coolant and water cooling questions

[ausvid2000]

Both the front and rear pads on my 98 KLR are wearing mostly on the side opposite the piston. Is this normal for the KLR? John in austin.

[Eric L. Green]

On Mon, 24 May 2004, clint lee jin yew wrote:

> i have a question about coolant. > here in malaysia , its always above 22deg C. thats the coldest. > normal is about 31deg C. hottest recorded was 38C > 1. > is it ok to have a thicker coolant mix in the radiator? > kawi says standard is a 50/50 mix.

A 50/50 mix is the optimal for a) anti-boil resistance, and b) cooling efficiency. More water/less antifreeze may lead to the radiator boiling over in stop-and-go traffic. More antifreeze/less water may lead to the bike overheating and engine damage in stop-and-go traffic. At 31c this is especially true. More water is probably better than more antifreeze in your climate, since if the radiator is boiling over, you're more likely to notice and get off the street in time to keep engine damage from happening.

> 2. over here , once the radiator is busted , thats the end of it. u > can't repair it because no1 does aluminuim welding. so copper is the > substitute. i just guess that we will have to have a bigger one then

Copper is a better heat conductor than aluminum, so you would actually "need" a smaller radiator.

> question is , what if the radiator is too big. the the termostat > should keep things under control right? what about the fan ?need to > add another one then?

Everything should be fine. As you note, the thermostat should keep things under control.

> 3.is there any difference between the green coolants and the red > ones? besides the colors of course.

??? As long as it's rated for aluminum engines, it's fine.

> 4. we do get some of those ready mixed open-and-put-all-in-without- > mixing coolant. but only in one litre bottles. klr's need 1.3litres. > can i add 150ml of water and 150 coolant mix with the one litre ?

In your climate, it SHOULD be okay to put in a 1L bottle of coolant mix then 300ml of water. This gives you 500ml of coolant and 800ml of water, or roughly 60:40 ratio of water to coolant. You'll have a bit less corrosion resistance and boilover resistance, but not enough to hurt compared to the 50:50 ratio recommended.

> 5. this will really sound stupid , cooland and antifreez. same thing > right?

No. Antifreeze is an additive which is added to water to create coolant. Coolant is the 50:50 mix of antifreeze and water that is in the radiator.

> 6. my friend had this klr. works fine, but on long fast trips end and > he enters a town, coolant comes out from the water tank overflow > pipe. but then the level of coolant was checked b4 the trip and it > was in between the high/low level area. what gives?

He does not have enough antifreeze in his coolant. Antifreeze also serves as anti-boil. Or his radiator cap is no longer holding pressure. Lower pressure means lower boiling point.

> 7.how can coolant in the radiator boil?

If there is not enough anti-boil (anti-freeze) in the radiator, the coolant can boil. If the radiator cap does not have sufficient pressure, the coolant can boil (pressure raises the boiling point of coolant).

> 8. klr radiator caps. the stock preassure is 1.1kg or something like > that. what if it gets busted along the way and the only ones > available are 0.9kg type?can that be used?

This will most likely lead to the radiator boiling over. The pressure of the radiator cap detirmines the boiling point of coolant.

> 9. my klr operating tempreture , when i first bought it was like just > over the left hand side tip of the tempreture logo, now its a little > bit higher. even on the highway, its the same. coolant levels are ok

Make sure to use distilled water, not tap water, in your radiator. Tap water causes mineral deposits that impede the cooling ability of the radiator. That said, the temperature sensor is not 100% accurate and *will* drift a little with time, so you have nothing to worry about as long as it's not hitting the top.

> 10.. thermostats. if they stop working , its normally in full flow > mode yes? do you think that problem 9 is because of a theremostat > problem?

Probably not. Sounds like normal aging.

> 11. over-cooling? is there such a thing?

Yes. It causes problems because the engine doesn't seal as well when cold, resulting in additional blow-by and oil dilution. However, in your hot climate, this should not be an issue. Not to mention that you know when it happens -- the temp gauge stays at the bottom. -E