New Dumb Thing.....

[BradValk48237]

Well , I was out in the Garage working on some things including the bike...

Changed the oil and went to Mobil 1 15/50..... have run Dino oil for ever, but I hate the trans mission noise.. It does seem better now.... damn rock crusher........

New plugs as it is running rough,   Yes I know its the carbs, but I have never looked at the plugs and it was $13 bucks for a new set- they were nice n light toasty brown.. now I have some emergency plugs...

I have Techtron in it now... if that don't do it , off come the carbs...... Will see in a few miles once it stops raining for a few days here in good Ol Michigan..

So the Dumb thing was, I was putterin' around the garage with the bike idling-trying to get the techtron thru.... was going over and reving it up and and fan was coming on and going off....

lost track of time and heard the idle go up on the bike.... I was walked over and saw Antifreeze piddling out the bottom...

Shut it down immediately

Its never done this before.. but It was idling for more than 20 min..... Dumb part.....

Temp on the TelTru Oil Dipstick temp gauge was about 230ish....

So the question is... should the Anti freeze bubble over at that temp?????????

I know I didn't hurt anything, just wondering if I should flush and refill with fresh antifreeze as I have never done it and for all I know it might be the original from the factory....

Brad

[Ricky-D]

Yeah, I'd suggest to go ahead and change it!

***

[F6MoRider]

While you were messing with her, did you just by chance kink the overflow line?  If so, as the coolant warmed and expanded, it needed somewhere to go.  

If you haven't changed it, now just might be a good time.  I tested mine yearly after year five and just last year changed it.  11 years, same coolant, never a heat problem.  Get one of the coolant testers and check it while new coolant and mark the values on the tester.  Then check it every year until the results change from how it reads after putting in new coolant.

I would first check and find the source of the leak...hate to fill her up and have the leak pour your new coolant all over the floor or have her overheat on the road.  Those engines get hot and coolant is, IMHO, the only thing more important than brakes.

[BradValk48237]

Coolant came out of the overflow tube... might have been overfilled... not sure.......

B

[Robert]

Did the fan come on? Summers coming better check it out now.

[Denny47]

Antifreeze piddled out where? The small overflow hose should go from the radiator, across behind the radiator and back to the overflow tank. Unless your hose is busted and leaking, the overflow should just go to the tank behind the left side panel. Should not be any leak in it between the radiator and the tank. Maybe a split/leaking hose.

[F6MoRider]

Antifreeze piddled out where? The small overflow hose should go from the radiator, across behind the radiator and back to the overflow tank. Unless your hose is busted and leaking, the overflow should just go to the tank behind the left side panel. Should not be any leak in it between the radiator and the tank. Maybe a split/leaking hose.

+1  if it came out of the overflow tube, it was likely simple expansion.  But it begs the question, why didn't it go into the overflow tank.  Hose Disconnected?  Cracked?  Kinked?

If it was leaned to the left on the stand, the radiator may have had an air bubble on the upper right side which also expanded as the air heated.  When high operating temp was reached, as you said the fan cycled a few times, the thermostat opened and out came the hot liquid.  With nowhere to go, the high pressure pushed it into the overflow tube and unless the tube was damaged or not connected, it should have run into the coolant tank.  If it did and the tank is what overflowed, I'd level the bike and top off the radiator then run it up to  temp and see what she does.

[BradValk48237]

It did go into the overflow tank and then out of the overflow tank thru the overflow tube on the tank that opens out at the bottom of the bike.......

Once the Fluid cooled it was at the low level line on the overflow tank.....

I think it was over full to begin with, but the hot fluid did expand...... and "piddle"

B

[F6MoRider]

Sounds like it's working as designed.   I'd still get her level and run her up to open that thermostat and see if there is air in the radiator.  Unless you overfilled it, someone else did and it should have overflowed sooner unless it was a recent maintenance that overfilled it.

[BradValk48237]

Know what....

I have maybe only looked at it a couple of times in the last couple of years just to make sure there was something in there....

Have had Goldwing motor of some kind for the last 20 years and never had any issues...... Bad habit to not check it more than once a year..... think I changed it once on my old wing.....

I was revving it up and then letting it sit idling for a long while in the garage with the door open...

Ran fine today at idle for 10 min... I just abused it yesterday.... hence the title..

Dumb Thing...LOL

I will be flushing it out this week..

Any recommendations on new fluid???? I know non silicate.... but probably use good ol' Prestone... mixed 50/50....

Brad


 

[.]

Sounds like it's working as designed.   I'd still get her level and run her up to open that thermostat and see if there is air in the radiator.  Unless you overfilled it, someone else did and it should have overflowed sooner unless it was a recent maintenance that overfilled it.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread but I would like to toss in a couple of stupid questions that became relevant with this posting. How do you tell if there is air in the radiator and if there is, how do you get it out?

I'd rather feel stupid now than sitting at the side of the road needing a new engine to replace the old, overheated, burned up one. 

[F6MoRider]

Easiest way I know is to level the bike, open the radiator cap, fill it with the correct mixture along with the coolant reservior and then run it up to thermostat open temp with the caps off, once you see steam you know the thermostat is open and fluid is moving in and out of the engine-careful, it is hot like a meech.  If the level goes down, add coolant mixture.  Then put the caps on.  If it starts to overflow, put the caps on real fast.  LOL.  Should be good to go.  Check the reservior on your next ride and correct the level if needed.  Others may do it differently, this works for me.

[Brian]

Air in the radiator is no problem. When changing anti-freeze in any vehicle I only add fluid till it just comes up to the top row. I never top it off completely as you need space in there for it to expand. Start the engine and watch fluid level thru the fill hole, it will start to drop as the fluid starts to fill the engine cavities and moves the air around. As your engine heats up the thermostat will open allowing fluid to start flowing thru the upper hose and back into the radiator. This will bleed the air from the motor. Add fluid to the radiator if needed to just under the fill hole and replace the radiator cap.
The shop manual states that a total fluid change will require 3.9 quarts for the engine and radiator. 

As a side note here, I always left air space in the radiator till one time when I filled it all the way like I just mentioned here. I too had anti-freeze on the garage floor coming from the overflow bottle hose at the bottom of the bottle. The bottle level was just fine but the hose had fluid and pressure on it. Further investigation revealed the bottle hose connection was not open, it came from the factory this way. I drilled it out, no more issues.

[O-B-1]

Friend of mine said he had to have the overflow line fixed. It chafed through in the spot where it went between the frame and top of the radiator Look there.

[BradValk48237]

No leak that isnt supposed to be there...

The fluid just came out of the overflow hose that open at the bottom of the bike from the overflow tank as it expanded from the heat.......

Just as its supposed to ......

Bard

[Rio Wil]

So, how full is the overflow tank....it should be only about 1/3 full with the bike upright.  Also it has low/hi markings. Should never be full enough to overflow.

[BradValk48237]

The overflow tank is now between the lower and high level...... I added just a titch.....

I dont know how full it was when this happened, but the coolant does expand and fill the tank quite a bit when it gets hot....

When I noticed it was hot, and pulled the side cover it was full to the top....

Once it cooled, it was just below the lower line, but still had coolant in it........

[Rio Wil]

Hmmmmm.....that just sounds like way too much expansion, I will make note of mine and see how much it changes, maybe tomorrow.

[Brian]

Have you ever changed the radiator cap? Could it be opening at a lower pressure causing too much fluid to enter you reservoir tank? I have never seen this drastic level change on mine and I am still using the original OEM cap. The Honda manual states 16 to 20 psi on the cap. As a side note,  more fluid flowing into the reserve tank the less fluid going thru the engine even though it's not much. And are you running a 50/50 mix? Water alone or too much water in the mix is not good.

[BradValk48237]

One question for all...

Should this even do this? I mean overheat,  idling, with some revving up to 4000ish,  in the garage????

I have sat at a work stop in 100 heat for 10+ minutes ( I ususally shut it down, but trafic was creeping) and its never done it......

Should I think stuck thermostat?  The fan runs... not  a problem.. after looking at this post , I realized my questions was still... should this do this.......????

Brad

[F6MoRider]

Should this even do this? I mean overheat,  idling, with some revving up to 4000ish,  in the garage????


Brad

Did it overheat?  Did you get an alarm(red light)?  Was the fan cycling as normal?

Or did the fluid simply expand and overfill the expansion bottle?

Did you have air flow across and or around the engine?

Did you sit and rev it to 4000 rpm while at the stop you mentioned?  Was there air moving around you at that stop?

Level the bike, do the exact same thing again, see if you can recreate the problem. 

[Brian]

Thermostat maybe? I just changed mine only because it is the original 97 unit, along with the OEM hoses.

[john]

honda 50/50 ... keep it simple