A cooling system experiment

[martinfan30]

I am tired of losing coolant after a ride, so i thought i'd play around with a recovery bottle. Try it out tomorrow. Thoughts?

[jfabmotorsports.com]

If you vent it and run the hose to the bottom it will work great. If you don't vent the bottle the psi's will blow the hose off that pointy bottle cap. The KLX450 have a coolant recovery system on them and they are set up just like every modern car and street bikes are.

[martinfan30]

OK, guess i shoulda thought of that! lol. I'll see how I can vent it. I believe the capacity is enough, with bottle and the tube. its just one of those snifter bottles for gold panning.

[KXcam22]

Here's mine made out of an armour all bottle painted black.  Route the hose to the bottom,  cut the end on an angle so it can't suction to the bottom of the bottle and make the top hole a bit loose as a vent.  To retain it I built up black tape wrapped around the bottle to make a groove for a large tywrap, one top and one bottom.  The bottle worked so well that I put one on my 450 before I even rode it. Cam.

[martinfan30]

Can anyone explain why I continue to use up coolant? Every ride, I have to top off after. Not a lot, but just enough to fill the top tanks. I am wondering if my cap is bad.

[maddoggy]

martinfan, what rated cap are you using? 1.1 bar or the 1.6? did you capture the lost coolant in the overflow tank you made? i guess i'm wondering if it's coming out the overflow or exiting somewhere in the engine.
                                                                                           MADDOGGY

[martinfan30]

martinfan, what rated cap are you using? 1.1 bar or the 1.6? did you capture the lost coolant in the overflow tank you made? i guess i'm wondering if it's coming out the overflow or exiting somewhere in the engine.
                                                                                           MADDOGGY

Its a 1.1 cap. The coolant does collect in the bottle and does not enter the engine. I was hoping it would recycle the coolant in the reservoir, but im at a loss.

[maddoggy]

sounds like all the coolant loss is exiting via the overflow. if i had to guess i would say the cap is the problem. my bike used to blow coolant out the overflow when i rode in the dunes under high h.p. demand + high heat. i put a 1.6 bar cap on and solved the problem. your cap may have lost some spring and therefore will not hold to its rated psi anymore, or maybe the engine is getting a little warmer than the stock cap can take. i would advise you to get a 1.6bar rated cap and then your covered either way. just some fyi             ( 1.1 bar=15.95 psi) ( 1.6 bar= 23.20 psi)                 MADDOGGY

[martinfan30]

sounds like all the coolant loss is exiting via the overflow. if i had to guess i would say the cap is the problem. my bike used to blow coolant out the overflow when i rode in the dunes under high h.p. demand + high heat. i put a 1.6 bar cap on and solved the problem. your cap may have lost some spring and therefore will not hold to its rated psi anymore, or maybe the engine is getting a little warmer than the stock cap can take. i would advise you to get a 1.6bar rated cap and then your covered either way. just some fyi             ( 1.1 bar=15.95 psi) ( 1.6 bar= 23.20 psi)                 MADDOGGY

Where can I get a 1.6 cap? Is there a Kawi part number?

[KXcam22]

Martinfan,
  On my red 450 I used the X model recovery tank which is custom molded to sit between the frame tube beneath the engine, expensive but very cool.  What I noticed that being very low (like yours) it took a number of rides before it would recover.  Essentially, the hose has to be completely full so it can siphon back and forth.   My other tanks were mounted at the rad level and worked right away. Also, if you have a leak in the hose where it connects to the rad, air enters and breaks the siphon.  My cap is a 1.1. Hope this helps. Cam.

[stewart]

use a 1.6 cap  ,,there at the car parts stores for some toyota and nissain type applications

[dean350b]

SEE:

http://www.pitposse.com/ourahipr16ra.html

[maddoggy]

here's the kawi p/n# 49085-1059  CAP-ASSY-PRESSURE,P=1.6  hope this helps, MADDOGGY

[martinfan30]

Thanks fellas!!!