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I have my motor running, but temps go up pretty quickly. Pretty sure I'm doing something wrong...

The way I have the system routed:

coolant hose from top middle of the engine goes to the inlet of the thermostat housing (left side in the pic below). Right side of the thermostat goes to the upper radiator inlet.

lower radiator inlet runs to the pipe that's on the lower left side of the engine.

There is a small coolant line near the output shaft of the tranny. That runs to a small port right near the head.

There is a small line outlet on the thermostat that goes to the radiator.

Do I have this right?

When I start it up, within a couple of minutes it hits 240 (just sitting there idling- fan comes on at 220 or so) and I shut it down.

Two other thoughts:

The line to the lower side of the radiator is kinda long. And I have the radiator mounted so the top of it is about the same height as the thermostat

I think there is probably some air in the system, but not quite sure how to deal with it.

Any ideas?

Sounds about right to me. Not sure how different the 07 is but on my 06 R1 I did pretty much the same. Does the 07 have an oil cooler? An outlet at the front of the motor? I tied this into the line that goes from the thermostat to the top of the rad as it is hot water from the water to oil cooler. Do you have an expansion tank, if not you'll likely struggle to get the air out. top was teed to the radiator overflow (and small thermostat bypass) and bottom teed into main return from the bottom of the rad before it returns to the lower left of the engine.
Here's how I did mine http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... 1&start=45.
Hope you get it sorted out.
good luck,
Paul

Yes, I have the tank - it came with the R1 radiator that I'm using.

And yes, it does have an oil cooler. The radiator has an outlet for that too - that's where I plugged that.

See comments on pic.

Also, the length of run and extra volume aid cooling. More coolant takes up more space when hot, so the expansion tank may need to be bigger, but I doubt it.

Touch the radiator hose on each side of the stat as it warms to know when/if it opens. There should be a small hole in the stat, to bypass. Some coolant should always be circulating, even when cold.

EDIT: For truly locost, just forgo the other mods and add a filler T to #16, such as an automotive antifreeze flush kit from Peak or Prestone.

Thanks for the response. I did something similar to fix it.

Just took apart the highest connection in the system, held both ends higher and filled with coolant. Put together, restarted for a minute, and did it again. The third time around it stayed completely full. Started again and the temps held steady through 170s to 180s

I didn't have a chance to to check your routing, but if your problem is an air-lock you can vacuum the system.

Get a radiator cap and remove the relief valve seal.

Get a brass T fitting, connect one end to the radiator overflow tube, with a gauge installed inline. End two to a valve then a vacuum source, a venturi thing works fine if you have a big compressor. End 3 goes to a valve then hose submerged in enough coolant to fill the system.

Pull the system down until the vacuum stabilizes, #2 valve open, 3 closed.

Then open valve 3 while closing 2, shut off the vacuum pump.

Wait until it's full. Reinstall the good cap, reconnect the normal reservoir.