Foam in coolant

You're all so active! And I feel so slow to give an update... But today I managed to get to the garage, drain the coolant, and run with distilled water a couple times.

The pic of original coolant is in the pic - looks greasy!
original coolant.JPG

The foam at the radiator cap is from the 1st round with water.
foam after 1st run.JPG

And the video is from the 2nd attempt:
At times, it looked like some smoke coming out the radiator - if it is fumes then the diagnose is clear I guess. The rich foam didn't come back at 2nd attempt, although it all still looks very dirty.

Unfortunately, I had to rush back home - but for me it looks like there is too much goo in all the system and it wants to get cleaner. I am thinking about one more flush with distilled water, then filling it up as it belongs with coolant and take it for a short spin around.

I also took off the expansion reservoir to give it a cleanup.
 
paulcb said:
Plus I just wanted to see my wife's face when I cooked some engine oil on her stove. ;)
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I'd like to know what she said when you told her you were heating the oil to fry chicken for dinner. Btw, are you still married?:rofl1::rofl1:
 
Capital said:
You're all so active! And I feel so slow to give an update...
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It's a whole lot easier to sit at our computers and diagnose other bike's problems than go out to the garage and do the work!:thumb:

Regarding your dirty system, I know nothing about the chemicals sold to flush an auto's cooling system. You might research these and find one compatible with aluminum engines.
 
A slow leak may take more running time than in the video to show any symptom, but that's a good start. Button it up and ride it a few days and then check it again after running normally for a few hundred km or so.
 
Long time no update. But I flushed the system a couple times, filled with coolant (did a lot of other maintenance) and got it out. Season is closing in a month (or until it snows), need to make some kilometers before winter. The truth will show up, and I try to be optimistic :D
 
Capital said:
Long time no update. But I flushed the system a couple times, filled with coolant (did a lot of other maintenance) and got it out. Season is closing in a month (or until it snows), need to make some kilometers before winter. The truth will show up, and I try to be optimistic :D
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Hope your issues turn out to have been solved!:thumb:
 
Ok, this one needs an update. I've managed to ride ~800km (in fairly cold weather) before it started snowing and season closed. As I started working on the bike, I drained the cooland - looks like there is no oil in it. Also it is not foamy anymore at the radiator cap or the reservoir at the back.

But - I will probably have to look for another radiator, as mine has pretty rusty bottom (actually I believe the area was badly affected by coolant, as one back-side of the radiator grille is white).

The most "fun" part of it, is that the thermostat is almost gone. This is what i managed to recover (the center piece was inside the radiator, I heard it rattling when moving the radiator around). The other piece and the spring were still in place. What scares me most - there are still thermostat pieces missing which I haven't retrieved yet. I'm yet to take the 2nd part of thermostat housing off the frame - hope to find something in the hoses.

When the new timing belt arrives, I will be taking off the old one, and will check the water-pump. Might be a good idea to get it out for inspection? I've heard it doesn't come off so easily without undoing the crank.

Oh my, if I simply knew...

IMG_0608.JPG
 
One more question - how do you clean all the dirt of radiator?
I guess anything mechanical could break it, and I don’t believe I can get hold of big enough ultrasound bath. Any suggestions?
 
Capital said:
One more question - how do you clean all the dirt of radiator?
I guess anything mechanical could break it, and I don’t believe I can get hold of big enough ultrasound bath. Any suggestions?
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Take your radiator to a local "Radiator Shop". They have a big vat of boiling acid to clean the inside, and outside, and in between the fins. It's relatively cheap to have done, usually, plus its done better than we could ever do it. No mess, either. They are used to doing huge tractor-trailer radiators so these are more like "heater cores" out of a car. A good shop will repaint it too if you want.
 
WOW!!! I don’t ever think I’ve seen a thermostat broken down like that. As someone above said, a prior owner (assuming you’re not) may have used tap water for a longer term and just corroded the thermostat as you have it.
 
Replaced what has to be replaced when you service the cooling system, including an aftermarket radiator (link on Ebay). The thermostat I put in was from a local car parts shop for Honda Accord. Looking a bit different, but measuring exactly the same and fitting it as it belongs there. It also has a jiggle-pin on top to let the air pas through.

I've ran the engine for a couple times in the garage, but did not manage for the temperature needle to reach the middle of the gauge. This can also mean that new hardware is doing its job :). Also, the fan kicked-in as the needle started climbing closer to middle.

I also expected more air to get out of the system, but I actually did not have to refill it after heating up. Will monitor the level, but things looking good so far.
 
Capital said:
... aftermarket radiator (link on Ebay) ...
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I wonder about the fitment of that pattern rad... (faced quite some issues installing an aftermarket one in my GF's Kawa ER-5...)
Filled slowly wile squeezing the hoses a couple of times the ST's coolant circle bleeds quite well; I usually leave the cap off, start the engine (no bliping of the throttle though...) and let it idle/warm up till I observe the thermostat starting to open (flush/flow in radiator neck increases...) and put the cap on (twist on over both notches...)
 
The aftermarket fitment was 8/10:
- The dimensions of the radiator, lower pin and upper bolt brackets - everything matches stock 100%
- Fan bolt-on locations - same as OEM, fit perfectly
- Upper hose neck - diameter slightly smaller than OEM. This worries me the most.
- Lower hose neck - same as OEM
- Attaching the OEM grille needed zipities, as there are no clips on upper/lower part
 
Capital said:
The aftermarket fitment was 8/10:
- The dimensions of the radiator, lower pin and upper bolt brackets - everything matches stock 100%
- Fan bolt-on locations - same as OEM, fit perfectly
- Upper hose neck - diameter slightly smaller than OEM. This worries me the most.
- Lower hose neck - same as OEM
- Attaching the OEM grille needed zipities, as there are no clips on upper/lower part
Click to expand...
Yeah, there always issues emerging...
On the Kawa radiator the groove for the fan-stat seal was milled way too deep, requiring me to come up with a solution...
Fan mounts needed modifications...
Installing the protection grille also required a zip-tie patent...
Within a week the paint started to peel off...
OTOH did it come at about 1/5th of the price for an OEM one... (still exceeding the total value of that naked ER-5 then :biggrin: )
No long term experience yet, as she pretty much grounded that 500cc twin once I threw the NT700VA under her butt... :cool:
 
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