Keeping yer engine cool…
Jun 18th, 2010 by Leo
There are parts of Brooklyn (BQE), and Jersey (Lincoln tunnel, why O why do I ever go that way when it’s never good?) when I’m stuck in traffic amidst cars and trucks in warm weather. In those moments I look down at the dash and see the engine temperature rising like, clicking off degrees as though they were seconds…and wonder to myself, “Is this the day? Is this the day when my engine overheats and shuts off and I’m stuck here in the middle of the freaking tunnel through Hades?”
The problem is, bike’s like mine need to move in open air to cool off adequately. And while I’ve never actually overheated (although I’ve seen engine temps around 240 correction…), these high temps are hard on the engine. So what can we do?
A couple of things: First make sure your cooling system is working alright. Have you changed the coolant in the past year or so? It’s probably a good time. Gunk and sediment from boiling anti-freeze can build up and make your cooling system less than 100%. Drain the existing coolant, flush the system with *distilled* water (you can find it often in the health food section of drinks, or at places like Rite Aid). Flush the system until you see only clear water come out with the engine running and warm (to make sure you get all the last bits of coolant in the water pump). And replace.
The second thing you can do will actually lower the engine temperatures is to replace the coolant (not with anti-freeze, but) distilled water plus a couple of cap-fulls of “Water Wetter” (your bike shop should have this, performance auto shops too). Straight (distilled) water cools better than anti-freeze so it’s great for keeping your engine cooler in the summer. But…you need to change it out with anti-freeze in October before temperatures get close to freezing. Straight distilled water needs just a little bit of lubrication to keep from wearing down the water pump, and to prevent corrosion – so that’s what the “water wetter” is for – although if you ran straight distilled water for a couple of days, that would probably be alright.
A third option (a middle road) is to use a product like Engine Ice, which is a special kind of anti-freeze that keeps the engine cooler than regular anti-freeze, and has the added benefit that it’s biodegradable…so when you change it out once a year and just dump it down the drain… that last part is a big plus for me – it’s a pain to collect anti-freeze and take it to a recycling center on a bike. The downside to this product is that it costs a bit more, and it’s hard to find in stores.
So go ahead and cook yer hotdogs and burgers, but don’t cook your engine this summer. Cool running bikes are fine with regular coolant all year round (maybe). But if your bike runs hot in traffic, switch it out with distilled water (plus water wetter) and keep your cooling system clean.
If you don’t know how – there are plenty of good DIY’s you can Google – and probably find a step by step for your exact bike… But once you’ve seen it on one or two bikes, the water pump drain plug pretty much looks the same on any bike, and is (almost) always on the left side near the shifter… Cheers!
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Some bikes run hot, like CBR’s. Even after a coolant change my normal temp when riding on the highway is 160 – 175. Now when I’m stuck in traffic it reaches 210- 220. You know you have a problem if you go above 230.
yeah they do run hot!
I made an edit to the number – I wrote 140, I meant 240… that’s the upper end of the operating range for most inline 4’s.
I’m new to Manhattan, so does anyone know where I can recycle my old antifreeze and oil? I need to do some maintenance this weekend.
Your best bet is any gas station where they (a) sell oil and coolant, and (b) do oil changes. If they do oil changes, that means they have a recycling pickup.
Put the used oil or coolant in throwaway containers (tightly sealed), and swing by and ask if they take used oil/coolant. Usually you can just leave it with them – or sometimes they’ll point you to the recycled oil drum where you’ll have to pour it in yourself.
If you swing by the boroughs, chain stores that sell oil like Strauss (in most boroughs other than Manhattan) take recycled liquids too…