Engine Ice

[RoyMember]

On another note, I was told by a mate the other day to take the thermostat out and plumb the radiator hoses up like the mx bikes and this will fix overheating. I was talking to him about what the pro riders in the extreme enduros do as they all seem to ride 300’s. He had just got back from riding in Africa practicing for the roof of Africa in November on a 300. This was how we got on to it. He said, install fan in combination with the above was how they got over the problem.

Anyway, has anyone tried it.

[PeterMember]

Bundyroy wrote:

Riggs, what did the fan cost and I gather it plugs straight into the bikes wiring harness somewhere. If this is correct the fact that they have a plug ready and waiting concerns me. You could say it’s almost like an admission. How does the fan fit in with your radiator guards? Did you try the fan with normal coolant before you went the engine ice path?

The fan cost about $180 shipped to my door from the US, it might be a bit cheaper now.
KTMparts.com would not sell me the fan cos its against policy to ship to other countries that have KTM dealers :angry: , so I found a Husaberg place and ordered it from them.

There is an unused connector up under the tank that the harness plugs into perfectly. I havent got radiator guards, and apparently some guards wont fit if the fan is installed.
I never tried the bike with normal coolant after the fan went on – during installation you drain the radiator of coolant, so I thought it best to go the whole hog and put the Engine Ice in. The bike still gets bloody hot, but she hasnt bolied since I made the changes.

I think KTM engineers designed the bike for desert racing type enduros, eg high speeds. It really is a bit too much bike for tight single, takes a lot of effort to ride.

[Scott SouthwellMember]

I was thinking the same thing as Bundyroy. I am no engineer so I don’t profess to understand all this. As Bundyroy also questioned if the coolant has a higher boiling point than isn’t it letting the motor run hotter before you realise it. Just because it’s not boiling doesn’t mean it not getting hotter than the manufacturer designed it to. Do we now wait until the piston starts to melt down before we realise we have overheated the engine?

[Adrian LeeMember]

All i want to do is ride a 2 klm stretch of tight singles a couple of times a day. thats not to much to ask for is it ?

Bike is fine on everything else.

[dennis da menaceMember]

aido wrote:

All i want to do is ride a 2 klm stretch of tight singles a couple of times a day. thats not to much to ask for is it ?

Bike is fine on everything else.

my bike has only ever boiled once, at stockton dunes, after i knocked the radiator cap loose while stacking.

first thing i’d check is the radiator cap Aido.
if its faulty the bike will boil easily.
i think you can get a slightly higher pressure cap too, maybe 1.8BAR instead of 1.5.

where is this mighty bike boiling single track mate??

lets hit it

[Adrian LeeMember]

in the pines mate. Wouldnt it boil elsewhere when riding harder if the rad cap was faulty?

[PeterMember]

These bikes run hot, its a known …. trait 😆 of the ktm.

If theres not enough air flow, she will boil.

[ChrisMember]

Hi Bundyroy.. I was not taking the piss at all.. I asked for a number of reasons… First and foremost is why? Does not make sense to me and all the answers so far and fixes are not acceptable as far as I’m concerned.. I was really hoping to get some sort of real answer or at least close to one..

KTM rolls the product out the door with pretty much everything you need ready to go.. Heaps and heaps of people use them and pay very good money for them.. Pro riders and weekend warriors alike..

I’ve toyed with the idea once my skill level reaches a certain level.. The new enduro 350’s coming are very attractive.. Power near the 400 plus super light.. I’ve spent one weekend every month since January down in the Wandandian/Sussex area and my skill level keeps rising and quickly for what is on offer down their.. I’m actually starting to enjoy single track and seeking out gnarly hill climbs but if a KTM I pay 14k for is going to over heat why bother eh…

[Mick PilgrimMember]

As Jethro said, if you fill the radiator to the top it will spit it out – fill it to the level as in the manual.
You can install a small header tank if you want to run the radiator full (as in your car and some other trail bikes).
The fan is pretty well an essential if you are riding slow tight singles on KTM’s and probably the Berg. The Berg should not suffer flattened batteries from the cooling fan running like the KTM’s do, as the fuel injected bergs have a high output alternator to run the FI system and keep the battery charged.

Good luck – enjoy the new machine

Mickp

[alanMember]

get a wr Krusty they have a catch bottle for the radiater like a car you never have to top it up .they don t take as much maintness either(they don t f%$k up as much)bugger it was just said that

[ChrisMember]

hahaha.. I’m only toying with the idea fellas… :laugh: :laugh:

[Bruce CurtisMember]

This is a back to the basics issue.

Why do we have cooling systems?
what temperature is best for the longevity of the engine?
What compound is best to conduct the heat transfer?

The obvious issue with KTM and their incessant boiling is lack of hot country testing, the colling systems are not designed for Australian/African/ Middle eastern conditions, weather this be insufficent capacity or airflow, or the pump and base circulation systems are poorly developed.

We can overcome these shortfalling heaps of ways if it is borderline ok, bigger radiators which are from an engineering point piece of urine to do. Improved heat conductivity through the transfer medium therough modern science there may well be a better compound than H2O, however what most of them achieve is to raise the boiling point and is this really conducive to engine life?

Modifying the pump for better flow

Re rerouting the flow patterns altogether, funnily enough we have an esteemed member here somewhere who has achieved this although I haven’t felt his presence for sometime, is right on top of this method…

another area to consider is trying to take the heat away through the lubrication system, like the highly sucessful 87-92 Suzuki GSXR11s did…. big HP (over 2oo hp in some cases) under race conditions using nothing but oil to transfer the excessive untapped energy caused by the combustion process….

[Matt BakerMember]

Krusty wrote:

So why is it these high tech machines are over heating in the first place? could it be they are not designed for tight gnarly single track? Just curious as it seems odd to me that a 14,000+ machine would overheat.. Is the manufacturer really designing for a race type situation like a4d, safari etc?

Cheers…

There is no problem with the bikes or radiator design the rider just has to go faster in the tight stuff (just like an enduro racer would) creating more ariflow, they are after all enduro race machines not trail bikes

[Bruce CurtisMember]

LC4skin wrote:

Krusty wrote:

So why is it these high tech machines are over heating in the first place? could it be they are not designed for tight gnarly single track? Just curious as it seems odd to me that a 14,000+ machine would overheat.. Is the manufacturer really designing for a race type situation like a4d, safari etc?

Cheers…

There is no problem with the bikes or radiator design the rider just has to go faster in the tight stuff (just like an enduro racer would) creating more ariflow, they are after all enduro race machines not trail bikes

I will beg to differ LC4, they are not fit for purpose in this regard, as the race ones used in the extreme enduros have modded cooling systems for just this reason, and they are sold with ADR compliance, so obviously not closed course comp only…

[RoyMember]

Mr Blue, I am interested in this rerouting of flow patterns. Could you elaborate more please. I’m guessing the basic princple is to give the coolant more time in the radiator and hence longer exposure to the cooling air flow but how can I do this.

On a second note I gather the increased water flow sort of achieves the same result but in the opposite way. The faster flow has less time to pick up as much heat and as such requires less time in the radiator to cool. It would also have less time in the radiator as well though wouldn’t it.

Anyway any further explanations would be greatly apppreciated.

Thanks

[Author]

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