RX3 Cooling System

[pyoungbl]

Originally Posted by madsocial

I'll have my husband read the post and see if he has anything to contribute. He is a airplane/helicopter mechanic/engineer. He takes things apart all the time. I have to keep an eye on my harley or it will end up with a turbo charger.

Ask Luke to take a look at the water pump housing. It seems to me that if the OEM snout is too thin there must be a way to cast a snout with a built in bypass. He's an engineer so he can come up with a solution for us.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by katflap

Wishing to contribute a little but laptop screen is burning me eyes,

suffering with a dose of man flu at the mo.

Could be touch and go for a few days.

Should be Back on top soon

I hope you soon feel well, mate.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by pyoungbl

Now the issue is where to "T" into the water pump intake hose. The water pump housing itself is cast metal, I did not check to see if ferrous or not. The snout is fairly long, maybe 2". Think about possibly drill/tap into that and avoid the short hose problem. I'm wondering about the wall thickness on the snout. Spud, if you have a spare you could measure for us.

Peter Y.

I think you found the correct solution, Peter. I do have a spare, water pump housing, which is cast from aluminum. I believe we can tap an M10-1.0 thread into the flat, thick, reinforced part of the water pump housing at the area shown by the green dot.



Here is a flash photograph which shows the flat, thick, reinforced area of the housing. We would tap into this area on the opposite side of the housing.



The following photographs show the intersection of the coolant inlet with the hub of the water pump housing. We would tap into the coolant inlet about one inch upstream of the hub.







Besides the spare, water pump housing, I also have an M10-1.0 tap.

We can screw one of these M10-1.0 fittings with a 3/8" hose barb into the water pump housing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-3-8-ba...mtr&rmvSB=true



We can remove the temperature probe for the digitial display from the top of the thermostat housing, and install one of the M10-1.10 fittings with a 3/8" hose barb. The bypass will run from the top of the thermostat housing to the water pump housing.



We can move the temperature probe for the digital display into one of the Koso BG018B01, Water Temperature Sensor Adapters (18mm), which we would insert into the hose running from the cylinder head to the thermostat housing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Koso-North-A...037?rmvSB=true



Here is a diagram of the proposed system.

[SpudRider]

Finally, we would remove the stock thermostat, and install one of the spare, Thermo-Bob 3 (TB3) thermostats, which has a higher opening temperature.

The temperature probe for the digital display might not be completely accurate while the thermostat is closed, and the engine is warming up. However, it would be accurate once the thermostat has opened, and the engine has reached operating temperature. This is the only time I am interested in the temperature display, so it is completely acceptable to me.

Here are the approximate costs for the required parts.

Thermo-Bob 3 (TB3) spare thermometer: $19.00 plus shipping cost
2 M10-1.0 hose barbs: $10.58
2 feet of 3/8" heater hose: $2.00
2 3/8" hose clamps: $0.75
Koso BG018B01, Water Temperature Sensor Adapter (18mm): $25.90

The total cost for the system would be approximately $65 USD.

[SpudRider]

The following, radiator fan switch is equivalent to the switch employed by the Zongshen RX3. This switch is designed for the following Suzuki and Kawasaki motorcycles.

Suzuki

GSX-R600 97-05
GSX-R750 96-08
VL/VZ800 01-11
DL1000 V-Strom 03-09
GSX-R1000 01-04
SV1000 03-07
TL1000R/S 98-03
GSX-R1300 “Hayabusa” 99-07

Kawasaki

Ninja ZX-6R 2003-2004
ZX636 2003-2004
ZX600 2003-2004

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...witch&_sacat=0





I have one of these spare switches, which closes at 85 degrees Celsius. Juano has reported some of the RX3 bikes in Argentina have fan switches which close at 93 degrees Celsius. Therefore, we should be able to experiment with fan switches which operate at different temperatures.

[detours]

As I understand it, the bypass need to be smaller than the regular hose so that coolant will continue to pass through the radiators. The bypass will be a 3/8" hose, right? What is the size of the radiator hoses?

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by detours

As I understand it, the bypass need to be smaller than the regular hose so that coolant will continue to pass through the radiators. The bypass will be a 3/8" hose, right? What is the size of the radiator hoses?

The regular hoses are 3/4-inch in diameter. Watt-Man recommended a 3/8-inch hose for the bypass; see post #92 of this thread.

[detours]

I have another question about what could result from this mod.

The mod should result in faster warm-up and reduce hot/cold spots around the cylinder. And raising the crankcase oil temp will also more quickly evaporate fuel, water and contaminants, reducing the amount of fuel in the oil.

My question is this. We already collect a lot of fluid in the OCS. How do we keep the extra gases from condensing in the OCS catch tube and ensure that they are drawn up into the airbox instead?

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by detours

I have another question about what could result from this mod.

The mod should result in faster warm-up and reduce hot/cold spots around the cylinder. And raising the crankcase oil temp will also more quickly evaporate fuel, water and contaminants, reducing the amount of fuel in the oil.

My question is this. We already collect a lot of fluid in the OCS. How do we keep the extra gases from condensing in the OCS catch tube and ensure that they are drawn up into the airbox instead?

I think the first solution is to install the OCS in the 'unofficial' position, as you have proven by valid experimentation.

As a secondary solution, I am going to replace the plug in the collection tube of the OCS with a bolt which is slightly loose. Before the collection tube of my OCS shrunk in size, it would slowly leak the collected fluid. I wish to reproduce that slow leak, so I don't have to check the tube all the time. Ron_B in Alabama has added a fuel petcock to the bottom of his collection tube.

http://www.chinariders.net/showthrea...t=16492&page=4

[madsocial]

Peter, Spud...

Luke said you guys nailed it with most of your recommendations. Luke thinks changing the thermo switch out is the easiest fix. He thinks because the aluminum engine is not getting hot enough, that is the cause to a lot of the issues. Especially the fuel in the oil. He says on Monday we should be doing the first 500 mile valve check and service, so he will have a better look at everything discussed here and follow up with a post.

and yes Spud, I convinced him to start his own profile!

[dpl096]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

Finally, we would remove the stock thermostat, and install one of the spare, Thermo-Bob 3 (TB3) thermostats, which has a higher opening temperature.

The temperature probe for the digital display might not be completely accurate while the thermostat is closed, and the engine is warming up. However, it would be accurate once the thermostat has opened, and the engine has reached operating temperature. This is the only time I am interested in the temperature display, so it is completely acceptable to me.

Here are the approximate costs for the required parts.

Thermo-Bob 3 (TB3) spare thermometer: $19.00 plus shipping cost
2 M10-1.0 hose barbs: $10.58
2 feet of 3/8" heater hose: $2.00
2 3/8" hose clamps: $0.75
Koso BG018B01, Water Temperature Sensor Adapter (18mm): $25.90

The total cost for the system would be approximately $65 USD.

As I understand it Kat has the better diagnostic capability/software? If that is so will he be testing the CR Thermo-Fix?

[SpudRider]

Alternatively, we could also tap the bottom of the right radiator, above the outlet pipe. We also still have the option to install one of the Revloc (SST8K), self-sealing fittings into the radiator hose.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by dpl096

As I understand it Kat has the better diagnostic capability/software? If that is so will he be testing the CR Thermo-Fix?

I'm pretty sure he will be testing things, but I will let him speak for himself. I don't know his plans regarding a Thermo-Bob 3 (TB3) thermostat, et cetera.

[dpl096]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

I'm pretty sure he will be testing things, but I will let him speak for himself. I don't know his plans regarding a Thermo-Bob 3 (TB3) thermostat, et cetera.

Cool - again . . . . great work to all those who have been kicking in with ideas and expertise

[willy dog]

I am not an engine designer nor do i play one on tv but i wonder about making a small engine run hotter I worked on diesels for more years than i would like to remember it was not uncommon for a cat 3406 to go 500 thou. miles unless the owner started messing with injector pump granted it will have more power but the trade off was engine rebuild before it's time i bet Zongshend spent time and money finding were this little 250 likes to run just putting my 2cents in i do believe the fuel in the catch tube is because of engine running "cold" but for now i think i will just drain it