[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by texasdirtymax

i'm sorry. I guess im no explaining properly. I was stating the fan was not coming on up to 233 degrees, before I would shut it down for fear of meltdown. I know that in my M3, when i am sitting in traffic for a preiod of time, that the fans come on, at least until i get moving again. I dont really know if the temp is true or not, since ambient air outside already 100 or so, making it hard to tell if heat is from motor.


So are you saying that the fan might be operating properly, but my ECT is not bing properly displayed (ie for example bike showing temp of 233, but engine really at 205 degrees??) like a mis calibrated switch or sensor?

The temperature gauge is measuring the _coolant_ temperature at the thermostat. Ambient temp is irrelevant.

[texasdirtymax]

I understand that engine coolant temperature is shown on the bike. What I mean is that the bike never got too hot in the winter. Now that it is summer and we are having days over 100, that the bikes temp is affected by the heat. I know that the outside air, will have no effect on the reading, other than ambient air is hotter, thus making bike run hotter. The bike does not have issues in the winter here, when it is in the 40's and 50's. The air getting sucked in through the intake is cooler, having greater effect on running temp. You cant tell me that when it is 100 plus outside and pavement temps reaching into the 110's, that the temp of the bike wont be affected.

[BurtonF166]

It seems like my bike runs 3-4 degrees hotter in the summer than winter ...

[Ghines1279]

glad i caught this thread. i am having overheating issues too. i live in Key West so its hot all and humid all the time with speed limit on the island at about 25 - 30. So what i gathered from this thread is I should flush the radiator, bleed it, take out the thermostat and see if that fixes the problem. also, anyone see any problem with just running water? I have heard that coolant will lubricate the system as well as keep it from freezing, im not worried about the freezing part.

[BurtonF166]

What kind of temps are you seeing, both stopped and cruising?
Does the fan work?

[Ghines1279]

Originally Posted by BurtonF166

What kind of temps are you seeing, both stopped and cruising?
Does the fan work?

yeah, the fan def kicks on at 225, it had gotten up to 230 then climbed back down to the 220's all the time, just assumed that was normal for stop and go. but the other day it got up to 240-245. and was going back down to 230 or so. its been over a year since i flushed it , maybe two. these temps were at stopped to 5-10. when i get it up to about 40 it cools down to about 180.

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by Ghines1279

glad i caught this thread. i am having overheating issues too. i live in Key West so its hot all and humid all the time with speed limit on the island at about 25 - 30. So what i gathered from this thread is I should flush the radiator, bleed it, take out the thermostat and see if that fixes the problem. also, anyone see any problem with just running water? I have heard that coolant will lubricate the system as well as keep it from freezing, im not worried about the freezing part.

Never run water in an aluminium engine, especially a bike engine where everything is smaller. It causes corrosion.
We have to run distilled water in our racebikes.

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by texasdirtymax

I understand that engine coolant temperature is shown on the bike. What I mean is that the bike never got too hot in the winter. Now that it is summer and we are having days over 100, that the bikes temp is affected by the heat. I know that the outside air, will have no effect on the reading, other than ambient air is hotter, thus making bike run hotter. The bike does not have issues in the winter here, when it is in the 40's and 50's. The air getting sucked in through the intake is cooler, having greater effect on running temp. You cant tell me that when it is 100 plus outside and pavement temps reaching into the 110's, that the temp of the bike wont be affected.

Yes, ambient temp does affect the temperature of the engine so your coolant will be hotter.
You still haven't shown that you have any overheating problem though.
You have said your fan didn't come on at 233F and that means there's a problem with your fan that you need to fix.

[Ghines1279]

Originally Posted by bladeracer

Never run water in an aluminium engine, especially a bike engine where everything is smaller. It causes corrosion.
We have to run distilled water in our racebikes.

really? i would think that the only reason to run distilled water is that it does not boil. but small contaminates in the system would make the water unpure and make it not distilled, like when you microwave distilled water and you put a spoon in the cup it explodes. maybe im wrong. some one on here will correct me for sure so to recap what i should do to get this thing cooled down... flush radiator, clean the exterior, thermostat out, coolant, bleed system, expansion tank. I can get distilled water NP. we have a ton of it at work, and i think its only like 2 dollars a gallon at the store.

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by Ghines1279

really? i would think that the only reason to run distilled water is that it does not boil. but small contaminates in the system would make the water unpure and make it not distilled, like when you microwave distilled water and you put a spoon in the cup it explodes. maybe im wrong. some one on here will correct me for sure so to recap what i should do to get this thing cooled down... flush radiator, clean the exterior, thermostat out, coolant, bleed system, expansion tank. I can get distilled water NP. we have a ton of it at work, and i think its only like 2 dollars a gallon at the store.

Distilled water doesn't boil?
We aren't allowed to run anything but water in case of spills on the track.

[Ghines1279]

Originally Posted by bladeracer

Distilled water doesn't boil?
We aren't allowed to run anything but water in case of spills on the track.

yeah, i took a science class and one thing was putting distilled water into the microwave, nuking it, then adding impurities and it would explode. there have been accidents where people have boiled water for coffee, then put the coffee in and it explodes on them giving them 2nd degrees off topic i know...

[D.S]

"Distilled or deionized water is preferable to tap water for use in automotive cooling systems. The minerals and ions typically found in tap water can be corrosive to internal engine components, and can cause a more rapid depletion of the anti-corrosion additives found in most antifreeze formulations."

-wikipedia

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by Ghines1279

yeah, i took a science class and one thing was putting distilled water into the microwave, nuking it, then adding impurities and it would explode. there have been accidents where people have boiled water for coffee, then put the coffee in and it explodes on them giving them 2nd degrees off topic i know...

I think this is something else.
I'm sure distilled water boils :-)

[BurtonF166]

distilled water is pure H2O, 'boiling' at 100C.

It does not roll and bubble like tap water in a pot, yet turns to steam at boiling temp. It is this lack of rolling and bubbling that causes people to think it is not boiling.

Boiling temp - temp at which liquid vaporizes ==> not temp at which is looks like its boiling

[Ghines1279]

Originally Posted by BurtonF166

distilled water is pure H2O, 'boiling' at 100C.

It does not roll and bubble like tap water in a pot, yet turns to steam at boiling temp. It is this lack of rolling and bubbling that causes people to think it is not boiling.

Boiling temp - temp at which liquid vaporizes ==> not temp at which is looks like its boiling

i agree with that. Alright, i was talking with some of the MK's on Base and they were saying taking the thermostat out could cause the coolant to pass throught the system too quickly and not have enough time to cool in the radiator. thoughts?

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by Ghines1279

i agree with that. Alright, i was talking with some of the MK's on Base and they were saying taking the thermostat out could cause the coolant to pass throught the system too quickly and not have enough time to cool in the radiator. thoughts?

I think it's _possible_ but unlikely to cause a problem.
Just a matter of putting the thermostat in and see if it makes it run any cooler.
I'd expect it'd have to be a pretty marginally effective cooling system design for it to cause overheating simply by removing the thermostat.

[texasdirtymax]

ok, so now my idiotic brain is understanding. How in the heck do i check teh voltage? I grounded out the fan and it still did not come on. Checked voltage to connector and it read fine..sheesh this is killing me

[Ghines1279]

Originally Posted by texasdirtymax

ok, so now my idiotic brain is understanding. How in the heck do i check teh voltage? I grounded out the fan and it still did not come on. Checked voltage to connector and it read fine..sheesh this is killing me

Do an OHM or a resistance test on the fan motor. if it reeds OL or 1 million ohms or more its bad.

[texasdirtymax]

alright..got fan to run..took it off thebike in order to run power to test. fan tested ok. put fan back on, and as soon as i turned key to "on" position fan started running. not sure if its running becasue temp is 160 and bike was sitting in the sun while i worked on it, or if I put it back wrong or pinched something...fan wont run when temp is super hot, but runs now when not even operating temp..glad its working at the very least. im going to test it again after it has sat for a couple of hours to make sure it wont be running full time..thanks for all of the help and patience

[Ghines1279]

Originally Posted by texasdirtymax

alright..got fan to run..took it off thebike in order to run power to test. fan tested ok. put fan back on, and as soon as i turned key to "on" position fan started running. not sure if its running becasue temp is 160 and bike was sitting in the sun while i worked on it, or if I put it back wrong or pinched something...fan wont run when temp is super hot, but runs now when not even operating temp..glad its working at the very least. im going to test it again after it has sat for a couple of hours to make sure it wont be running full time..thanks for all of the help and patience

wow thats really odd. I would have to say that whatever sends the signal to the fan is broken. whats really hot by the way like 270? I flushed my system and if the rest of it looks like my radiator cap, there is no way my thermostat was opening. so my bike runs normal now.

[bladeracer]

If the fan is coming on when you turn the ignition on then it's grounded and bypassing the temperature switch.

[texasdirtymax]

Well..I ended up loosening the bolt that held the wire tire(holds wires off of fan/radiator) and that stopped the fan. The problem is, that it did not start back again after it hit 233 when i tested it. i have already replaced the fan switch at the radiator, so im not sure that the problem is that. I am thinking of running the wire that runs to the fan switch temp sensor with a switch, and just turning the fan on in heavy traffic or lights.



Would that be the best way, or is there a better way to wire the fan switch?

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by texasdirtymax

Well..I ended up loosening the bolt that held the wire tire(holds wires off of fan/radiator) and that stopped the fan. The problem is, that it did not start back again after it hit 233 when i tested it. i have already replaced the fan switch at the radiator, so im not sure that the problem is that. I am thinking of running the wire that runs to the fan switch temp sensor with a switch, and just turning the fan on in heavy traffic or lights.



Would that be the best way, or is there a better way to wire the fan switch?

A fan switch on the bars has been a pretty common modification for longer than I've been around. It's not a bad idea to connect it to a circuit that only goes hot when the ignition is on to ensure you can never forget to turn it off and it's always a good idea to run it through a fuse.

[texasdirtymax]

how about just running a switch from the fan switch to the ground on the radiator, that way im jsut opening and closing the ground?

[bladeracer]

Originally Posted by texasdirtymax

how about just running a switch from the fan switch to the ground on the radiator, that way im jsut opening and closing the ground?

If the switch on the fan is working then you wouldn't need a manual switch.
Do you have power at the connector?

[texasdirtymax]

I have already replaced the fan switch connector(bottom L/H side of radiator) and temp jumped to 240 the other day and no fan. I do have power at connector coming from harness to fan. I have had the bike for 6 months and have not even put 1000 miles on it for fear of meltdown. I bought brand new set of 2ct tires and they still have the nipples on them. Thanks for all of the help. Time to put some miles on her

[929hit]

Originally Posted by rjsimon2nd

plus you need a thermostat otherwise the coolant travels too fast to be cooled properly in that little radiator. It has to slow down for a few seconds to enjoy the air rushing through the fins, I.E that is why the stat closes.

Originally Posted by jase

rjsimon2nd is correct the thermostat is there to regulate the coolant temp by allowing the coolant some dwell time in the rad.

Are either of you mechanics?
Not to hijack, but this belief is concerning.

[929hit]

COOLING FAN MOTOR SWITCH
INSPECTION
Check for a blown fuse before inspection .
Fan motor does not stop:
Turn the ignition switch OFF, disconnect the connector
from the fan motor switch and turn the
ignition switch ON again .
If the fan motor does not stop, check for a shorted
wire between the fan motor and switch .
If the fan motor stops, replace the fan motor switch.

Fan motor does not start:
Before testing, warm up the engine to operating
temperature .
Disconnect the connector from the fan motor
switch and ground the connector to the body with a
jumper wire .
Turn the ignition switch ON and check the fan motor.
If the motor starts, check the connection at the fan
motor switch terminal .
It is OK, replace the fan motor switch.
If the motor does not start, check for voltage between
the fan motor switch connector and ground .
If battery voltage is measured, replace fan motor .
If there is no battery voltage, check for poor connection
of the connector or broken wire harness.

That's from the service manual... I think it's irrelevant to this though. If I've read correctly here, the problem is that your fan doesn't turn on until the temp reads over 240. But it has been confirmed working, and it does turn on automatically, just at the wrong temp. Is this correct? If so, it should be:
a) the fan switch isn't turning on at the right temp (between 215 and 220F), and should be replaced (again).
b) The "coolant temperature gauge" is giving the wrong temp to you on the dash. When the fan cuts on at 220F, the dash is incorrectly stating a 240F temp.
c) Coincidentally, both.

THERMO SENSOR UNIT INSPECTION

Drain the coolant (page 6-3) .
Disconnect the wire connector from the ECT/
thermo sensor and remove the sensor .
Suspend the ECM/thermo sensor in a pan of
coolant (50-50 mixture) an electric heating element
and measure the resistance through the sensor
as the coolant heats up .

Soak the ECT/thermo sensor in coolant up to its
threads with at least 40 mm (1 .6 in) from the
bottom of the pan to the bottom of the sensor .

Keep the temperature constant for 3 minutes
before testing . A sudden change of temperature
will result in incorrect readings . Do not let the
thermometer or ECT/thermo sensor touch the
pan.

Temperature - Resistance
80°C (68°F) - 2.1 - 2.6k
120°C (248°F) - 0.65-0.73k

Replace the sensor if it is out of specification by
more than 10 % at any temperature listed .
Always replace the Install and tighten the ECT/thermo sensor to the
sealing washer specified torque .
with a new one .
TORQUE: 23 N .m (2 .3 kgf .m, 17 lbf .ft)

I guess "80°C (68°F)" would be an error? OOPS! No idea which they intended. 80°C is 176°F, 68°F is 20°C

[texasdirtymax]

i appreciatethe info. i actually have the service manual, and thats why I was perplexed for so long.

[929hit]

Oh, now I'm really confused. haha
So you found the culprit? Gave up and installed a manual fan switch?

Forums like this solve so many problems without people even having to post. Just wanted the info out there, if you found the problem, for the next victim. Plus I'm curious.