Storm Dual Radiator Coolant Leakage By tk3000 (Read 2,352 times)

[tk3000]

Recently I identified a previously very small hidden leak (given its tiny small proportion) that got much worse. The spot that is leaking is the aluminum plumbing underneath the bike: when I opened the radiator cap the pressure builds up inside and the tiny small hole/segment on the pipe that was leaking showed all its leakage potential. Welding light aluminum does not seem work most of the time, so the first thing that came to mind was JB-Welder, but I am not sure about how well it will hold (and for how long). The plumbing is designed and arranged to maximize the surface area of contact with the air as shown below:



Any insights on other ways to approach such issue would be appreciated.

tk3000

[catrell92]

Ok let's help each other out here, seriously man I actually thought about removing all of that plumbing, seeing as I have the same exact chrome scoot as you. These bikes have been stting with old coolant for 4 years, which equals rust+corrosion. I was going to say to use some silicone adhesive but then it might not retain pressure that is needed. Those pipes specifically worried me because they are terribly corroded, I can even imagine insde the litle bends and crevices. I would go to my local home depot or lowes and purchase that copper plumbing pipe( straight with no curves) and I pretty much gurantee that nice little mod will fix your issue and infact improve your cooling system. Ok now its your turn lol. Today I accidently fell on my airbox as I was cleaning the carb, I'm intrested in maing just an open air filter, is there a certain way I have. To position it ? Help me out. And could you please snap a pic of your valve adjustment because my bike is really hard to start, and do you know where the ground wire from the battery actually connects to the frame ?

[tk3000]

Sorry for the absence of response, I have not had time to work on my bike s lately. Actually that is my seconds 250cc I bought a 250cc Chrome and soon after I bought a 250cc Woody Black One (yeahh, I couldn't resist the deal and also the opportunity to intervene in such machines). Interesting enough even though they are the same model and same year (just different color) there are some differences mainly in the cooling system arrangement (maybe due to parts availability, etc). Thanks for the info about aluminun welding. Is Durafix the commercial name of the rod to solder aluminum and can I buy it at any local home center store (homedepot)? And can I use a small buttane torch such as ones used to solder copper pipes, for instance, to get the job done)?

Below are some pics of the main difference between the Chrome and Woody Black scooters, the disposition and arrangement of the cooling system. On the Chrome one I fill up or top up the coolang through the frontal radiator (radiator cap located on the radiator itselt). On the Black Woody there is no such thing as radiator cap on the radiator itself, but an extension hose that goes up afixed nearby the gas tank whereon there is a fitting for a radiator cap and that where the coolant can filled up or topped up. Other than that, all in all, seems to be about the same scooter
250cc Woody Black coolant system converging point:


250cc Chrome coolant system converging point is frontal radiator:

(note radiator cap on radiator itself)


(extra plumbing apparatus for the coolant system absent in the Chrome one)

The 250cc Woody Black one is certainly more convenient since there is not need to remove the front panel/fairings, and access it is just as easy and straightforward as accessing the fuel tank.

As far as leakage goes I haven't had a change to thoroughly investigate the situation, so the only obvious point of failure identified so far was the aluminum plumbing, and since the system is depleted of coolant (I drained all of it, mostly through the hole in the aluminum plumbing itself) I can not easily verify any other source of leakage. But I intend to overhaul the hole thing, including install new coolant hoses (the original ones seems of decent quality but I will renew them anyway), check and clean some parts (water pump seals and impeller, plumbing, etc). Below are some extra pics of the commencement of the Woody Black coolant overhaul process:







tk

[tk3000]

Oct 31, 2010 16:43:47 GMT -6 catrell92 said:

Ok let's help each other out here, seriously man I actually thought about removing all of that plumbing, seeing as I have the same exact chrome scoot as you. These bikes have been stting with old coolant for 4 years, which equals rust+corrosion. I was going to say to use some silicone adhesive but then it might not retain pressure that is needed. Those pipes specifically worried me because they are terribly corroded, I can even imagine insde the litle bends and crevices. I would go to my local home depot or lowes and purchase that copper plumbing pipe( straight with no curves) and I pretty much gurantee that nice little mod will fix your issue and infact improve your cooling system. Ok now its your turn lol. Today I accidently fell on my airbox as I was cleaning the carb, I'm intrested in maing just an open air filter, is there a certain way I have. To position it ? Help me out. And could you please snap a pic of your valve adjustment because my bike is really hard to start, and do you know where the ground wire from the battery actually connects to the frame ?

I never adjust the valves for such a bike, but it should be simpler than with a gy6 since you don't need to remove the cylinder head to do so (I have done it in my 150cc gy6, and had to remove the head). But you probably will need to remove the CVT case in order to put the piston in the TDC (Top Dead Center Position). Below are couple of links related to such subject:
www.ch250.net/techtips/5.htm
www.ch250.net/techtips/5.htm

And if you do a search in this forum you probably will find how-tos related to valve adjustment for the CN250)

I am not sure how approach using a free flow filter air flow for such a bike since emission lines, breather tubes, and vacuum lines are hooked up to the airbox and other components. I installed a free flow air-filter in my 2-strokes, but that is a completely different beast. And since you are at the carburetor you may want to also remove the air-fuel mix screw (locate at the bottom of the carb on the intake side) clean it and adjust it (I found out that 1200 degrees adjustment should be good for such bike: remove and clean it, then turn it 1200 degrees clockwise in)

Our scooter use a CN250 clone engine and parts (Honda Helix) so there are plenty of information and documentation available. And lots of other Chinese scooter use the same engine and ancillary parts (carburetor, starter, air-box, etc).

tk

[craigftaylor]

The valve adjustment is a piece of cake on this scooter. I bought one too, because I couldn't pass up the price. To adjust valves, loosen the adjuster bolts and pish each adjuster outward until first resistance is felt, back it off one tick mark, then fix bolt. No need to remove valve cover on these engines to adjust valves.

I'm having a cooling issue where the coolant is blown into the reservoir at high throttle settings. My head is flush, as I just took it to a speed shop and had them plane it. I installed a new head gasket too. Having eliminated that problem, why am I losing all my coolant to the reservoir?

[Cruiser]

Maybe you are flowing too much coolant and overwhelming the radiator? The main restriction to flow in the cooling system is the thermostat. Do you still have a thermostat in your scoot?

[yoster]

Whew, craig, I think this whole thread is a bit old