Post by tk3000 on Jul 16, 2011 23:42:35 GMT -6
Hello JR, so I am transposing the thread with some minor adjustments here. It is the notorious Storm 250cc Scooter (based on the CN250cc engine) with all its myriads of cooling issues and constrictions by design .
I have two of them (a woody black one and a chromed one). The chromed one may seem to have vacuum leak (maybe manifold or head gasket, I still have to check it). I am renewing the cooling plumbing underneath the woody black one, going from the frail and flimsy aluminum to 1/2 copper pipes (also renewing the hoses, clamps, and cleaning all the gunk used as a sealant). I certainly flushed the system a few times, burped it from any air pockets (idling, slowly refilling it with coolant, and rocking it a little to help in the process).
As of now I am only talking about the storm 250cc woody black one (cooling renewing).
It has less than 40 miles, it is a storm 250cc I bought some time ago (about 9 months ago), but I haven't been around to work on it, so it was seating in my garage most of the time. It has two radiators, and the plumbing underneath was leaking so I also built some contraption out of copper pipes and fittings to replace the original plumbing underneath (that is made of out soft and brittle aluminum) as shown below:
I would assume the copper would ok too since it is used to carry all sorts of fluids and chemicals, also its specific heat is lower (copper's specific heat is lower than aluminum's specific heat). I happen to have two 250cc bikes both in my garage for some time, and I have been away for most of the time lately, so no many chances to work on them or ride them lately; but I hope to change that soon. I haven't looked at the one that has a vacuum leak yet (maybe cracked manifold or cylinder head gasket damaged) but I hope to check it out this weekend. Nonetheless I have been working on the cooling system of the other ones (woody black 250cc, storm as well): I fabricated an underneath plumbing contraption out of aluminum pipes and fitting as shown below:
Partial setup shown below, red high-temp permatex gasket maker was used to the water pump housing, inside of the pump and impeller were checked and cleaned and seemed to be ok.
After assemblage, cleaning and adjusting of carburetor and then refilling of the coolant fluid (50% coolant, 50% distilled water) the bike started right up, but it was overheating very fast and with lots of intensity. On occasion of refilling the coolant I burped the system of any pockets of air by leaving it idling for a while with the coolant pressure valve open and rocket the bike help in the process. But the main radiator was completely cool (lower radiator), the upper radiator got hot after a 5 minutes of engine running), the copper pipes underneath were pretty hot, and then engine case and specially the rubber body of the enricher on the carburetor were very hot very hot indeed. So clearly not coolant was circulating up to the lower radiator (the larger and main one) and maybe not even circulating at all to some part of the engine. So I decided to take a closer look at the thermostat; removed, opened it up, and took a look inside, as shown below:
I was expecting to find some spring loaded mechanism inside the thermostat housing that would open or shut the flow of coolant to the engine depending on the engine temperature (shutting the flow in order to allow the engine to reach operating temperature for instance), but found nothing. Thus I found out that the thermostat was absent or non-existent, I have to order one (maybe two).
I also plan on installing a thermostator gauge since the bike has a warning light and buzzer that will sound off when it overheat, but I have no means to monitor the temp.
I have two of them (a woody black one and a chromed one). The chromed one may seem to have vacuum leak (maybe manifold or head gasket, I still have to check it). I am renewing the cooling plumbing underneath the woody black one, going from the frail and flimsy aluminum to 1/2 copper pipes (also renewing the hoses, clamps, and cleaning all the gunk used as a sealant). I certainly flushed the system a few times, burped it from any air pockets (idling, slowly refilling it with coolant, and rocking it a little to help in the process).
As of now I am only talking about the storm 250cc woody black one (cooling renewing).
It has less than 40 miles, it is a storm 250cc I bought some time ago (about 9 months ago), but I haven't been around to work on it, so it was seating in my garage most of the time. It has two radiators, and the plumbing underneath was leaking so I also built some contraption out of copper pipes and fittings to replace the original plumbing underneath (that is made of out soft and brittle aluminum) as shown below:
I would assume the copper would ok too since it is used to carry all sorts of fluids and chemicals, also its specific heat is lower (copper's specific heat is lower than aluminum's specific heat). I happen to have two 250cc bikes both in my garage for some time, and I have been away for most of the time lately, so no many chances to work on them or ride them lately; but I hope to change that soon. I haven't looked at the one that has a vacuum leak yet (maybe cracked manifold or cylinder head gasket damaged) but I hope to check it out this weekend. Nonetheless I have been working on the cooling system of the other ones (woody black 250cc, storm as well): I fabricated an underneath plumbing contraption out of aluminum pipes and fitting as shown below:
Partial setup shown below, red high-temp permatex gasket maker was used to the water pump housing, inside of the pump and impeller were checked and cleaned and seemed to be ok.
After assemblage, cleaning and adjusting of carburetor and then refilling of the coolant fluid (50% coolant, 50% distilled water) the bike started right up, but it was overheating very fast and with lots of intensity. On occasion of refilling the coolant I burped the system of any pockets of air by leaving it idling for a while with the coolant pressure valve open and rocket the bike help in the process. But the main radiator was completely cool (lower radiator), the upper radiator got hot after a 5 minutes of engine running), the copper pipes underneath were pretty hot, and then engine case and specially the rubber body of the enricher on the carburetor were very hot very hot indeed. So clearly not coolant was circulating up to the lower radiator (the larger and main one) and maybe not even circulating at all to some part of the engine. So I decided to take a closer look at the thermostat; removed, opened it up, and took a look inside, as shown below:
I was expecting to find some spring loaded mechanism inside the thermostat housing that would open or shut the flow of coolant to the engine depending on the engine temperature (shutting the flow in order to allow the engine to reach operating temperature for instance), but found nothing. Thus I found out that the thermostat was absent or non-existent, I have to order one (maybe two).
I also plan on installing a thermostator gauge since the bike has a warning light and buzzer that will sound off when it overheat, but I have no means to monitor the temp.
