New Coolant will not circulate after refill, completing successful flush and change - anyone else? Any ideas on what might be causing it?

[Cobranut]

Well, I did a coolant flush and change today.
I cut the Oetiker clamp and disconnected the lower radiator hose to drain the original coolant.
It appeared clean, orange, and with no noticeable contamination.

I then filled it with distilled water, ran the engine without the pressure cap until the thermostat opened and the radiators got hot, and again drained. I did this 3 more times, filling the reservoir with distilled water each time to get all the old coolant out.
Each time, the radiators got hot in just a few minutes, and everything worked as normal.

Finally, I reconnected the hose with a new clamp, and I filled the system with Peak Final Charge PRO series mixed with 50% distilled water.

When I started the bike this time, the coolant would not circulate, even though the engine temp quickly went above 205 degrees.

The only difference besides the coolant mix is that this time, I filled the reservoir to the proper level, instead of filling it to the top when flushing.
The level was an inch or so below the cold level when I bought the bike, and it never had a cooling problem, but for some reason it refuses to circulate now.

I guess it's possible that the thermostat decided to stick at this very moment, but I wanted to ask if anyone else has had a similar problem.

I guess I'll try tomorrow morning filling the reservoir fully to see if it will help, but I hate to add more coolant just to remove it back down to the proper level later.

If anyone has had a similar experience, what did it turn out to be?

Thanks,
David

 

[Peter Aawen]

Is there any chance that you have somehow trapped a bubble of air in/around the thermostat housing, water pump, &/or temp sensor??

I know they are meant to be 'self-bleeding' (or more correctly, 'self-burping'! ) but I've seen quite a few Spyders that've had large air pockets/bubbles of air trapped in the cooling system after a coolant change, air pockets/bubbles that've needed 'burping' by running the engine at a fast idle to forcibly heat up and circulate the coolant for at least 30 mins/a couple of 'on/off fan cycles' before they've purged all the air pockets out of the system and finally gone back to 'normal' operating; and sometimes those air pockets can fool the system into thinking the coolant is boiling/over-heating when actually it's only the air trapped around the sensor/thermostat housing/in the water pump that's causing the reading/lack of opening/poor or non-existent coolant circulation?! You can check for any/all this by physically holding/feeling how hot the bottom & top of the radiators and the hoses actually are when the system is reporting those high temps/not circulating coolant - if the gauge says the temp is high but the radiators &/or hoses aren't hot &/or the coolant's not circulating, then either you've got a dud gauge, water pump, thermostat, OR any of those are cavitating &/or the temp sensor is reading the localised temp in a patch of trapped air or coolant that's not circulating.

So maybe you might want to see if 'burping' the system helps any?? Do this by raising the front of the Spyder so that the cap on the top of the over-flow reservoir is the highest part of the cooling system, then topping the reservoir up (and keeping it topped up) while you run the engine at a fast idle for at least 30 minutes/a couple of fan on/off cycles and until you see no more bubbles surfacing in the coolant/cooling system reservoir!? Sure, you'll probably over-flow & waste a bit of coolant while you do this, but 'wasting' a little coolant is a helluva lot cheaper than having to fork out for a new engine cos you over-heated the last one simply because you didn't properly purge all the air out of the cooling system; and if this 'burping' thing is what it takes to purge the cooling system of any/all the air pockets that could otherwise cause seriously expensive over-heating issues, then what the heck, surely it's worth it! Isn't it??

And really, if you haven't done this to make sure you've purged all the air out of the system FIRST, then any other diagnosis is suspect...

Here's hoping it just needs a good burp!

 

[Cobranut]

Is there any chance that you have somehow trapped a bubble of air in/around the thermostat housing, water pump, &/or temp sensor??

I know they are meant to be 'self-bleeding' (or more correctly, 'self-burping'! ) but I've seen quite a few Spyders that've had large air pockets/bubbles of air trapped in the cooling system after a coolant change, air pockets/bubbles that've needed 'burping' by running the engine at a fast idle to forcibly heat up and circulate the coolant for at least 30 mins/a couple of 'on/off fan cycles' before they've purged all the air pockets out of the system and finally gone back to 'normal' operating; and sometimes those air pockets can fool the system into thinking the coolant is boiling/over-heating when actually it's only the air trapped around the sensor/thermostat housing/in the water pump that's causing the reading/lack of opening/poor or non-existent coolant circulation?! You can check for any/all this by physically holding/feeling how hot the bottom & top of the radiators and the hoses actually are when the system is reporting those high temps/not circulating coolant - if the gauge says the temp is high but the radiators &/or hoses aren't hot &/or the coolant's not circulating, then either you've got a dud gauge, water pump, thermostat, OR any of those are cavitating &/or the temp sensor is reading the localised temp in a patch of trapped air or coolant that's not circulating.

So maybe you might want to see if 'burping' the system helps any?? Do this by raising the front of the Spyder so that the cap on the top of the over-flow reservoir is the highest part of the cooling system, then topping the reservoir up (and keeping it topped up) while you run the engine at a fast idle for at least 30 minutes/a couple of fan on/off cycles and until you see no more bubbles surfacing in the coolant/cooling system reservoir!? Sure, you'll probably over-flow & waste a bit of coolant while you do this, but 'wasting' a little coolant is a helluva lot cheaper than having to fork out for a new engine cos you over-heated the last one simply because you didn't properly purge all the air out of the cooling system; and if this 'burping' thing is what it takes to purge the cooling system of any/all the air pockets that could otherwise cause seriously expensive over-heating issues, then what the heck, surely it's worth it! Isn't it??

And really, if you haven't done this to make sure you've purged all the air out of the system FIRST, then any other diagnosis is suspect...

Here's hoping it just needs a good burp!

Thanks Peter,

That's what I'm suspecting, as it circulated fine every time I filled it fully when flushing.
The only difference besides the coolant is the level I filled it to.

I'll know tomorrow if that works.

 

[Little Blue]

I am feeling good about this one.
Definitely keep the overflow tank as the highest point. It should bleed out and return to normal.

PS: I can't believe that something is blocking the bleed hole in the thermostat.
Good Luck with your Mission.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Mikey]

I would take it for a short ride, up and down a good hill if you have one close! If not, try to run it up a set of car ramps. That may get things going for you!

 

[Albec]

Not having done this work in the past on a Spyder but based on other vehicles that I've done this work on.

Have you tried giving the hoses a squeeze to see if any air can be burped out?

 

[Jackhartjr]

Not trying to throw shade here... However, wanting to know why flushing the coolant system is needed?
I would imagine that most never are.

 

[jjc54]

Not trying to throw shade here... However, wanting to know why flushing the coolant system is needed?
I would imagine that most never are.

I suspect this was done after reading the horror stories of what can happen when mixing non-compatible coolant types. I flushed mine 2x when changing mine last time to a different brand.

 

[Hypurone]

Well, I did a coolant flush and change today.
I cut the Oetiker clamp and disconnected the lower radiator hose to drain the original coolant.
It appeared clean, orange, and with no noticeable contamination.

I then filled it with distilled water, ran the engine without the pressure cap until the thermostat opened and the radiators got hot, and again drained. I did this 3 more times, filling the reservoir with distilled water each time to get all the old coolant out.
Each time, the radiators got hot in just a few minutes, and everything worked as normal.

Finally, I reconnected the hose with a new clamp, and I filled the system with Peak Final Charge PRO series mixed with 50% distilled water.

When I started the bike this time, the coolant would not circulate, even though the engine temp quickly went above 205 degrees.

The only difference besides the coolant mix is that this time, I filled the reservoir to the proper level, instead of filling it to the top when flushing.
The level was an inch or so below the cold level when I bought the bike, and it never had a cooling problem, but for some reason it refuses to circulate now.

I guess it's possible that the thermostat decided to stick at this very moment, but I wanted to ask if anyone else has had a similar problem.

I guess I'll try tomorrow morning filling the reservoir fully to see if it will help, but I hate to add more coolant just to remove it back down to the proper level later.

If anyone has had a similar experience, what did it turn out to be?

Thanks,
David

There is a bleeder on the front of the block (same side as the W/P) that will help things along!

 

[Cobranut]

Not trying to throw shade here... However, wanting to know why flushing the coolant system is needed?
I would imagine that most never are.

I wanted to change to the coolant I'm using in other vehicles, so getting all the old coolant out is best practice to avoid issues.

There is a bleeder on the front of the block (same side as the W/P) that will help things along!

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

 

[Cobranut]

This morning I jacked up the front end, added another pint of coolant and started the bike.
Within a short time the temp rose to the thermostat opening temp, with no sign of circulation through the radiators.

Next, I loosened the bleeder screw at the front of the block, letting a couple ounces of coolant drain, and fired it up again.
This time the temp took a few minutes to rise, as is usually the case.
As the temp reached around 165-170 the radiators began to get warm, and things are working normal again.
Apparently a small bubble was trapped and the bleeder let it out.

I let it run until up to normal temp, and a few throttle blips spit out the excess coolant, bringing it down to the hot full level.

Thanks everyone for your help.
I hope this helps out anyone else who runs into this problem. That bleeder screw is your friend.

 

[RickWB]

I did a demo ride on the 2022 F3-L that I just purchased. Returning from the ride ‘high coolant temp’ came up on the screen. The fans started and a warning symbol (within the temp range on the gauge). The dealer thought it may be airlocked, and no longer a warning symbol. They are going to inspect the cooling system.

 

[Cobranut]

I did a demo ride on the 2022 F3-L that I just purchased. Returning from the ride ‘high coolant temp’ came up on the screen. The fans started and a warning symbol (within the temp range on the gauge). Dealer thought it may be airlocked, and no longer a warning symbol. They are going to inspect the cooling system.

I'm using my DynoJet PV4 to read temps.
The dash gauge, like most idiot gauges on modern cars, doesn't really tell you anything beyond cold, warming up, and OH CRAP overheated! It never moves from mid-scale, even when the temp rises to the factory fan cut-in setting of around 225 degrees.

My thermostat regulates normal temp at around 175-180, and I set my fans to cut-in at 189, and off at 182. My actual temp now stays much more stable in traffic and at slow speeds.