Coolant overflow

[AndrewMember]

Gday tech peeps, had an issue with the 530 yesterday doing my Ps test, apart from looking gay with all the mirrors and shit on it the bike started getting really really hot doing all the slow figure 8s etc (40mins worth) anyway not sure if it was when I hit the brakes pretty hard but coolant started leaking out the overflow and onto the header making a heap of white smoke etc. Was my coolant level to high? I usually fill it to just cover the top fins. Oh yeah and Im ready for all the KTM jokes :blush: Kinda freaked me out a bit :silly: :ohmy:
Cheers

[Adam RodgersMember]

Burnsy

It’s possible it got a little hotter than normal with all the slow stuff.

When the coolant expands it occupies the air gap above the fins thats why when you over fill them they squirt out the excess and find their own level. Looks bad because it hits the header pipe and turns to steam.

What was the level when she cooled down again?

If your motor gets really hot (above 135 – 140 degrees if your cap is good and 50:50 coolant mix) then the coolant will boil and you will lose a lot of fluid. Break out the coffee and have your self a cuppa and let it cool down.

Adam.

[AndrewMember]

Heya Burnsy, yeah the Kato isn’t really made for the slow figure 8’s.

Has it got a termo fan on it? If so, did it start up before it got hot? Is the bike new?

I remember the first time my Kato overheated in the scrub…nervous few minutes but all was good. As Adam said, take a fiver and let it cool a bit or get on a bit of open twin trail and wind it up! :woohoo:

Ace

[MARTIN TWINEMember]

Burnsy,

Change your coolant to Liquid Intellegence,its in a metal tin from Suttos at Penrith, others also carry it. It has a much higher boiling point and a few of the boys on this site will also swear by it. Its also a good idea to run a coolant catch tank so you dont lose the coolant onto the ground. Google RLR Products,they are a great bit of gear and about $35 from the U.S.I do alot of tight single trail and have never lost a drop in 18 months.
The smoke you mentioned is only steam from the coolant onto your header pipe.
See you on the trail sometime.
Cheers Marty

[MARTIN TWINEMember]

If it does have a thermo fan,wire it up through a manual switch,as it will run on for a while when you stop. Do alot of stopping and starting and this can be very hard on your battery.
While we are on batteries, go to a larger Amp Hour one,or do what i have done and use a SHORAI battery(Google it),as they have alot more cranking power and are a Lithium Ion battery.You can go as high as 14 amp hour if you like,thats what i did.Hope this helps.
Marty

[GregMember]

Good advice from Marty, did the same with the borrowed 530 I ride, fan is a auto operation on it but and it hasnt ever overheated on me no matter where and how its ridden (fan does come on a bit but)

TB

[AndrewMember]

Yeah the coolant level was definantly down a bit when I checked it that evening I have just topped it up with that motorex coolant.Its been fine starts easy- no side effects- was a bit worried tho. I think a thermo sounds like the way to go as it doesnt have one Ive got a Yuasa battery fitted could I run a thermo with it?Its an 08 but Ive only had it for 5months
Cheers for the info guys

[Steve WyethMember]

You can run a thermo fan with any battery, the bike charges the battery when you ride it, so as long as you don’t pull up for a counter lunch and leave the fan running running it will be sweet. Even if you did you would just kick start it.

Doing slow figure 8’s for 40 minutes will boil a lot of bikes, especially a single cylinder bike with 530 cc’s.

As others have said, fill the rads back up to a couple of mm above the fins and she’ll be sweet. Once you’ve filled them up (bike cold), run the bike for a minute or so and recheck the level, dependant on how much you lost in it’s last spew you can get air pockets that lower the level again once the bike has been filled and run.

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