Coolant.. Coolant everywhere.

[Ph03niX]

So I first got my bike like 2 years back. While out with my friends, I turned the bike off at a gas station and had a nice pool of coolant pour out the overflow. Figured it was overflow and my bike was hot so it was fine. Since then it has randomly let out some coolant here and there. When it's hot, itll fill the reservoir tank, but when it's cold, there wont be any coolant in the reservoir tank. Now i've turned it off many times and heard it boiling because my bike had gotten to 225 degrees. However, I would think that regular antifreeze wouldnt boil at that temperature (maybe It's mostly water??) .. I also noticed I've had a small leak at my radiator cap. But nothing bad really.

Well today my bike was maybe 190 degrees when I stopped for work, and I came out to a small pool of foamy antifreeze. It smelt like straight antifreeze, pretty sure it wasn't oily, and it was all white, but it was foamy, which is what worried me and why I'm here asking what the problem could be..

Any help?

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad286/Accel-speed/Mobile%20Uploads/20150422_195755.jpg (http://s944.photobucket.com/user/Accel-speed/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150422_195755.jpg.html)

[Ph03niX]

I just went out and dipped my fingers in it and added it to a cup of water. I dont see any oil at all so I'm fairly certain it's not a head gasket.. ( and I hope to God not either). Maybe the radiator/hoses/water pump is just getting gunked up? Or the small leak is letting air in an causing it to foam?

[PhilC]

If it were me, I'd pull the fairings off, get the bike warmed up, wait, and watch to see where it's leaking. Take a look at your radiator and make sure a rock or road debris didn't puncture it.

[Ph03niX]

You may have missed it but there is a small leak coming from the cap. It's always dry when I look at it though. Not to mention the cap is an absolute b**** to get on and off.

[PhilC]

You may have missed it but there is a small leak coming from the cap. It's always dry when I look at it though. Not to mention the cap is an absolute b**** to get on and off.

I did see that but you said "small" and assumed you were implying that wasn't the likely cause of what is seen in the photo. However, when it gets hot, pressure builds and it's going to continue to leak. I'd check/clean the gasket on the radiator cap or better yet, replace the cap, they're cheap.

[PhilC]

Curious, is your radiator fan coming on?

[Ph03niX]

I need to get a new cap I'm pretty sure haha. I'll let it get up to fan temperature and see if I see anything coming out or not. I think the dealer has caps for $35. I'll have to pick one up. And yeah the fan comes on @220 just like it's suppose to and I've never had any over heating problems. Just coolant.. All over the floor :lol:

[vort3xr6]

Are you using car antifreeze or motorcycle specific antifreeze? You can try using water and water wetter or engine ice now that it is warmed up. I had that same year GSXR and they definitely heat up.

[asp_125]

My guess is that a failing thermostat on the cap and the leak is letting air into the system and lowering the boiling point - hence the gurgling and peeing coolant because air expands more when hot than coolant. Before you install the new radiator cap, fill it with fresh coolant and run it to circulate the fluid. Then rock the bike side to side and squeeze the rad hoses to "burp" it - get rid of any air bubbles that may be trapped. Only then top off the coolant and install the new cap.

[TFOGGuys]

Radiator caps need to be replaced every 4 or 5 years, as the rubber seals degrade over time. Get a 1.6 Bar (21 psi) cap from the auto parts store, it will be less than half what a new cap from the dealer will cost, and will give you another 15 degrees or so of boil over protection(compared to the stock 1.1 bar cap) as well.

[bulldog]

Dang that sucks. Hopefully just the cap.

I bet there have been 5+ threads of people who attended the CSC parade then had cooling issues that day or later on. I just don’t think sportbikes were made to do stop and go in hot weather. Honestly this is why a lot of people stopped doing the CSC parade; made bikes overheat. May not be related at all, but being on the board so long I see this happen every year shortly after the parade…..

[Spooph]

Along with what everybody else said, yes, it's the leak.

When it warms up, the air in the system causes it to boil and the water pump and all the small passages causes that air to sublimate. This air forces coolant out the overflow and creates more space for air. When it cools, it's supposed to then pull coolant into the system and "burp" itself. However, because the air is sublimated (microscopic bubbles all throughout the system, it leaves the system primed to boil again next time because the system isn't under pressure because of the leak.

If however you fix the leak and the system can get up to pressure, that pressure will force the air out of sublimation, into bigger bubbles which can be burped and the system will work correctly - the burp will find it's way to the overflow tank, rise to the top and exit out of the overflow hose. When it cools, pure coolant will enter the system and the cycle will repeat in the correct direction eventually working out all of the air. This is why even the smallest leak in a cooling system can cause problems as it's design to be a self enforcing cycle.

With a leak, it will enforce in the wrong direction. With a pressurized system, it will enforce in the correct direction. This is also why the "puke" tube is at the top of the overflow reservoir and why the "pull" tube is at the bottom of the overflow reservoir. The size of the pressurized circuit is carefully engineered in proportion to the overflow circuit, together making a semi-closed circuit. The overflow circuit obviously is the vent and can be open to the atmosphere. If the pressurized circuit is open to the atmosphere all hell breaks loose.

replace the cap, hope this lends some understanding. ;)

[Ph03niX]

Hey thanks so much guys! I think you're right about the cap. I replaced it with a toyota camry rad cap (same thing!) and it seemed to seal well. I'm just going to flush and replace the antifreeze and everything should be well! I havent seen anything leak yet so that's good!

[bulldog]

Hey thanks so much guys! I think you're right about the cap. I replaced it with a toyota camry rad cap (same thing!) and it seemed to seal well. I'm just going to flush and replace the antifreeze and everything should be well! I havent seen anything leak yet so that's good! Nice....always nice to find a easy fix. Few years back I got a check engine light on my car and ended up being a loose gas cap.

[lth]

Nice....always nice to find a easy fix. Few years back I got a check engine light on my car and ended up being a loose gas cap.

Glad it was just the cap.

This story on the check engine light gets my blood boiling. Last year my girlfriend's light came on. I told her it was likely the gas cap (she had even said she accidentally left it off shortly before), but she was scared and took it to the dealer. They told her it definitely wasn't the cap, she needed some shit I can't remember that cost $3000, and she got all stressed. I had to talk her down, tell her it was almost certainly the cap, do NOT pay the money. Now I'm a dude, I'm cheap, and I'd be inclined to just put a piece of black tape over the light and keep driving. But she's a lady and scared to death of her car breaking down & leaving her stranded. Finally I convinced her to just sit tight and fill the tank a few times. Sure enough, the light eventually turned off on its own. I'm glad she listened to her dim boyfriend. It still pisses me off the dealership tried to rob her blind like that.

[bulldog]

Glad it was just the cap.

This story on the check engine light gets my blood boiling. Last year my girlfriend's light came on. I told her it was likely the gas cap (she had even said she accidentally left it off shortly before), but she was scared and took it to the dealer. They told her it definitely wasn't the cap, she needed some shit I can't remember that cost $3000, and she got all stressed. I had to talk her down, tell her it was almost certainly the cap, do NOT pay the money. Now I'm a dude, I'm cheap, and I'd be inclined to just put a piece of black tape over the light and keep driving. But she's a lady and scared to death of her car breaking down & leaving her stranded. Finally I convinced her to just sit tight and fill the tank a few times. Sure enough, the light eventually turned off on its own. I'm glad she listened to her dim boyfriend. It still pisses me off the dealership tried to rob her blind like that. Sucks, hard to trust dealers nowadays. I had one that tried to blame every problem on my Cold Air Intake. I ended up having to show them the law that they had to prove that the CAI was causing clutch problems for them to deny it. Long story short they could not prove it and it ended up being a switch under the clutch that needed to be replaced; like under $100.

Now I always go to Autozone, Oreilys, etc and use their machine to get the code then I go research it myself.

[Ph03niX]

Pardon my french but how in the F*CK can a CAI be related to ANY clutch problems?!?! What the hell hahahah.

[bulldog]

Pardon my french but how in the F*CK can a CAI be related to ANY clutch problems?!?! What the hell hahahah. It was always the dealers #1 go to everytime....glad they are out of business.... Qu*lity Mitsubishi can kiss my ass!