Coolant Leak

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g_man1968
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Coolant Leak

Post by g_man1968 »

Hello. This is my first post on the forum. I bought a 2004 kdx220 last winter. The bike has the fredette mods and Gnarly pipe along with some other non-performance mods. It was also owned by a mechanic who appears to have taken meticulous care of the bike. I took it out for the first time on Memorial Day and had an absolute blast. Its my first bike since I was a teenager many moons ago riding a YZ80. In any event, I had absolutely no trouble with the bike riding the whole day in the woods. I was planning another trip this weekend but the trip got cancelled due to other plans so I decided to drain the little remaining gas out of the tank because I won't be able to ride again until Labor day. Since there was not much gas in the tank, I thought I could just start it up and let the bike idle until the bike went dry like I do with every other small engine I own. I started the bike on the driveway and after about 10 minutes went back out to check on it and noticed a good amount of coolant leaked out under the bike. While I can't be sure, I think the coolant was coming from the overflow tube which is routed down to the top of my skid plate. I quickly turned the bike off and noticed the overflow tank was completely empty and the radiator was low.

Then, I started reading both here and elsewhere on the web. My initial conclusion is that the combination of the outside temperature (80+ degrees) and the fact that I had no air going through the radiator lead to the overheating and there is likely nothing more serious going on. So, my initial thought is to just get some antifreeze and fill up a 50/50 mixture and keep an eye on it. I would like some opinions about whether this is likely accurate and, if not, what I should do next. Thanks in advance for your help. - Jay
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Postigo
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Re: Coolant Leak

Post by Postigo »

Please don't do that again. two strokes engines are not design for log time idling periods and a water cooled dirt bikes doesn't have fans to cool down the engine like cars or street bikes. What you saw in your bike was a typical overheat.
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royadams
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Re: Coolant Leak

Post by royadams »

If you want to drain the fuel just loosen the plug on the bottom of the float bowl.
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bufftester
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Re: Coolant Leak

Post by bufftester »

Typical for 2T dirt bikes, they don't like idling for long periods. Next time just turn off the petcock, open the float drain. No need to empty the tank if its going to sit a couple months, as long as you top it up with fresh gas before the next ride.
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rbates9
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Re: Coolant Leak

Post by rbates9 »

bufftester wrote: Next time just turn off the petcock, open the float drain. No need to empty the tank if its going to sit a couple months, as long as you top it up with fresh gas before the next ride.
With the crap gas these days I would either drain the gas or add plenty of stabil to it. Just my .02.

Also how long did you let it idle? I have left mine idling for a LONG time because I went in the house for something and forgot about it and never had any issues.
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