Jump to content
CBR1100XX.org Forum

Technical advise sought for mystry Blackbird coolant problem


trailfly

Recommended Posts

Ok,

My 99 Bird starts running hot in around town type riding, maybe 3/4ths up on the temp guage. Overflow gets full, then overflows, then you cool the bike down and it sucks everybit of what is in the overflow back in, leaving the resivor empy, and subsequently also leaving the radiator less than full. I did a full check the routing of hoses, replaced the thermostat, replaced coolant to correct levels, start the bike, and it is circulating coolant. I went out and and it repeated this problem. Note that there is no coolant contamination in the oil, or oil contamination in the coolant. Also that when it is pushing coolant into the overflow resivour it is boiling, steaming.

Any clues?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest rockmeupto125

Liquid doesn't expand exponentially when heated.

Air does. Your system needs burped in a big way.

And I'm moving this to the garage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I'm moving this to the garage.

CONTROL FREAK! :P

I'd start with the radiator cap.

On a side note I'm not wishing this on you, but when my 88 Beretta blew a head gasket it would blow compression into the water jackets, which would blow coolant out the reservoir bottle just as you described.

Also with no cross contamination of oil/coolant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just thought i would say ,,,,,what i had to do was run it with the cap off till it got hot and rev lightly and fill till it stayed toped off. pretty dangerous as it will spit hot antifreeze when you let off. i used a transmission funnel stuck in so it would burp up the funnel and drain back. when it stayed full when i reved it, i shut it off and let it cool down and the level was the same then put the cap on.

i run 100 % antifreeze in the sand hills and over 110 deg. with no boil overs and pc2 run on the lean side.

i can't imagine anybody running in worse conditions.

you will need to do this on the center stand i would think,,,mine was level

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Liquid doesn't expand exponentially when heated.  

Air does.   Your system needs burped in a big way.

BINGO! :D

Definitely has air in the system, IMO.

Pete, an internal leak may push the coolant out, but will not suck the reservoir dry when cooling down. It would be more likely to keep pushing the coolant out, and sucking air in through the leaking gasket. The fact it pushes the coolant out, and sucks it back in proves everything is sealed, including the rad cap.

I'm with Joe on this. Burp the system properly and your problem should be solved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, so how do I "burp the system properly"? Like Truerotor2 says, by getting it hot while the radiator cap is off, and letting it slowly go to boilover,and then cap it?

Do you all think it could still be the new radiator cap that I replaced? What I don't get is all the steam that is emitted from the overflow resivour. I have never seen that before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

trurotor2, I always had the understanding that antifreeze in and of itself was a terrible coolant. Water alone is much better, etheleneglycol (sp) is only to raise the boiling point of water or lower the freezing point.

That is why you use it 50/50.

I could be wrong, been wrong before! :?

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no you are right in every thing you said.

the point is that if i have no overheating under the conditions that i run why is it that so many have problems??????

i was chasing overheating before i burped the system like i was saying. after that ,,,none. even started to lean on the program to get closer to 15 to 1 without losing coolant. no doubt it shows high but you would not believe what the conditions really are as far as heat and drag and lack of air flow through the radiator.

no change other than proper burp of all the air in the system. not sure what the correct way to burp this motor but the cannondale quad i have had to be modified to get an air pocket out of the water pump before it would run cool enough.

the thing about antifreeze and water is if it boils any water turns to steam and will leave air in the pockets of the engine and that is hard to get out.

the other is corrosion on aluminum from water.

i am going to put a real temp guage on the inlet and another on the outlet of the radiator to see what is going on in real numbers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use