Firing up my LT500 for the first time in 8 months after a complete rebuild didnt go without its problems. The biggest problem I have is the cooling system. It always seemed like it had alot of pressure in the cooling system even before I rebuilt the engine. It had a bad radiator before, and would spray out when I revved it. But now I have a non leaking junk yard radiator and new $22 genuine suzuki radiator cap. After about 1 minute of running the quad, both coolent hoses are ROCK hard. After about 5 minutes the radiator cap starts bypassing into the coolant tank, and a few after that it starts SPRAYING out of the coolant overflow with extreme pressure. It seems like theres 500psi in the cooling system. My brand new water pump is leaking too. The only thing I could think of is a head leak from the compustion chamber. But it runs strong, does not smoke at all..not even a little, the plug looks really clean, and starts adleast on the second kick every time. Where is all this pressure comming from? Maybe theres a restriction somewhere? Would that do it? Is this pressure normal? (cant be!) Any reply I can get on the topic would help me out.

 

Try pressure testing the radiator

 

All that work and its still leaking that sux. i have the oem manual i will check it out in there. also do you have the hoses hooked up to the pump correctly and is the overflow vent by the cap open. I had a problem with the pump leaking a while back there is a seal inside the pump that might need to be replaced. well ill check the book and see what it has
Alex

 

dominator

if your plug is clean like it is when its brand new after you run your machine you are burning water in the cilinder. and this calls for meltdown
but you say no smoke are you sure!!


just curious??

 

You may have a leak into the water jackets, the cylinder is pressurizing it. I would do a pressure check on the bike and see if you can see or here any leaks anywhere, I'll bet it is between the head and jug. Take the tank off, and pull the plug and see if you can see any water collecting on top of the piston.

 

Thanks for the replys. I rode the bike for adleast 3 hours that day without any problems. The motor seems to run really strong, I just hate to think theres a problem. I'll double check my head for leaks, and maybe look for a restriction in the cooling system somewhere. Thanks again for your advice.