Page 1 of 1

water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:37 pm
by OldGuywhoTinkers
Can anyone tell me anything about the water pump on the PCX ? I have a 2013 PCX-150, and I know it would be driven by the crankshaft which also would drive any impeller fan, drawing air across the radiator, but how long does the water pump last and when it fails, does it blow out, blowing out all the coolant at the same time ? What are your experiences with either the reliability of the water pump or problems that can occur ? Thank You

A secondary question might be how the oil pump works the engine,

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 10:32 pm
by Gil
The water pump runs off the camshaft. It does have a weep hole for when the inner water pump shaft seal wears out, it will show signs of failure. I haven't seen anyone here have issues with the water pump.
The cooling system on this scooter is quite nifty though. One cool thing about it is that the Coolant thermostat has a bypass, so that the water pump doesn't have too much resistance when the thermostat is closed.

The oil pump runs off the crankshaft. This being an engine with ball bearings on all shafts, it's a low oil pressure system.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 11:10 pm
by MikeP
That is a nice bit of info you shared. Thanks. There has been two times in the past year where I noticed a dime sized spot of coolant on the floor. Made me scratch my head. It makes sense now. Something to keep an eye on.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:07 am
by Gil
MikeP wrote:That is a nice bit of info you shared. Thanks. There has been two times in the past year where I noticed a dime sized spot of coolant on the floor. Made me scratch my head. It makes sense now. Something to keep an eye on.
There was an issue with early models and their coolant overflow tank. You might want to check those parts. Also make sure your overflow tank is not too low.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 12:35 am
by Gil
The overflow tank would crack and leak coolant.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 3:53 pm
by OldGuywhoTinkers
Gil wrote:The water pump runs off the camshaft. It does have a weep hole for when the inner water pump shaft seal wears out, it will show signs of failure. I haven't seen anyone here have issues with the water pump.
The cooling system on this scooter is quite nifty though. One cool thing about it is that the Coolant thermostat has a bypass, so that the water pump doesn't have too much resistance when the thermostat is closed.

The oil pump runs off the crankshaft. This being an engine with ball bearings on all shafts, it's a low oil pressure system.
===================================================================
Thanks Gil, The body on these scooters is so covered, that it is hard to learn anything about them unless you actually take it all apart, and I observe, for example, with my rusting gas tank, that it is better to do, or fix or replace, or adjust certain things all at one time. So let's say you replace a belt or a front variator, or a spark plug, having to replace something like a leaking water pump after putting it all back together would be a pain !

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:10 pm
by Gil
Yeah, I do the same since removing the body panels is a pain.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 8:14 pm
by relic
When I took the body panels off my PCX just put then in a box.
Saw no reason to put them back on. Fabricated some new foot rests and everthing seems to function perfecly fine.
One plus is the bike is not so fat making it easier to straddle. May not be every ones cup of tea but if I find anyway to simplify something unnecessarily complex it's toast
Some purists are probably cringing.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 9:31 am
by fish
Gil wrote:Yeah, I do the same since removing the body panels is a pain.
No. No....my brother in law never put the hood back on his Chevy either, or the right rear door.
It's a 'look' for sure.....
And he says mowing takes less time now since the other 3 quit running, and are slowly sinking into the front yard.
Fish

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:06 am
by relic
Tell your brother in law i'm on my way with some some more ornaments for his front yard

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 4:07 pm
by Gil
fish wrote:
Gil wrote:Yeah, I do the same since removing the body panels is a pain.
No. No....my brother in law never put the hood back on his Chevy either, or the right rear door.
It's a 'look' for sure.....
And he says mowing takes less time now since the other 3 quit running, and are slowly sinking into the front yard.
Fish
I need to meet your brother in law, we might become BFFs. LOL

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:55 pm
by OldGuywhoTinkers
Gil wrote:The water pump runs off the camshaft. It does have a weep hole for when the inner water pump shaft seal wears out, it will show signs of failure. I haven't seen anyone here have issues with the water pump.
The cooling system on this scooter is quite nifty though. One cool thing about it is that the Coolant thermostat has a bypass, so that the water pump doesn't have too much resistance when the thermostat is closed.

The oil pump runs off the crankshaft. This being an engine with ball bearings on all shafts, it's a low oil pressure system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I lost one PCX-150 engine and I note that this engine uses needle bearing connecting rods like the old Yamaha 350-400 cc advanced two stroke models. The Japanese ones can work quite well, BUT not without enough correct oil.

Re: water cooling on PCX150

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:16 am
by Mel46
All I can say is that those boulders look like what is under most houses here in the Atlanta area! Every home owner here knows that digging more than 4 inches down in his yard will require heavy equipment. I have some rocks that aren't even that far down in mine. Don't be fooled by the pretty lawns. They are sod over granite. ;)