superhawk996

My '97 never got that high, but different animal in similar clothing. As long as you flushed all the blue devil out, the system is full, being consistent, and it's not boiling or doing other things it's not supposed to it should be fine. I assume the radiator is all aluminum and welded but never checked, if it's a soldered copper rad. I would avoid any 'long life' coolant. If you didn't recheck the level after the first full heat cycle you should now just in case there was any trapped air that burped out and lowered the level. The highest I've seen on my '01 is mid-high 220's on a hot day moving slow or stopped and it takes a fair bit of speed to really get it much cooler. The fan comes on while the temp keeps rising for a bit, it drops a few degrees, fan turns off and temp keeps dropping just a bit then starts to climb again. Adding another fan or a manual control sounds like a good idea, but Honda decided it was good enough and lots of Birds have proven it's good enough. It should be better for it to stay cooler, but it doesn't appear to cause any harm. I'd be afraid to hammer on it hard from a really hight temp even tho it may not be a problem. I don't get on mine 'till it's warmed up over 180 and try not to do it above 220, but plenty of people just ride and pay that no attention with no problems. I thought about adding a speed controlled switch to mine so the fan comes on when the speed drops and before the temp starts to rise, but since it does no harm the idea has stayed 'someday' project. I'm a mechanical guy so I'd probably use a sail switch, but I'm sure there's a simple electronic way to do it. It would also give something to tap into if one wanted self-cancelling turn signals.

What's the new price?

Like ones that have had piercings that went badly, been there. Such a shame cuz they were otherwise really nice. Ever run into inverted nipples? That was interesting. They'd pop out with enough motivation, but were otherwise innies. What they were attached to was good to go so fuck it. A lot I did.

I doubt the flakes could get into the seal. 300k seems reasonable for the seal to be worn out. My Super Hawk's pump started weaping after doing a coolant change using Honda coolant, it had under 10k miles at the time. As I added water to replenish what was being lost it stopped leaking. My guess is that the coolant was too 'slippery' and getting past the seal and diluting it cured the problem. Shouldn't have happened but it did.

I think 97 doesn't have that, might be the only year, and that's the one I was thinking of. You're right about the majority of birds for sure, I forgot they'd changed in later models.

The hose from the thermostat to radiator, the upper, is generally the first to go and in most cases degrades right at the thermostat outlet first, this is a general engine thing not a XX specific thing. Look inside the hose and if it doesn't look chewed up and has no soft spots anywhere it's good. If it looks bad at the outlet but nowhere else and can be trimmed a bit and still fit that'll add a lot of life to it. You don't have to trim the bad part completely off, just enough that the bad part is no longer in the flow. Putting the bad part under the clamp is fine, but if total removal still leaves enough hose then might as well do it.

I'll second the anti seize. Or at least some oil or grease. The torque value will change compared to dry so keep to the low side of the torque spec when you assemble and don't get any lube between the screw head and pump as that'll change things even more.

Water speed absolutely does make a difference, the faster it flows the more it'll cool, it has nothing to do with assumptions. If the coolant is flowing though the radiator really fast it will return to the engine hotter than if it were moving slowly, but it's also moving through the engine really fast which means it can remove more heat more quickly. Too much pressure in the system will not cause an over heat, the more pressure it can hold the higher the boiling point will be and the higher the boiling point the better. It's no different than fan speed; a fan on low will remove xx amount of heat, on high it'll remove more heat. Pump cavitation will slow the flow, and has nothing to do with the missing thermostat and the 'too much' flow theory. The only possible relationship is that a restriction, like a thermostat, can increase the negative pressure at the pump and increase the odds of cavitation. Keeping lots of flow to the pump and minimizing it's negative pressure will decrease the chance of cavitation. If the coolant boils pushing past the cap that's a whole other problem, one that won't be caused by not having a simple thermostat like the one in the bird. There are some systems where the thermostat also controls a by-pass route for the coolant and in those a missing thermostat can cause an overheat because it allows the coolant to recirculate within the engine rather than being forced to go to the radiator. In some engines there's a 'restrictor plate' (I don't recall it's proper name) to handle that function instead of relying on the thermostat and I know first hand that a missing one can cause overheats at high RPM; my Ford 351C being one of those.

No dogs or beer, that's why you ran into trouble. Humidity doesn't matter in this case (I think but Ill let mikesail correct me as I have no formal education on this shit). High humidity makes you feel hotter because you rely on evaporation for cooling, a non-leaking engine cooling system has no evaporation cooling so it's just a heat exchange between the radiator and the air. If done right the coasting technique can be very effective, I've done it several times. The problem is that while coasting there's no coolant flow and if you have to power up hard to regain speed you put a rush of heat into the motor/coolant then stop the flow again when you shut down. At the least the engine is going to experience some amount of thermal shock, but it'll be better than a melt-down.

I've found that Permatex aviation sealer works wonders on hoses. It stays soft so future hose removal is no issue. I use it on marine stuff to keep corrosion issues down and it seems to work well. A cast iron hose nipple and sea water don't play well and leads to leaks and/or severely stuck hoses that sometimes have to be cut off....expensive hoses. I've used it on a few cars & boats where a nipple was already pitted badly and it kept the connection from leaking, handy when replacing one would be $$$.

Cold hose connection leaks are actually pretty common.

Yup, and grease will hold the chips making them harder to blow free. I only use grease when chasing spark plug threads or something else where having them fall free could be a problem.

I had to fix the test connector on my 01. Mine triggered the FI light like most do and it did have fault codes, a bunch of them. It would be natural to be thinking about the Audiovox that was supposedly causing the issue. All I can suggest it to ignore that, other than triple checking anything it was connected to, and start from scratch on diagnosing. When my test connector was going bad it wasn't obvious to me. I wiggled it several times with the engine running and it didn't seem to be the problem. I know you've looked at yours, but check it again. I've read of similar issues stemming from the handlebar kill switch and have read of other bikes having issues caused by a charging system problem.

Or better yet a thread chaser. If the threads are buggered up and you're unsure about them use a stud instead of a bolt to get deeper in where there's good threads. If it's real bad you could try tapping it to 1/4" since it's just a little bigger, if that fails you'll have to go with a helicoil type repair or epoxy a stud in. Getting the bolt out was the critical part, it's downhill from here.

I got curious so I looked at CL. My guess is that the left side has damage since it's the only blurry pic. If not, just letting you know that's what some people will assume and you should take some better photos. If it's never been down you should state that too, it helps.

Yea, like the pics I see in craigslist that I make fun of, other than the lighting and resolution are better than the norm for a CL seller hiding defects. If the bike is nice you should show it off. Two sideways pics taken at different times and showing little of it, I'd assume there was damage being hidden and wouldn't even ring your phone.

FTFY

It can't leak vapor unless there's vapor in it, if it's full this can't happen. If nothing leaked onto it before start-up then you have a leak. I've never seen or heard of a radiator that passed a pressure test but still leaked, until you. It's also not common for these to develop leaks and you now have two 'leaking' radiators....you're unlucky or smokin crack. Keep running it and see if the steam stops after a while, might just be something that got on the radiator. And/or rent a pressure tester from an auto parts store; generally free, you just leave a deposit on it. If you find no leakage and are still in doubt, drain the coolant, pressurize, and spray the area with soapy water. The chances that it passes an air pressure test but leaks fluid in use is so damn slim.

Seems ludicrous. You can ship it to SoCal where it'll enjoy a warm family room 'till the riding weather comes back.

The current concern is valid, but haven't seen it happen. You could attach the ground clamp to the nut and eliminate the potential issue. Torch welding will transfer more heat to the surrounding area, something to consider. So now that you mentioned Samba, I have a bunch of VW stuff to sell so let me know if there's anything you're looking for. I got way into it then got out entirely leaving a ton of stuff in the wake from basic parts to race parts and machining tools.

JEEZUS. Radiator leaked and lead to a boil-over and you don't know why....The radiator leaked, which just happens with age and luck, and caused an overheat...no mystery there. Without testing temperatures you're making guesses based on needle position. If you think the thermostat has been altered or removed simply check the temp of the hot side of the radiator after a cold start. It should stay fairly cool 'till thermostat temp is hit and it'll suddenly heat up. At that point the needle will probably drop a bit or at the least stop rising for a little while. Overheating only at low speed indicates a fan problem, not a thermostat problem. General basic rule of any engine with a liquid to air radiator; low speed overheat is a lack of airflow, overheat at high speed is a lack of fluid flow. There are exceptions of course, but this applies to the vast majority of overheats. If your manually activated fan shuts off while you're feeding power to it it's obviously fucked up and probably the reason it's overheating at low speed. The motor likely wore out due to being overused. If it was a short in your wiring I'm guessing that the smoke & melted wires would have shown where the short is and it would not work again after the first time it shut off. Dismissing the importance of a working pressure cap is dumb with standard coolants or water. Evans coolant works without pressure AFAIKBZITE. As for the straight coolant thing it depends on whether you bought concentrate or "ready to run" coolant, follow the directions. If it's Honda coolant I believe it's ready to run and not supposed to be diluted. I did dilute it for my SuperHawk and it stopped the water pump from leaking and cooled just fine. Automotive coolants are either concentrate and need water, or 50/50 pre-diluted and ready to run. Regardless, having more water than coolant makes it more efficient at transferring heat. A weak coolant concentration can lead to corrosion, freezing, and water pump seal wear, but water cools better than coolant does. It does have a lower boiling temp than coolant, but at mild engine load with a good pressure cap it generally won't be an issue. Lastly, a needle above the mid point does not indicate an overheat. Many vehicles with electric fans will go over the mid point, some to 3/4, before the fan turns on and brings the temp down. "Fixing" an overheat issue by rigging the fan to a manual control is not a fix at all.

Absolutely. Those options are the least likely to lead to a problem. In fact, I think the welding of a nut is less likely to be a problem than drilling unless you have a way of drilling it perfectly. Even if welding failed you can still drill, but not the other way around. Please report once you have success and what it took.

What's the current one doing?

The left hand bits are great for removing screws that sheared in use or sometimes ones that broke from being over tightened, one that broke due to corrosion sticking it is extrememely unlikely to spin it's way out. If it was gonna come out that easily a pair of pliers could pull it out instead of drilling. If you're gonna drill it make sure it's drilled dead center and straight.

Heat or the freeze stuff does about the same thing, you can alternate or try both together, hot on the case cold on the screw. It would take quite a bit of heat to be any problem and since it's a small protruding part a flame right on it will heat it quickly, then the heat will soak into the surrounding area, but you don't need to heat the whole block just that little piece. Getting it super hot could burn the penetrating oil and make it sticky so don't go crazy.