and run it up to temp until the fan kicks on a couple of times and let it cool back down again. Then check if there still is a problem... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member knyte Posted October 1, 2021 Supporting Member Share Posted October 1, 2021 Yeah, it's normal for the coolant to appear a little low when you open the rad cap of any vehicle...but not by as much as you describe. Hopefully a coolant drain / replace is all you need. What colour is your coolant? Blue, maybe green? Factory is blue-ish, so if you see that, you're definitely due for a drain & replace (every two years or thereabouts). 2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / VStream touring windshield / Seat Concepts: Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilanr1 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) The color is green , no leaks.. i will try to heat it up letting the ventilator operate and then i'll check the level again. Will update soon. Edited October 1, 2021 by ilanr1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteinpa Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 I think your radiator cap is defective. It's letting pressure out which goes to the bottle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoAl Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Had a problem on my BMW where someone (not me) badly filled the engine with water. Took it on a long trip, 1,100 miles out at the end of the 2nd day after riding it hot it pulled out 1/3 cup of coolant on the ground. Checked coolant reservoir tank, it was full. 4,000 miles later as I'm sitting at a traffic light 2 miles from home, just as the light turns green I look down to see OVERHEAT! and warning triangles lit up! Could pull over immediately so carefully proceeded and was going to coast to spot to pull over but coolant temperature came down! Turns out big air gap in top of radiator so much so the cooling fan could not pull air across a large enough area of coolant to cool it but airflow at 25mph would. That particular engine was difficult to fill and needed to be vacuum filled. IMO what happened was an air pocket at the top of the radiator such that water would boil to steam and create enough pressure to vent out of the reservoir but coolant could not be pulled into the radiator because air/steam will no hold enough of a vacuum when cooled. IMO think you had an air pocket at the top of your radiator which kept it from pulling coolant from reservoir into the radiator. Where did the air pocket come from is the question. Maybe an improper fill or a leak somewhere. When filling a radiator I like to have it totally full, maybe even a tiny bit overfull so that when the cap is put on there is no air gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilanr1 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 (edited) I replaced the radiator cap and I'm still checking the issue. In the cap there is a spring and in the middle there is a small hole for the vacuum to function... It looks like cap is the fault , will update again in a couple of days... So , i'll say that it looks that peteinpa was right ! Edited October 3, 2021 by ilanr1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 2and3cylinders Posted October 3, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted October 3, 2021 How old was the radiator cap? If it is the culprit I'll be surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilanr1 Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 (edited) Update : the level of the water is still not 100% , if I fill the radiator to the top of it , after a ride with the fan have been actuated one or two times and letting it cool down I can see a gap of missing water in the radiator like 50cc -70cc of liquid is missing there. The missing water are in the expansion tank...normal color. I assume that maybe the radiator is clogged. It's tracer 900 2015 , 6 years... How many years a radiator can last with good liquid cooling , no tap water ... ?. Yesterday I have done a couple of internal and external washes to the radiator pulling it out. But up till now the situation is the same. How can I be 100% sure that the radiator is not clogged ?. Please confirm that the level of the cooling liquid on your bike is staying at the tipi top after this kind of ride that I did. Thanks Edited October 5, 2021 by ilanr1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 2and3cylinders Posted October 5, 2021 Premium Member Share Posted October 5, 2021 The coolant in the radiator will always be below the outlet hole to the recovery tank. The coolant level in the recovery tank may vary slightly due to ambient barometric pressure and temperature differences, altitude variations, heat soak recovery time that should be overnight, and engine temperature differential from check to check. It us unlikely the radiator or engine coolant passages are clogged if the system has been properly maintained, flushed and refilled. If the radiator cap passes a pressure test, the thermostat may not be functioning correctly and should also be tested. I'd replace the Thermostat and O ring if bothering to remove the existing but test both and keep the old as a spare if it's good. Vacuum draining, flushing and filling is absolutely the best mthod; i.e., using an Uview 550000. https://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airlift-Cooling-Checker/dp/B0002SRH5G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member piotrek Posted October 5, 2021 Supporting Member Share Posted October 5, 2021 17 hours ago, ilanr1 said: Please confirm that the level of the cooling liquid on your bike is staying at the tipi top... I just changed the coolant a couple of weeks ago. About 800km since then, the coolant level remains right near the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilanr1 Posted October 5, 2021 Author Share Posted October 5, 2021 Ok, this is what i got now , i was thinking that this is still a problem... Thanks for sharing this picture ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoAl Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 I agree it is unlikely that you have a clogged or blocked radiator. Things to check are radiator cap, check for leaks in the system, check all lines from reservoir tank to radiator and make sure they are good. Is the coolant that is lost being pushed into the reservoir and not pulled back into the radiator when the bike cools? If so the reservoir tank level will increase (before vs after both when cold). Always the remote question of a head gasket - improbable but not impossible. Also I think there is a seal (O-ring) on the water pump shaft - I may be confusing my Kawasaki here but I'm sure many will gleefully correct me if I'm wrong. All places where coolant can escape and if a leak then may not have a strong enough vacuum to pull coolant from reservoir. Just some thoughts - hoping it is something simple. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRFan250 Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Normal operation...when the coolant/bike cools down, coolant will be drawn back into the radiator from the overflow bottle. If the bike is not overheating you are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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