Coolant boiling normal?

[Pplater]

Heard this boiling sound after riding out earlier. After reaching home, same boiling sound from the right side, probabaly from coolant reservoir/radiator, like boiling water in kettle that kind of distinctive sound. Is this normal? Last coolant flush was at K&T in June. Did about 11 or 12k milege since then. Topped up a bit of water once and another time a bit of Maxima Cool Aid.

 

Lastly, flush coolant is see how long ago was last flush or by milege or by feel when its too hot then flush? Some people tell me one year one time, some say twice.

[LordDevil]

Heard this boiling sound after riding out earlier. After reaching home, same boiling sound from the right side, probabaly from coolant reservoir/radiator, like boiling water in kettle that kind of distinctive sound. Is this normal? Last coolant flush was at K&T in June. Did about 11 or 12k milege since then. Topped up a bit of water once and another time a bit of Maxima Cool Aid.

 

Lastly, flush coolant is see how long ago was last flush or by milege or by feel when its too hot then flush? Some people tell me one year one time, some say twice.

any coolant leak out from the tube? once a yr will do.

[Pplater]

Didn't observe anu leakage. Everytime i move off from bike lot always see the floor for any leaks. Last week change KNN air filter n Denso spark plugs at KNT, checked the coolant level, normal. My friend say could be coolant stuck in engine. True?

 

Could the air filter change and new plugs cause increase in operating temperature?

[bikeyroo]

Flushing your cooling system, best is to do it yourself. Most bike shops only let go the dirty coolant water out and maybe pour in water and let the water go out again. To me, this is not flushing the system.

 

Actual flushing involves: 1. Do the above and then... 2. Add in water and vinegar or use a commercial cleaner. Run the engine for about 15 mins. Then let go the dirty water again. This 2nd step will clean up all the sticky stuff in the radiator tiny passage ways, clean up your water pump propellor, clean up the thermostat swee swee, and clean/scapes away all the dirty gooey stuff in all the passage ways. You will be surprised when you see the dirty water flows out! 3. Finally pour in clean water again and again until clean water flows out. When you are satisfied, then add in new coolant and water. That's it.

[bikeyroo]

You have to see where the boiling sound comes from. If boiling water is flowing back into the reserve tank, most probably the culprit is the radiator cap.

Other faults may be due to faulty fan, stuck passage ways, leakage not found by you, faulty thermostat.

Using any kind of plugs or K & N filter does not add more heat to your system.

[LordDevil]

Didn't observe anu leakage. Everytime i move off from bike lot always see the floor for any leaks. Last week change KNN air filter n Denso spark plugs at KNT, checked the coolant level, normal. My friend say could be coolant stuck in engine. True?

 

Could the air filter change and new plugs cause increase in operating temperature?

check when u stop at red light. maybe is ur coolant pump or radiator. new air filter and plugs wouldnt increase the temp.

[eddie23]

better go for a check .maybe its water pump problem or maybe your piping choke.

[s4vtec]

replace ur radiator cap.

I had the same problem last month.

 

rubber seal on the cap is wornout hence causing pressures leakage resulting in

boiling coolant flowing into the reservoir.

[s4vtec]

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155725

 

Pplater, refer to the above thread for more info.

[Pplater]

http://www.singaporebikes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155725

 

Pplater, refer to the above thread for more info.

 

Thanks for the link. I went to Loois' Motor today. They flush for me and top up with engine ice. Engine ice $36, Labour cost $20. total $56. Compared to the $30 i paid KNT in June, it costs more, but I'm not quite satisfied with KNT service. I remember they flush 2 or 3 times only. Loois flush until 5 times, and they took out the coolant reservoir tank to clean, and also took out the tube that connects the reservior tank to the radiator to clean. However, this does not explain why in one week so much coolant boiled off. I suspect the problem is not solved. Considering last week when i change spark plug and air filter at KNT and checked my coolant level to be normal, how come suddenly in one week boil until reservoir dry leh? Loois' mech check my fan, thermostat and water pump all ok. No leaks also. Read thru the thread you linked above, i suppose left last possibility is my radiator cap spoiled? But then Loois never change my radiator cap leh. And it was only in June that KNT change radiator cap for me when i flush there. Monitoring the coolant level for the next few days, and tmr i'll go my regular mech to change radiator cap to be on the safe side. If the radiator cap from KNT is faulty, maybe its just my luck i got a bad batch or a faulty one, cause it doesn't make sense one radiator cap last 3 months or 12000km. It should last longer than that.

 

Agree with Bikeyroo that DIY can do a better job. Ownself clean of course cleanest. I was just wondering how to feed fuel into the engine like those IV drip kinda thing the bike shops use. Unless... rev until dry then fix fuel tank back and then repeat? Thought of using coke bottle and DIY a tube.

[SMR]

Thanks for the link. I went to Loois' Motor today. They flush for me and top up with engine ice. Engine ice $36, Labour cost $20. total $56. Compared to the $30 i paid KNT in June, it costs more, but I'm not quite satisfied with KNT service. I remember they flush 2 or 3 times only. Loois flush until 5 times, and they took out the coolant reservoir tank to clean, and also took out the tube that connects the reservior tank to the radiator to clean. However, this does not explain why in one week so much coolant boiled off. I suspect the problem is not solved. Considering last week when i change spark plug and air filter at KNT and checked my coolant level to be normal, how come suddenly in one week boil until reservoir dry leh? Loois' mech check my fan, thermostat and water pump all ok. No leaks also. Read thru the thread you linked above, i suppose left last possibility is my radiator cap spoiled? But then Loois never change my radiator cap leh. And it was only in June that KNT change radiator cap for me when i flush there. Monitoring the coolant level for the next few days, and tmr i'll go my regular mech to change radiator cap to be on the safe side. If the radiator cap from KNT is faulty, maybe its just my luck i got a bad batch or a faulty one, cause it doesn't make sense one radiator cap last 3 months or 12000km. It should last longer than that.

 

Agree with Bikeyroo that DIY can do a better job. Ownself clean of course cleanest. I was just wondering how to feed fuel into the engine like those IV drip kinda thing the bike shops use. Unless... rev until dry then fix fuel tank back and then repeat? Thought of using coke bottle and DIY a tube.

 

After reading through your post, I can think of some possibilities. But there could be more...

1) Either Radiator cap was not secured tightly or it's faulthy.

2) Mechanic did not top up coolant to the appropriate amount which should be around 2 litres. Topping up of coolant actually needs many cycles of bike reving and slow topping up. Initially you see in the reservoir container that coolant is actually sufficient, but after some rides the coolant from the reservoir container will eventually be sucked to the whole cooling system which is why it is dry now. What you need to do now is just top up more coolant and monitor the level daily.

 

If you want to feed fuel to your carburettor, what you can do is improvise a small 1 litre container with a string. Top the container with fuel, hang it across your handle bar and connect the fuel line from the carburettor to the container. Or you can get from petrol kiosk those metal container specially to contain petrol.

[MikeS4M]

besides all explanation given

one more possiblities is your thermostat faulty..

(RUSTED thermorstat which is stucked and cannot work)

if u have this problem your coolent wun be running in cycle and get choked thus making it Hot and boiling.

 

if u monitor your resevoir and if it gets empty everytime u may wanna try this..change thermostat includes labour standard price $40 - $60 more then this Kena KETok liao

 

gd luck

[Pplater]

Met up with some rider friends earlier. One old bird told me the thermostat is not needed in local riding. Its more for european countries, as it is very cold there in the morning and when starting bike, the thermostat restricts the flow of coolant, allowing the bike to warm up faster. However, when hot, it opens up more to allow more flow. In Asia its really not necessary. Rather it becomes a handicap because even when fully open, thermostat itself acts as a restrictor by taking up space. Its fatter than your thumb. So my friend threw away his thermostat. I just did the same.

 

Another one of my friend is a mech, so went to his shop to take out thermostat. The area behind the thermostat actually got a lot of sludge despite flushing at Loois earlier today. The whole black holder where you insert the radiator cap has to be unscrewed out. There's 3 nuts. Filed and scraped out everything, and noticed my friend using this silicon gum to seal all the things he put back, including the radiator cap. Supposed to prevent leakage. The radiator cap turned out to be fine. Now i have "tong" coolant flow

 

Conclusion, i think its all the build up of sludge restricting the flow of coolant.A learning point to share with S4 riders is, consider throwing away your thermostat. It serves no purpose in S'pore and only adds unecessary heat.

hee.. my friend charge 10 bucks nia. top up coolant for me somemore. I know earlier this morning dun go Loois double job liao.

 

Thanks all for advice. Hopefully problem solved.

[MikeS4M]

my waterpump jam n cause leakage cause my thermostat is faulty..after i change thermostat the coolant flow as normal and i have no problem in over heating now with my fan in working condition..so must i throw my thermostat?

[MikeS4M]

general riding in singapore but how about going touring long hours of non stop riding at highspeed? will it effect anything? if good i also wanna tong my coolant system hehe

[Winners]

I agree that the thermostat is redundant in our climate. My last SUZUKI RG150, which was made in Thailand, already had its thermostat removed from factory.

 

However, from my experience with car thermostat, it's not just to remove the thermostat alone will do. Some modifications are needed.

 

At the thermostat housing, there should be 1 input (from water pump) and 2 outputs (1 to engine block and another to radiator). From the water pump, the coolant goes to the input. During cold engine condition, the thermostat will close the output going to the engine block, so that all coolant from the water pump will return back to the radiator. Otherwise, the water pump will spoil due to excessive pressure build-up. This will also assist the engine to achieve its optimum operating temperature faster. Otherwise, running an engine below its optimum operating temperature for long periods is also bad for the engine because there will be excessive carbon build-up due to incomplete combustion.

 

Once the coolant temperature is above 80C or more, the thermostat will slowly "shift" and close the output to the radiator and at the same time, open the other output to the engine block. Upon reaching the optimum engine temperature, the thermostat will fully close the output to the radiator so that all the coolant from the water pump will flow directly to the engine block and then back to the radiator.

 

Therefore, when removing the thermostat, provisions must be made to permanently block the output going to the radiator. Otherwise, only half the amount of coolant will flow to the engine block whilst the other half will flow back to the radiator at all times. At the worst situation, it will also lead to engine overheating because not enough coolant is flowing through the engine block.

 

The above are my experience with a car thermostat. I don't really know if the Super 4's thermostat is working in a similar principle because I've yet to dismantle it.

[alphakim]

I just change my radiator cap for $8. Now no more boiling problem

[s4vtec]

I just change my radiator cap for $8. Now no more boiling problem

 

its jus a pressure leakage thingy...

[Pplater]

So far in local commuting it has been ok. I think the s4 radiator may work the same way as car, there was this output to the radiator. Erm... My coolant level is normal. This weekend I'm riding up Fraser Hill, Genting and kota Tinggi. Some cold temperature riding. So I'll see how it goes and if anything goes wrong... I'll surely come back kpkb.

 

If your coolant isn't boiling, dun fix what isn't broken la.. Haha...

[Winners]

I agree that removing the thermostat is a practical option in our climate. I'm more concern of overheating rather than insufficient operating temperature, especially if it's a 4-cylinder engine. The only possibility of the engine running under-temperature is when there is very heavy rain, whereby the high volume of rain water is constantly splashing on the radiator and engine block, thereby over cooling them.

 

I would also like to remove my thermostat if the mechanic can assure me that it is removed with the proper modification as I had mentioned in my earlier post. I was thinking of using those rubber caps/plugs so that the output to the radiator (and also at the opposite end at the radiator) can be "sealed" by plugging them with hose clips. Otherwise, it's definitely not correct and not efficient to have only half the volume of coolant going to the engine block, whilst the other half goes back to the radiator directly. Will check with my mechanic at the next visit, but then, I guess different shops will have different opinions. In the end, I'll only believe myself because I'm mechanically trained as well. Ha Ha.

 

By the way, does anybody knows where to install a temperature gauge for an S4? Bloody HONDA, I don't know why this is not a standard item. Even this also they want to save money on. On the contrary, even my 11-year old ex-SUZUKI RG150 came fitted as standard.

[biting_point]

There's quite a few aftermarket Temp gauges for Super4 like auto gauge, etc..

 

There are three types of different temperature you may want to monitor.. Namely:

 

1) Atmospheric temperature

2) Coolant temperature

3) Engine temperature

[LaVsy]

but where the sensor is place at?

[smiley73]

the thermostat thingy yeah... the K&T mech oso told me useless in sg ask me to remove ..... few month back

[s4vtec]

anyone with supporting pics...

[Pplater]

No issues with removed thermostat in Genting and Fraser Hills. Starts normally in the morning pretty quick. No extra modifications needed. Was cruising average 150 and whacking on some stretches in hot sun and at night, no issues with temperature. Some trunk road was riding in heavy rain for hours. Some stretches on highway in rain. No issues as well. My conclusion is it can be removed in ALL operating conditions in Singapore and Malaysia without any further mods.