puddle of coolant

Hi , I have just done my normal commute home from work and got stuck in some traffic due to road works in the sweltering heat and i actually saw the temp gauge moved up to about 80 for the first time since i got the bike. I have had the bike about a month so far with no problems but when i parked up tonight little kitty wet herself. ( i nearly did to when i saw the puddle ). The coolant was coming from the expansion tank overflow pipe then running down into the fairing lower. Is this normal on Cats or just that its been overfilled by the previous owner and its the first time its got hot. Also what temp should the fan cut in as i have not heard it work yet??
thanks Paul

Mine has never wet itself but it could have been overfilled.

The fan cuts in at an alarmingly high temperature, around 105°C from memory.

weasley wrote:Mine has never wet itself but it could have been overfilled.

The fan cuts in at an alarmingly high temperature, around 105°C from memory.

105 wow , maybe thats why i have not heard it yet.
I am hoping its just overfilled. It has cooled for a couple of hours and the level has dropped an inch in the bottle under the seat.

Worth keeping an eye on it; if it goes again I'd take a good look at the cooling system.

From the expansion bottle pipe would be OK, anywhere else could be a worry. My kitty became incontinent  a few weeks back, it threw a seal in the water pump - glad it got fixed in time. This evening it got to 100C fairly easily stopped at lights, fan hadn't kicked in - does it around 103~105 as Weasley says.

SLIM wrote:I am hoping its just overfilled. It has cooled for a couple of hours and the level has dropped an inch in the bottle under the seat.

That an inch lower than it was or an inch from the top? If from the top, then it overfilled.

How funny my big kitty did the same thing tonight! ..although I know I overfilled the expansion tank so could well be the case!

Best way to check is just to start your bike and leave her running for 15 mins or so.

Just keep an eye on the gauge.

If the fan hasn't kicked in by the time the needle is touching the red then I'd switch her off just in case.
It is the air passing through the radiator that normally takes the heat away but doing it this way should force your fan to kick in.

Don't worry - a hell of a lot of folk post this type of question up. It is probably fine.

Ps there is possibly a more scientific way of testing it but it works for me.

Keep an eye on your coolant level over the next few runs too.

Cheers
Rosco

Rosco wrote:
Ps there is possibly a more scientific way of testing it but it works for me.

I believe if you take the wire off the temp sensor and earth it, the fan will kick in. I can't be bothered with that - a few minutes in the big smoke usually gets the fan going.


The expansion tank has  upper and lower level markings

SteveCat wrote:

Rosco wrote:
Ps there is possibly a more scientific way of testing it but it works for me.

I believe if you take the wire off the temp sensor and earth it, the fan will kick in. I can't be bothered with that - a few minutes in the big smoke usually gets the fan going.


The expansion tank has  upper and lower level markings

looking at the picture it was overfilled as it is still just above the full line , so the level when cold is about an inch below the overflow pipe in the neck of the tank and when hot rises up a bit, no water lost today . fingers crossed it was just topped up too much.

Been using the bike for a week with no more water puddles and the level in the tank is stable so it looks like it was just overfilled. I left it idling when i got home from work and the fan is working ok, cut in just over 100 and off about 80 degrees.
Thanks for your help with this. Paul