oksohereswhathappened. I got finished with a short city ride. It was hot, but not more than 95 degrees. I got home, shut my 04' 600RR off, and about three minutes after shutting her down, antifreeze exploded out of the radiator. I think it was about a cup and a half of coolant, but it was pretty damn loud. I looked in my reserve tank and still had plenty of coolant. I don't know what caused this and I really don't know if I should take it in to get checked. Anyone have any thoughts on this one??

 

I am not sure what happened, but I do know that my dealer was very specific in saying that these engines should not get up to 235 degrees in temp. Things like what you said will happen. I specifically asked him how hot to let them run and they all said 235 is really as hot as you want it, and if it goes much over that you should either get out of traffic, and put some air in the radiator, or pull over and leave the fan on. So if I am ever out in any weather and note my fan is on when I stop, I usually leave it on if I can.

I thought I would share the advice I got previously on this site, and from the mechanic. I would probably investigate what popped and make sure nothing is broken like a hose or clamp.

 

Put some air in the radiator? Who told you that? Having air bubbles in your system can cause more damage. Check your hoses and cap. I've heard hose clamp going loose under extreme heat expansion. Where did the coolant explode out of? Can't really help cuz of lack of info. From what i am picking up, the coolant exploded from the radiator core itself? Maybe it was punctured by a debree or something.

 

I checked all hoses to the radiator. They are all connected tightly. I believe that the coolant came from the radiator. Once I started the bike again, I let it idle for five minutes, it climbed to 219 degrees and the fan kicked on. It did not seem to take any coolant from the reserve tank. Still very confused.

 

The radiator core itself might be punctured... Take it to the dealer, otherwise you're risking killing your engine.

 

I will take her to the doctor. Thanks for the advice.

 

If it's still under warranty take it in to get checked -- specifically the head bolts should be retorqued. Most likely what happened is you had an air bubble that chose an opportune time to plop out. Any air inside the cooling system can get superheated (over 500F) and with no circulation (shutting down) the bubble expands then floats off somewhere else -- the superheated area immediately boils the coolant and causes it to spit out of the reservoir. I only mention head bolts because a leaky gasket can force exhaust gas into the cooling system. You can remove the radiator cap (when cool) and take a real good sniff -- if no exhaust smell then you're prolly o.k.

 

Ok...Now that I have some better daylight, I took the left front panels off, and found two hoses had separated. Definately where the coolant came from. I believe it was the hose that brings coolant to the engine. I re-connected the hoses tightly, and checked to make sure I had plenty of coolant in the resevoir. I took my baby CBR around the block a couple of times, it climbed to 235 degrees and I brought it back home. I let it cool down by keeping the fan on with the engine off. The temp decreased to 195, but it does not seem to be getting any coolant to the engine. I don't know what to DO at this point. Does anyone have any suggestions??? Should I put distilled water directly in the radiator after it cools down?? Is it possible that my Water pump or Thermostat is out??? HELP!!

 

Something is definitely wrong. Shouldn't really stay that hot even in traffic. While running the fans usually kick on around 220ish and even in traffic if the system is working correctly it'll go down to 205 and start the cycle again. So ya, the two likely causes are thermostat and water pump.

 

Have you refill the radiator with water and coolant again? Making sure there are no air bubbles? You can't just retighten everything and expect radiator to refill itself with the coolant in the overflow reservoire hehe. Take off everything so that you can see radiator cap, open it up mix water and coolant in there... Not sure what the mixture is for motorcycle but i am sure it's same as cars. Fill it up, turn on engine, don't close cap yet and let it run and cycle it. Don't worry it's not gonna spill out yet. As the engine is running, squeeze the hoses making sure to burb out all the air bubbles. Once the engine gets hot and the water/coolant starts to expand, close the cap and take her for a test drive. THis is assuming cooling system is similar to cars.. If not ignore all my advices.