over filled coolant.

[AndyBrad]

Ok folks i thourght the coolant was low as i couldnt see anything through that opaque window. So i topped it up and its over filled it. So i pulled the bottom rad hose and let about 200ml of water out but i can still see nothing in the window.

Any ideas if its going to do any damage?

aaaaand how the hell do i check? ive had a torch on it and everything!!


oh and is there a drain plug?

[zadar]

no drain for overflow bottle.
it will not damage anything.

[dizzyblonde]

it won't damage owt, but as I overfilled one of mine not so long ago, it started to overheat the engine for some reason( pressure of coolant with nowhere to go?) So all it did to remind me it was too full, was it had a blue pee over the patio, out of the breather pipe. Think YC drained some out, plus took the cap off the radiator to make sure all the air popped out, whilst running it for a few secs

[embee]

You've drained coolant out of the main circuit, not the "make-up" bottle.

The way it works is that the engine and rad are effectively a closed circuit, with a pressure valve built into the rad cap. This circuit should be completely full of coolant, right up to the cap.

When it heats up the coolant expands and the pressure rises until it gets past the pressure valve in the cap, and then a little extra coolant gets pushed out and down the small hose to the bottom of the bottle. The bottle has coolant in it up to a certain level (little window in the side), which allows enough spare volume to take the expanded coolant from the engine.

When it cools down again the coolant contracts and it sucks coolant from the bottle back though the cap to "make-up" the coolant in the engine circuit.

The idea of this is that it allows the system to de-gas from the rad cap, a normal phenomenon, and always make-up with liquid coolant from the bottom of the bottle.

Fill the system back up at the rad cap, then remove the small hose at the cap housing and lower it down to allow coolant to run from the bottle. Running with the engine circuit not properly filled could be expensive.

[AndyBrad]

how the hell do you get the rad cap off. this one seems solid?

[AndyBrad]

oh and if i run it up will it not just take the extra fluid from the tank to top its self back up?

[embee]

rad cap bayonet fitting, usually just push down and undo anti-clockwise a quarter turn or so, like taking a light bulb out of a socket.

It will make-up to a certain extent, but if there's too much air in the system the pressure won't build up enough to force any gas out of the rad cap valve (it's too compressible, unlike the coolant).
If as you say you've taken 200ml or so out, there's a risk it won't make-up. Defintely top it up.

[zadar]

there is little screw in side of cap,loosen it.after that push down and turn.

[embee]

there is little screw in side of cap,loosen it.after that push down and turn.
Aha! I guess that's on the naked only then, as an anti-tamper measure? It isn't there on the faired version.

[zadar]

yea,round caps have it.

[yorkie_chris]

The fairly fool proof way I use to check the expansion tank level is to remove the hose and point it up. The level of fluid in the hose is the same as the level in the bottle, lower the hose and when it starts to drip then there be the level in the tank.

I don't believe it's critical, so long as there is space there for the expanding coolant to fill, otherwise there'll be leakage, and so long as there is coolant there to refill the rad when it cools down.

When changing the coolant I run it for a few seconds after filling it and top up by the radiator cap to rid the system of air.

[AndyBrad]

The fairly fool proof way I use to check the expansion tank level is to remove the hose and point it up. The level of fluid in the hose is the same as the level in the bottle, lower the hose and when it starts to drip then there be the level in the tank.

I don't believe it's critical, so long as there is space there for the expanding coolant to fill, otherwise there'll be leakage, and so long as there is coolant there to refill the rad when it cools down.

When changing the coolant I run it for a few seconds after filling it and top up by the radiator cap to rid the system of air.


worked brill that, job done

now does anyone know the size of the main seat bolt?

[Dangerous Dave]

now does anyone know the size of the main seat bolt?
Do you mean the bolt that secures the front seat down, its a M8 and requires a 6mm allen key to remove it.

[yorkie_chris]

I thought it was a 6mmhex?

[Dangerous Dave]

I thought it was a 6mmhex?
Corrected, it is.... well done Chris.