CN250 radiator smoking? By catrell92 (Read 1,120 times)

[catrell92]

i have a storm 250 with the dual radiators in series with one another. the problem is, back in the summer i drilled holes in the lower door panel thing thats located in the step through area in order to get better cooling for that ridiculous cooling setup that they actually think helps ( lower radiator). i used the wrong length screw when re-installing the panel and i accidentally screwed through the radiator a bit. every time i revved the engine, coolant would spurt out of the hole on to the floormat, i used gasket sealant and that seemed to be durable and worked quite good. the lower radiator fan shorted from poor slodering, it was recently replaced by a stripped clipon 12v fan which i bought at CVS and modded in series with the scoots electrical fan/ temp wiring and mounted it by the centerstand mounting bracket, which btw is nicely and neatly mounted as of now. whenever i observe he scoot idling i notice smoke arising from the radiator or steam, the more i rev, the more steam is produced. I live in michigan and the weather is in the 30s, could this be because of the cold weather and hot radiator, i just want to be sure that the bike is getting the adequate amount of cooling, is there any tell tell signs that the motor is really overheating. the overflow doesnt overflow or anything, it stays at the same level and the fans cycle on and off like there supposed too. i was really thinking about ditching the lower radiator and just using the radiator mounted under the fairing, just seems like it would have less chance of an air pocket and a more simple setup, but would 1 small radiator be capable of cooling the motor ? im just being cautious lol btw there are no coolant leaks in the radiator, no wires or anything making contact with it, i checked =] motor runs smooth and no hiccups also, are 2 radiators really necessary ? =/ heres a pic of the scoot

[Cruiser]

Taking out the lower radiator would decrease the amount of coolant in the system and of course would reduce the amount of cooling. Some of these scoots did come through with one radiator, but an additional length of tubing was added in the cooling circuit to make up for this.

Sometimes a little steam as the radiator warms up is normal depending on where the water originates (like condensation or water from a wet road), but this goes away and should not increase especially when revving the engine. It sounds like you still have a pinhole leak. If the temp gage is reading around the middle then there should be no overheating. Otherwise, with the fans cycling on and off and no lose of coolant, the system sounds OK. I would check the coolant at the radiator fill. If you have a pressure leak in the radiator, the overflow will probably not be affected. When the scoot is hot, the excess pressure could be released through the pinhole which would not change the level in the overflow. When the engine cools, air could be drawn in through the pinhole and again the level in the overflow does not change. Check the level in the radiator.