Summers Almost Here... What are my Coolant Choices?
Summers Almost Here... What are my Coolant Choices?
Boilovers are never fun out on the trail... what can we do? For one, realize that excessive clutch slipping puts ALOT of heat into the engine... and is a underlying cause to many boilovers. Slow riding also pushes the cooling system to its limits. No airflow = boilover... every time. Now, to the issue itself.
First, you need to determin your plan of attack. Do you want to:
A: Stop Boilovers.... Period.
B: Make you bike run cooler.
C: Recover Lost Coolant.
The first two are two totally different scenarios.
Scenario 1 is easy... switch to a "boilproof" coolant, like Evans.
http://www.evanscooling.com/main27.htm
Your engine may run hotter, but the coolant wont boil. This is a good choice if your racing, or riding Baja where a boilover may mean pushing the bike to the next village. BUT, it does have its shortcomings. Running hotter ( Up to 300 degrees!! ) is not good for overall engine life. Your warning device to boilover , i.e. the big cloud of steam fogging up your goggles, has been eliminated. If you choose to run Evans, please notice other signs of high tempertures like surging, funny smells, and pinging.
Scenario 2 is also easy. Switch to the best coolant available... pure water. All coolant additives address things like freeze protection, corrosion, and seal conditioning. None of them add the the heat exchanging properties of distilled water. 90% distilled water + 10% Redline Water Wetter is probably tough to beat... and a hell of alot cheaper than Engine Ice, which is probably distilled water with blue food coloring added. Very few of us need freeze protection, or the other issues additives deal with. The above mixture should work very well for the majority of us... and save us a few dollars to be better spent elsewhere. Remember that adding to much W/W will defeat what your trying to accomplish.... maximum heat transfer.
http://www.redlineoil.com/products_cool ... tegoryID=4
The second tool is the cap. Running a higher pressure cap helps in two ways. The added pressure raises the boiling temperture of the coolant, and it also enhances the heat transfer from the coolant to both the engine parts and the radiators tubes..... A true " Win - Win" situation. A KX500 cap ( 1.5 bar rating) is the quick way to go.... but pricey. Kawasaki is pretty proud of this cap, its something like $25. I'll put some effort into finding the "PepBoys" version. The higher pressure will expose any shortcommings of your seals, hoses, and rad's themselves.... so be prepared to bring these components up to the task at hand.
Lastly, coolant recovery. Ive seen everything from turkey basters to WR coolant tanks adapted to CR's very nicely. Members who have tackled this task, post up your stories and photos.
Riding season shouldnt be limited by your bikes ability to cool itself.
Hope these ideas help you to ride as much as possible!!
First, you need to determin your plan of attack. Do you want to:
A: Stop Boilovers.... Period.
B: Make you bike run cooler.
C: Recover Lost Coolant.
The first two are two totally different scenarios.
Scenario 1 is easy... switch to a "boilproof" coolant, like Evans.
http://www.evanscooling.com/main27.htm
Your engine may run hotter, but the coolant wont boil. This is a good choice if your racing, or riding Baja where a boilover may mean pushing the bike to the next village. BUT, it does have its shortcomings. Running hotter ( Up to 300 degrees!! ) is not good for overall engine life. Your warning device to boilover , i.e. the big cloud of steam fogging up your goggles, has been eliminated. If you choose to run Evans, please notice other signs of high tempertures like surging, funny smells, and pinging.
Scenario 2 is also easy. Switch to the best coolant available... pure water. All coolant additives address things like freeze protection, corrosion, and seal conditioning. None of them add the the heat exchanging properties of distilled water. 90% distilled water + 10% Redline Water Wetter is probably tough to beat... and a hell of alot cheaper than Engine Ice, which is probably distilled water with blue food coloring added. Very few of us need freeze protection, or the other issues additives deal with. The above mixture should work very well for the majority of us... and save us a few dollars to be better spent elsewhere. Remember that adding to much W/W will defeat what your trying to accomplish.... maximum heat transfer.
http://www.redlineoil.com/products_cool ... tegoryID=4
The second tool is the cap. Running a higher pressure cap helps in two ways. The added pressure raises the boiling temperture of the coolant, and it also enhances the heat transfer from the coolant to both the engine parts and the radiators tubes..... A true " Win - Win" situation. A KX500 cap ( 1.5 bar rating) is the quick way to go.... but pricey. Kawasaki is pretty proud of this cap, its something like $25. I'll put some effort into finding the "PepBoys" version. The higher pressure will expose any shortcommings of your seals, hoses, and rad's themselves.... so be prepared to bring these components up to the task at hand.
Lastly, coolant recovery. Ive seen everything from turkey basters to WR coolant tanks adapted to CR's very nicely. Members who have tackled this task, post up your stories and photos.
Riding season shouldnt be limited by your bikes ability to cool itself.
Hope these ideas help you to ride as much as possible!!
- britincali
- Posts: 8207
- Joined: May 31st, 2007, 7:10 pm
- Location: Barstow, CA
I put a WR setup on my steelie as it would cook itself bigtime in the dunes I havent had a single overheating issue since.
Im probably gonna try evans on the AF if I have an issue, it did pretty good the other day out in the desert at almost 100 degrees.
Im probably gonna try evans on the AF if I have an issue, it did pretty good the other day out in the desert at almost 100 degrees.
Coolness list by 90cr500guy
Bob's = 50/50
Cepek = cool
Solidbro = cool
Brit = loser
Stoffer = 1 up from Brit
MFDB = cool
Danny = ok
Bob's = 50/50
Cepek = cool
Solidbro = cool
Brit = loser
Stoffer = 1 up from Brit
MFDB = cool
Danny = ok
- iggys-amsoil
- Posts: 3602
- Joined: June 1st, 2007, 6:09 pm
- Location: Just North of March Airfield CA
Kawi cap 1.6 for me. $32 and change. With a 50/50 mix of amsoil coolant. Piece of mind is pricey but its been well worth it.
The only time I have lost any is if I over fill the rads.
I saw something at slep boys but couldn't determine if it would work.
The only time I have lost any is if I over fill the rads.
I saw something at slep boys but couldn't determine if it would work.
Trinity Racing mild porting FMF
62 pilot, EGH needle, 172 main
03 Gen III CR250 frame
2013 Dodger Charger 5.7 Hemi
http://www.prisonplanet.com
Your Amsoil Customer # 350882
62 pilot, EGH needle, 172 main
03 Gen III CR250 frame
2013 Dodger Charger 5.7 Hemi
http://www.prisonplanet.com
Your Amsoil Customer # 350882
Why are you running antifreeze at the dunes?I put a WR setup on my steelie as it would cook itself bigtime in the dunes I havent had a single overheating issue since.
http://www.rscycles.com/Storefront/prod ... micals.htm
Mine runs cooler on RC20 then it did on on willie wetter
-
- Posts: 1898
- Joined: June 23rd, 2007, 12:47 pm
- Location: Prescott
- Rosco-Peeko
- Posts: 823
- Joined: June 1st, 2007, 2:47 pm
No, rad caps need a pressure test. Thermostats can be tested in boiling water.Ported&Polished wrote:I'm gonna get some water wetter, or maybe just use a small amount of antifreeze and alot of distilled water. I might also try a new cap, although mine looks in good shape. I think you can test them by boiling them in a pot of water.
88CR500
ROOST ON PEOPLE!!!
ROOST ON PEOPLE!!!
- britincali
- Posts: 8207
- Joined: May 31st, 2007, 7:10 pm
- Location: Barstow, CA
sabreguy wrote:No rad caps need a pressure test thermostats can be tested in boiling water.Ported&Polished wrote:I'm gonna get some water wetter, or maybe just use a small amount of antifreeze and alot of distilled water. I might also try a new cap, although mine looks in good shape. I think you can test them by boiling them in a pot of water.
Coolness list by 90cr500guy
Bob's = 50/50
Cepek = cool
Solidbro = cool
Brit = loser
Stoffer = 1 up from Brit
MFDB = cool
Danny = ok
Bob's = 50/50
Cepek = cool
Solidbro = cool
Brit = loser
Stoffer = 1 up from Brit
MFDB = cool
Danny = ok
-
- Posts: 494
- Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 6:58 pm
my bike had a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water, it always spilled out the over flow tube. I switched to water and water wetter, overflowed 1x because of over fill. Never spilled over since.
Bob is 100% right, water transfers heat better than coolant
My '70 Cougar use to over heat in the SoCal summers until I switched to water and water wetter
Bob is 100% right, water transfers heat better than coolant
My '70 Cougar use to over heat in the SoCal summers until I switched to water and water wetter
Brit's queer