my 05 636 is starting to smell like coolant is leaking sumwhere so i checked it out and and it looks to be coming from the thermostat housing. the bike is not getting hot either runs normal. has ne1 experienced anything like this? do i need to get a thermostat and the o-ring? do they come as one and is the stealership the only place to get one from.

 

Im not sure if its the same, but my car had that problem. it wouldnt get very hot. the temp gauge would stay at the very bottom. so at the end of last winter i went out and bought a new thermostat and o ring. turns out the thermostat was stuck open and was just circulating coolant through the block and wasnt getting hot in the radiator. as for the leaking. my car wasnt leaking at all

 

Since you can physically see the coolant leaking from the seal of the stat housing, replace the gasket, and double check the surfaces for being flat.

 

well i took off the tank a turned the bike on and let it run for 15mins to see if it would leak out of the thermostat housings i never saw it leaking out but the hose that goes to the thermostat looked like the coolant was leaking out of there. so i cut back the hose and retighted everything up turned the bike on and the bike ran fine. i guess it was fine but it could also be that the thermostat is stuck open.

 

The thermostat being stuck open would not cause a leak

 

if a thermostat is stuck open the coolant continuosly flows through the engine and radiator. so the coolant cools off in the radiator before it gets to operating temperature. the purpose of the thermostat is to open when it gets to a certain temperature (thats why they are always on the engine or near it). then when the cold coolant from the radiator flows through the thermostat (into the engine) it closes again. cycling the hot coolant out of the engine (when the thermostat is open) and back into the radiator where it cools down.

now if your thermostat was stuck closed your engine would over heat because it wouldnt be able to cycle the coolant.

 

i know it wouldnt cause a leak, but he said that it wouldnt heat up so i suggested that for that problem

 

I wonder if kawi makes a lower running thermostat to run in the 636 since they heat up quick when it's hot out

 

hm i bet you could get one with different thermal settings? im not sure might be making something up but once the coolant is hot enough the thermostat opens and lets it cool off. so....get one that opens sooner to keep it cooler?

 

I know these bikes run "HOT" in the summer time but you can do stuff to make them run cooler. The simplest is to use Motul MoCool. Redline Water Wetter or Engine Ice in the radiator to help lower the temps. Some claim as much as 30 degrees F cooler temps. I had Engine Ice in my 03 but will use MoCool or Water Wetter. With engine Ice, you have to replace all your coolant. With Water Wetter & MoCool, you just remove some coolant then top it off.

Another more involved mod is to modify the radiator fan shroud bracket to direct the air out the side vents of the fairing. I just bent the flat bracket to a 45 degree angle. Just make sure that the fan doesn't rub on the radiator after you're done.

You can also have you exhaust system Ceramic Coated or get the headers wrapped which would lessen the radiating heat from the headers to the radiator. That would keep the under engine/ under fairing temps lower also. An old "Hot Rod" trick was to drill a hole in the thermostat to allow a little bit more bypass of the coolant.

Whatever you do, Do Not remove the Rubber Damper that is between the top of the radiator and engine. That damper keeps Hot air away from the area under the tank to keep the fuel & intake cooler. It also helps pull Hot air through the radiator and gets sucked out by the side vents.

The factory designed the thermostat to run engine temperatures at optimum temps for best power & complete fuel burn for emissions. The stock thermostat starts to open between 136-144 defrees F and is fully open at 167 degrees F. If the engine doesn't get up to full "Normal Operating" temps, it won't burn the air/fuel mixture completely. Even the factory Race Parts or Kit Manual doesn't offer an optional thermostat.

I think intense_05_636 just had a loose hose clamp at the thermostat housing.