Motorcycle Coolant Expansion Tanks | How they work + Practical Experiment!

What is that little tank on the side of your motorcycle and how does it work? Simply explained with a practical experiment!
Motorcycle Engine Cooling! | How it works, Simply Explained! : • Motorcycle Engine Cool...
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[@_JP18]

Fantastic video! Drawing and experiment were very easy to follow and now I feel smarter! 😂. Thank you very much.

[@spicy110]

Glad it helped!

[@Grahamvfr]

Thank you for the effort involved in this explanation 👍

[@user-yi2vy8mn9e]

Great video no time wasted made it very easy to understand

[@martingecko2786]

Great explanation + no music. Well done and thanks for info m8

[@PadmaDorjee]

This was a fantastically helpful video, thank you

[@MRrailaway]

Never thought about this but its clear to me now, thanks spicy

[@HippoDrones]

Awesome experiment, it also shows how a thermometer works too!

[@DRFTH43]

Thanks, just bought dt80 and was wondering how it works

[@spicy110]

No problem 👍

[@scottbieber1731]

Use a fan to cool it down, you should get better results! Not just on the radiator but all parts involved!

[@maycrotch8576]

Very easy to understand explanations. 🙂

[@TheJmebe]

Excellent explanation

[@sefton1972]

Brilliant job Mr Spicy.

[@simonmaguire2634]

brilliant explanation well done

[@spicy110]

Glad you liked it!

[@maison222]

Good work, enjoyable vid ty

[@zingertar]

Some beautiful drawings Spicy 😏

[@spicy110]

🙈

[@HosephGillcrist]

This was a phenomenal video. Thank you for doing such a good job explaining. Quick question. Since this is a system using a vacuum, does it matter where I mount the overflow tank in relation to the radiator on the Y axis? For instance if I mounted it in the back fender of my adv bike, it would be slightly higher than the radiator cap.

[@Joao18]

No it wont matter, in fact i have a ninja 400 where the OEM expansion tank sits higher that the radiator cap. Vacuum will work independent of where you have your expansion tank.

[@bryanduke430]

Should the reservoir be higher or lower than the radiator cap

[@tooakki]

"Simplified it with a Turkey Baster" Good video

[@sirpleasee3472]

How do you take out air bubbles?

[@peterboyes2790]

What a great experiment, especially for a layman like me! I understand the bottom fill situation, so does it matter if the tube goes in from the top, but reaches the bottom, so it will always be in the fluid so no air can enter? Cheers!

[@spicy110]

yes any air will make it harder or impossible for the flow to go back.

[@oliverjones5654]

I have a africa twin 750 2001, how come my overflow coolant tank has a minimum and maximum line, I have checked the coolant tank when cold and it is completely empty, from your explanation this seems normal but why is there a minimum line if that's the case?

[@user-xb4nn6ql5l]

You should do a how-to-install the turkey baster mod. If it’s well labelled as a drz thing, you’ll get a gazillion new subscribers from Australia and North America, where you can still buy them new. DRZ dual sport bros will go bananas for it.

[@spicy110]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4KsnpiYet2FrtE

[@dwninetynine]

Thank you for this, extremely informative.. I am buidling a cafe rcer and hence m removing the fairings, the current system has a huge expansion tank that will now have nowhere to live if I run faring less... You made mention to waterless fluid (which I have bought) after watching a Jay Leno KZbin video where he had the Evans guys talking about the benefits of waterless coolant. He even said in the video that you could theoretically remove the expansion tank as becaue there is no water inthe coolant, there is therefore no expansion hence no need for the catch tank... Was curious to your thoughts on this? I'm planning on testing by simply plugging the overflow pipe.

[@spicy110]

No, even with waterless coolant ( I am not sure how good it is anyway, be very careful about claims on shows like his. They are paying to be there!) you need to have a overflow open to atmosphere as is for some reason it did expand it would damage something. You maybe able to remove the overflow tank and have it open to drain to ground (depending where you live in the world) though!

[@chewie8]

Perfect timing. I looked at mine yesterday and it was empty. Shouldn't the overflow have coolant within upto the min level when the engine is cold?

[@spicy110]

Depends on bike as to what is normal to my understanding so I do not want to give a blanket answer.

[@benlondon8467]

No it don’t need anything in the bottle cold, if the bike overheats , coolant can overflow from radiator to overflow bottle, once the engine cools again, the coolant in overflow bottle will get sucked back into radiator. No overflow bottle and the radiator overflow will just get put on the ground ( wasted )

[@forevercomputing]

Yes. Minimum when cold so there is something to draw and expand in to. If it's empty, a cycle should create expansion and air should go through the tank and when cooling it should draw some in. But better to just fill the radiator directly first. There is sometimes 2x sets of markings cold min/max and hot min/max.

[@forevercomputing]

@@benlondon8467 So, you run the risk of not enough coolant. Some in the reservoir ensure the cooling has enough liquid to cool the engine. By having a max and minimum it should allow for a leak and any leaks to be noted.

[@benlondon8467]

@@forevercomputing no I never run a risk, I make sure the radiator is full at all times, if it had to overflow due to over heat, there is plenty of room in the overflow bottle to accommodate.

[@mikeprice741]

I've watched your video and found it very interesting i have just purchased a kawasaki z1000sx while cleaning i noticed no water in expansion tank and thought there should be liquid in at all time I ran the bike this morning to running temperature till the fan kicked in and noticed fluid in the tank as you explained now my question is do I need fluid in the expansion tank at all times even when cold ? I'm getting mixed opinions plus I'm now worried about riding my bike cheers Mike

[@spicy110]

It depends on the bike, some suggest having some in there others do not. I would just make sure you are not low on coolant as this could be the reason or it could be normal.

[@mikeprice741]

@@spicy110 check coolant in radiator?

[@spicy110]

yes, if it is too low it will not reach the top of the rad to fill the expansion tank.

[@mikeprice741]

@@spicy110 thats the thing after I ran it up to temperature and the fan kicked in there was fluid in the expansion tank just above the low level mark now I've just checked the expansion tank all the full as gone back into system leaving just a little bit of fluid in the corner of the tank

[@spicy110]

Are well that sound spot on!

[@6226superhurricane]

the main reason why the turkey baster mod is stupid is in the event the bike boils the coolant the turkey baster just isn't large enough to catch the amount of coolant being forced out by steam and the steam itself will push any liquid out of the baster due to it's narrow tube shape. it's also so close to the radiator that the steam hasn't had any chance to condense and the baster itself is heated by the hot radiator. it also interrupts airflow through the radiators in normal use. so now you've set yourself up a scenario where if the bike boils at best you'll lose half your coolant and you'll be stuck longer waiting for the bike to cool before you remove the radiator cap to refill it with water that hopefully you have to spare so you can continue. the drz's factory coolant overflow reservoir can catch a complete boil over besides what escapes as water vapour out of the overflow vent. it returns to the radiator quicker as hot water that won't temperature shock a hot engine and you retain enough coolant that the bike can safely be operated. now on an sm you have a thermostat and a fan so it's not likely to boil over. it sounds like you live in the uk where access to water is easy and you're never far from it. but be aware that E models do not use a fan or thermostat and although cooling is excellent they will boil over with no airflow for long enough. if you're in outback australia crossing the simpson desert with no water sources or human habitation for 500km you can't afford to be wasting drinking water refilling you radiators, even if you're only 20km from home it's a major pain the backside. basically the drz coolant overflow isn't broken don't try to fix it.

[@spicy110]

As you said in the end It is an SM, it has only ever overheated on me once when I had an issue with the cooling system. That was way before this was fitted, never had an issue before or since. Also, the fan very rarely comes on as it never gets that hot. Yes, getting water is not tricky and if it were I would just call recovery (free with my insurance might as well use it lol) you are right if you live in a very hot country maybe not be the best Idea but I don't, this is the UK. In the years since this video was made it has been on the bike and worked perfectly even on the 30.c+ days we get in the summer now. For me, I mostly removed it for looks and I think it looks great like this, never cursed a single issue so maybe understand not all situations are the same and this is a very viable option for people like me. So I agree IF it was an E and IF I lived in a hot country. Rather than saying it is wrong, it might be better to say, "It won't work for all situations" because as I have said it does work perfectly and there is no getting around that, it is road proven.

[@6226superhurricane]

@@spicy110 except it doesn't work perfectly, that was the the whole point of me replying in the first place. it only works in ideal conditions and the most important function of the overflow has been removed. maybe rather than tell me what i should say, maybe you should think about what you do say on your videos and tell people this is not ideal and could leave you stranded somewhere with a cooked motor and no drinking water.

[@spicy110]

@michael close Expect it does work perfectly for my bike in my situation, 1000s of miles proven. It is not ideal conditions it is called living in the UK. In all the years I had this bike with the normal tank it never put more than 100ml in there. My mod has never filled past 30% and returned perfectly. I am not telling people to do it, this video explains how it works. This was after I fitted it in a video in my custom build seise of this bike and people did not understand how the coolant could get back out of an expansion tank. As I said I agree with you IF I LIVED IN A HOT COUNTRY but I don't and this has proven to work for me. The only difference is for some reason you seem to think I have told people to do this and also somehow I am responsible for people's actions. I have only said how it works and why I did it to my bike. Also be realistic If someone watches this, fits a mod like this, and then heads off into the Simpson.....I have a feeling there are a lot more and larger issues than this to come from their lack of knowledge. I also do not check my boots for venomous spiders, should I also warn people of that even though I live in a country that doesn't have any?

[@6226superhurricane]

@@spicy110 you still keep saying it works perfectly, yet you concede that in a boil over it wouldn't work. so it doesn't work perfectly. it only works adequately in ideal conditions and it's most important function is lost. it's a crap mod for the sake of doing a crap mod that ignores the most important function of the standard coolant recovery tank. Also trying to use the whole i live in the uk it'll never happen to me argument to imply i've missed something is pretty ignorant when i've already covered that in my original comment. catching a boil over is feature nobody needs until they do, it's only the consequences that might be different.

[@spicy110]

Why is it going to boil over? Not through normal use so mechanical issue, so I get recovery. it holds and returns what is needed day to day. It works, its on my bike and what I do to my bike has nothing to do with anyone but me. I have agreed with your core point, it has less capacity. If you really overheated the bike with a stock tank it's still going to spill out the overflow on the tank as it hold like 400ml? stop being such a floppy pancake! 😂

[@SW400SM]

Best placed in front of the rad so any hot overspill from the rad gets cooled quickly to be sucked back in!

[@benlondon8467]

Nope, it’s got nothing to do with the overflow bottle coolant cooling, it’s all about the water in Engine/ Radiator cooling back to a normal level than it he coolant in bottle will get sucked back into the coolant system.

[@SW400SM]

@@benlondon8467 there's an echo in the response you gave which only went on further to mention that the water in the engine cools. 😁 The whole point of my mentioning the placement in front of the radiator is that it will rapidly cool the immediate overspill of boiling water to be cooled 'efficiently'. Of course when the water in the engine cools it then facilitates room for the already cooled overspill to be sucked back in. I guess you got triggered and thought I meant it goes straight back in after leaving through the pressure valve! (Which I didn't mention) 😲

[@benlondon8467]

@@SW400SM you’ve lost it mate, get off the drugs, it’s screwing your brain.

[@MadNath]

@spicy110 what material is used for sump washer is your drz a 14mm crush washer? Is it copper or alloy

[@spicy110]

I think it's alloy but copper will still work.

[@MadNath]

@@spicy110 safe to re use old 1 then

[@spicy110]

@@MadNath haha or course you should replace it but I have re-used them a few times. Just make sure it has not already been flattened by over-tightening and dont over do it yourself and it should be ok. However I will make it clear you do rish an oil leak so it is your risk to take.

[@MadNath]

@@spicy110 💪 or go to B&Q for a pack of 14mm washers

[@spicy110]

@@MadNath as long as it is not steel haha

[@MattJonesGR9]

Vacuum I think

[@JustJaQ_]

I let my bike run for 30 mins in the garage to run out bad gas. Temperature got to 255 i turned it off 30 seconds later coolant came from my overflow hose. I’m lost

[@spicy110]

When the engine is turned off the coolant stops circulating, then the coolant in the engine gets time to heat up more than normal, expanding all the fluid inside so it then came out.

[@JustJaQ_]

@@spicy110 ok thank makes sense thank you. Do you think i have a problem because it over heated like the water pump and came out or that was it’s job because the coolant was already in the engine and i turned it off?

[@spicy110]

@@JustJaQ_ not if you ran the bike on the spot for an exstended amount of time. The bikes cooling system is designed to work with airflow.

[@JustJaQ_]

@@spicy110 i should be able to just replace the spilled coolant and be good to go

[@spicy110]

In theory yes.

[@steersy3420]

It's still witchcraft to me🤣🤣

[@maycrotch8576]

PULTOST!!!!!!!!!!

[@Glories999]

So if I buy a 2 litre bottle of water and heat it up I'll have 3 litres of water? Think I've just solved the worlds thirst

[@spicy110]

Hahaha 😄