Learned Some Stuff! 2 and 4 Wheel Edition

"Tripper" (tripe46) 09/21/2020 at 10:38 • Filed to: None

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Saturday was to be my last day on my 2020 YT Jeffsy (mountain bicycle). I had planned to get rid of it because I just could not keep the front wheel from washing out. Ever since I took it to a downhill spot at a ski resort a month or two ago , I have been riding like absolute trash. My last 3 rides have been just awful, either I go into any turn like a complete wuss or I crash...no in between. Going into any kind of steep valley...it was like crashing into a wall on the exit... I watched a bunch of videos on technique figuring I was just too bad of a rider for this fancy bike.

bikeonacar

We reached a loose gravel driveway on our ride Saturday afternoon. I got off my bike wanting to throw it and said to my best friend, “here, ride this piece of shit around the corner in that gravel”

He rides it, nearly falls. Then he twisted a knob I have never seen before at the bottom of my front fork. FIXED. The rebound was turned all the way down (I also may need some air in there) so the shock would take the first impact and then no more after that...

He had actually asked me about that setting after I crashed in one of the steep dips but all I could say was “fuckfuckassfuckshitfuckyouletsgo”. I’m kind of the “Medic” in my riding group. I carry everything someone might need, and I can rig/ fix anything, but I have NO idea where I’m going and obviously, I don’t really understand how my bike works. Luckily my pal does understand how the bikes work and naturally only carries water. Our other buddy is an ex- Navy heli pilot and an excellent navigator.

Anyway, Sunday was car day. My 1502 has had every fluid changed except coolant since it arrived stateside in January of 2019. It has never overheated, but when sitting at a red light on really hot days it would start to climb a little. The temp fluctuated in other weird ways occasionally. Like it would start to get hot when I got on the high way, and then cool off (maybe a sticky thermostat, but I have always heard those things work or they don’t.) I had added distilled water which stopped highway symptoms, but it still would get warm when idling for a while.

So, while mostly annoying to have a sloped driveway, mine is such that a car is almost perfectly level once pulled up on car ramps! Nose is slightly higher, but that is recommended in the manual for the refill procedure.

First, I changed the oil . It always freaks me out for a sec when I see the blue/green color of the oil that goes in this thing. Believe it or not I can actually change the oil on the ground (and usually do as that gets the most oil out) the plug is at the front left of the oil pan when you look underneath the car and I have a catch tray that is just shallow enough to sneak under. Filter is at an easy angle, so you only need hands to install/remove it.

Next, the coolant. I have previously outsourced coolant flushes because it’ s kind of a pain on newer BMWs, but more so because it’s something I have never done on my own and always just figured I’d do it, fuck something up and be left with an overheating car AND a mess . I have helped others and we had to burp the air out of the system, run it without the cap on etc...

I have become much more confident with a wrench in recent years and t here is just something about that old Bimmer that makes me feel guilty for even thinking about having someone else work on it. The car is SO simple and the cooling system is no exception. So, I got the coolant, scanned and printed the appropriate page from my Haynes manual and got started.

My biggest concern was containing the coolant. For this I employed a large “under- bed” storage box which worked really well. There’s no drain plug on my radiator, so I disconnected the lower hose from the thermo and turned it until it was pointed down, then I pulled the plug from the engine block and A LOT of coolant came out. 80% made it into the tray, the other 20% bounced all over the suspension components and was then absorbed by huge towel I had under the work area. Now I know where to put the tray for next time!

Next I put a hose in the top of the radiator and let it flush for a sec, then I reconnected the lower hose to the thermo and let the hose rip again until it ran clear out of the engine block (almost immediately ). I disconnected the lower hose again to let the hose water out, almost forgot to do this! I poured the coolant/rinse water into a HD bucket and pressed on one of those leak tite lids.

I buttoned everything up and refilled. RED FLAG #1 - missed. I know that the cooling system has just shy of a 2 gallon capacity. I know this because I looked all over the internet AND read it in the Haynes manual because I was SO concerned about how much fluid would come out. In addition, I poured just shy of two gallons of used coolant into a big 5 gallon bucket just minutes earlier. However, I poured in ONE gallon of coolant and it ended up right at the fill level...boom done said my dumbass brain.

I then put the second gallon of coolant that I bought (cause ya know two gallons out two gallons in right?) in the car with me.... JUST IN CASE I NEEDED TO TOP IT UP. I also threw my top up oil bottle in there in case I came up short on that too.

I go off for my TD and obviously it overheats...my heart sinks I start to panic as I pull over. I shut the car off, threw a big towel over the radiator cap and carefully opened it. BURP, and it needed a little coolant... ok no big. Back in the car, overheats.. pull over call my pal he tells me what I already know about air in the system etc. I try running it with the cap open it just gets hot and does not look like the coolant is going anywhere. I was about a mile from my house, so I decided to let it cool for a few minutes and try to get home which I did by shutting the engine off going down hills, haha.

I get back to my driveway kind of defeated/furious with myself. I quickly posted to the BMW 2002 FB group knowing that I would net immediate responses. I tried their suggestions: Park nose up on an incline, squeeze the hoses, run it with the cap off. Each time I shut the engine off I was able to add a tiny bit more coolant. One of those times I did get a big bubble out, but it spit coolant everywhere. So, I had to clean that up before I continued. STILL getting too hot. So, I tried actually driving the car between each burp/coolant add...That got the coolant moving and the engine cooled to about where it would sit at idle before I started this mess. I checked the coolant level one more time and it had dropped more than it had this whole time! I filled it back up and wouldn’t ya know I used almost all of that second bottle LOL. It is now running cool as an MF cucumber. So, I learned a lot and escaped with only a burn on my arm. One of the guys on the FB group recommended squeezing the hoses but said to keep my fingers away from the radiator fan...I did that and in doing so put my forearm on the engine!!

Finally, and most importantly I got my first unsolicited “I love you” from my child this weekend, can’t touch that!

Happy Monday!

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 10:47

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Ooooh, that is a nasty burn. I’m glad you learned something from the ordeal because otherwise that’s a lot of pain for little gain. Have you since noticed that the new coolant has helped keep it cool?

This reminds me of how stupid modern FWD cars are with their enormous front overhangs. My car cannot use any sort of ramps because the front juts out way too far. Just to get my jack under the car involves some finagling with driving on top of small wooden blocks so I can get the jack to the jack points. 

The Ghost of Oppo > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 10:49

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Get yourself a high pressure shock pump. The Rockshox one is only like $25.  

Tripper > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 09/21/2020 at 10:49

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Yeah it runs significantly cooler now. Guessing the mix was no where near 50/50 as it what came out was very light blue. The burn looks worse than it is, I just have had to move my keyboard back a few inches, haha.

Tripper > The Ghost of Oppo 09/21/2020 at 10:50

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My bike came with one that works well if you use it haha.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 10:52

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I’ve drained the coolant about three times now on my datsun to replace the heater and coolant hoses, it’s nearly impossible to get a full fill back in the radiator due to air in the block and back of engine hoses. Usually one 30 minute drive and I top it off with about 1/2 to 1 quart and then it’s good to go. It sounds like your thermostat wasn’t opening up and letting the water circulate like it should, there is a tiny blead hole but that isn’t going to let much water through.

A lso on the fork thing I had to laugh, when I got my new stump jumper this spring the front end of that bike was sketchy as hell, bouncing around everywhere, I had to learn about what all those knobs and dials were for and once I got it tuned it’s fantastic, I’m about 200 lbs wet and run about 85 psi in my fox 36 and am using 2 clicks of high speed and low speed dampening, I like the fork to move a bit more than normal but I don’t like a bouncy fork. 

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 10:56

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Setting up your suspension can be just as important as having it in the first place.

I got a burn like that from my Suzuki awhile ago. Wasn’t paying attention and put the side of my hand on the exhaust about 4 inches from the engine. That has a heat shield, and I was wearing a glove. Still got   burnt. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 10:56

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Watch that place though. Burns like that can take a while to really reveal the extent of the damage. That will smart for several days I’d suspect.

Sovande > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 10:57

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Glad you figured the bike out!!! I can only imagine how frustrating something like that would be. Nice to have it be something so simple!

I had a hell of a time burping the coolant in my old Nissan pickup. I finally ran it with the cap off and bumped the idle up a bit. Then I bounced on the bumper a little bit until I was showered with the warm belch of success. It was worrisome for a bit though as I was sure it was going to overheat and blow up all while I s tood there and watched.

Tripper > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 09/21/2020 at 10:58

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Yeah now that I know what I’m doing with the coolant I think I know what to do next time to minimize air, but I def know how to get it out now.

Yeah, I wish I enjoyed tuning the bike the way I do working on the cars. I just want to ride it and have it work, haha.

Tripper > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 09/21/2020 at 11:00

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Yeah I mean the area is swollen and everything I expect it to hurt more but have been cleaning it and using Neosporin .

Nom De Plume > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 11:01

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If you spend the requisite amount of time to set up your fork correctly you don’t have much  time to be riding the bike. Then you go to another trail and the process begins again.

Tripper > Sovande 09/21/2020 at 11:02

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Yeah I really thought I had somehow just turned into a terrible rider. Was going to give my hardtail a go and the quit if I didn’t like it.

I think my driving around was equal to your bouncing and related tactics, I will definitely be more careful filling it next time

Tripper > Nom De Plume 09/21/2020 at 11:03

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lol exactly! My cheaper bike has been much less fussy

Sovande > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 11:12

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I hear you.  I almost sold my El Camino after spending countless hours tuning the carb, only to have it run like shit the next drive.  I took it to two separate shops who both said it was “fine.” It got to the point that I was all done with it until I decided to fuel inject it, and now it’s not going anywhere for a while.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 11:14

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Good, good. Crazy how so much paint can be caused by such a momentary slip. 

VincentMalamute-Kim > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 11:15

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I like the color of your YT. Let me know if you sell it! ;) (j/k since I’m looking for a new bike)

Why the hell is your oil the same color as your bike?

Jb boin > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 11:16

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Putting the heater to the maximum will also make the coolant run on the heater core (that was probably filled with air after your initial refill) and leaving the cap open and revving will also help as the water pump will put more pressure on the circuit than at i dle .

Tripper > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 09/21/2020 at 11:31

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lol right like can I just go back two seconds?

Tripper > VincentMalamute-Kim 09/21/2020 at 11:33

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The oil is h igh in zinc which I think is what gives it the color. It’s recommended for these cars particularly if you’re running hot camshaft etc which I am.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Tripper 09/21/2020 at 11:41

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*reads back what I wrote*

Permission granted. 

Tripper > Jb boin 09/21/2020 at 11:42

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I did slide the heat to “hot” before I started the job as it said to in the haynes manual, but that did not seem to make a difference. The major break came when squeezing the upper rad hose. It started to burp so I backed away for a sec and coolant began to bubble over. After that it took a significant amount more fluid, then really dropped after a short drive. I must have just had a huge pocket in there.