Another cooling thread

[NoOne65]

I have had my 99 for a few months and from what I have read over the years is the FI bikes run hot. on a regular day my temp gauge hangs right at the high end of the guage. It doesnt over heat or boil over and moving cools down to middle of the guage.

 

I've put blue devil flush in as per directions and then left it in there for a few days more. Prestone 50/50 antifreeze afterwards. 

 

This really cant be the norm can it?

 

Thanks!

I couldnt get the pic to upload

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-XAaaK-Ue8SSUVKWm5VUzd5bjA/view?usp=sharing

[XXitanium]

 

 

 

[XXitanium]

I can't find the thread. One of the asylum-mates rigged an extra fan in front of the radiator. He did really nice job.

 

It's on my to-do list.

 

[ptxyz]

My 2000 would hover mid gauge. Your fan's running? 

[RXX]

My '99 has done that since I got it with 2500 miles. I assume you are talking about during stop-and-go city traffic since you said it cools down once moving.

They are not city bikes in the south. The extra fan trick works, as XXitNium says.

 

I (and a few others) use Evans no-boil coolant. You may want to try that. 

 

Or avoid stop-and-go traffic.

[blackhawkxx]

11 hours ago, NoOne65 said:

It doesnt over heat or boil over and moving cools down to middle of the guage.

As long as it doesn't do those two things I would say just keep your fluid fresh and ride on.

[Redbird]

Sounds normal to me, these things do run hot. My '01 (digital gauge) would run 180-200 when moving, but it'd jump up to 240-250 quick in stop and go traffic.

[superhawk996]

My '97 never got that high, but different animal in similar clothing.  As long as you flushed all the blue devil out, the system is full, being consistent, and it's not boiling or doing other things it's not supposed to it should be fine.  I assume the radiator is all aluminum and welded but never checked, if it's a soldered copper rad. I would avoid any 'long life' coolant.  If you didn't recheck the level after the first full heat cycle you should now just in case there was any trapped air that burped out and lowered the level.

 

The highest I've seen on my '01 is mid-high 220's on a hot day moving slow or stopped and it takes a fair bit of speed to really get it much cooler.  The fan comes on while the temp keeps rising for a bit, it drops a few degrees, fan turns off and temp keeps dropping just a bit then starts to climb again.  Adding another fan or a manual control sounds like a good idea, but Honda decided it was good enough and lots of Birds have proven it's good enough.  It should be better for it to stay cooler, but it doesn't appear to cause any harm.  I'd be afraid to hammer on it hard from a really hight temp even tho it may not be a problem.  I don't get on mine 'till it's warmed up over 180 and try not to do it above 220, but plenty of people just ride and pay that no attention with no problems.  I thought about adding a speed controlled switch to mine so the fan comes on when the speed drops and before the temp starts to rise, but since it does no harm the idea has stayed 'someday' project.  I'm a mechanical guy so I'd probably use a sail switch, but I'm sure there's a simple electronic way to do it.  It would also give something to tap into if one wanted self-cancelling turn signals.

[blackhawkxx]

4 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

 I thought about adding a speed controlled switch to mine so the fan comes on when the speed drops and before the temp starts to rise, but since it does no harm the idea has stayed 'someday' project.  I'm a mechanical guy so I'd probably use a sail switch, but I'm sure there's a simple electronic way to do it.

Just get your brother to dangle that fancy phone of his over your bike and have him make a app for that.

[Zero Knievel]

Clearly, someone hasn't read my thread on the topic.

[superhawk996]

3 hours ago, Aunt Zero said:

Clearly, someone hasn't read my thread on the topic.

The one about your bike supposedly going through two radiators that leak but don't leak when tested or a different one?

 

Not saying it's impossible, just haven't found that in my 30ish years of wrenching.

[Zero Knievel]

Well, the first one DID leak.  Apparently the repair held, but I replaced it as a precautionary measure, but I was talking about the one I created after TeXXt where I got schooled on how hot the XX runs normally and that I couldn't trust the analog gauge to tell me what was "normal" compared to what one normally expects.

[superhawk996]

I generally don't trust any gauge that's showing a questionable reading until I verify it with another one.

 

I questioned the oil pressure on my Explorer, then found out that it's basically an idiot light with a needle instead of a bulb; fuckin assholes at Ford.  Any amount of pressure over about 5psi puts the needle in the 'normal' position and it doesn't move unless the pressure drops below 5psi. then the needle drops to 0.

[blackhawkxx]

Which is perfect for 90% of those who own them as they don't watch them anyway.  They need to have a foot high sign saying STOP CAR, TURN OFF ENGINE.

[superhawk996]

The red oil light is just perfect for them.  And I'd rather have that than a fake pressure gauge as it would be more likely to be alerted by a bright red light than a needle that dipped out of range if something were to go awry.

 

My understanding is that Ford got tired of warrantee claims for low oil pressure so they went to the switch instead of a real sender so that all their vehicles would have "perfect" oil pressure.

[none]

My previous XX was a 98 model, with jetting to match the 4-into-1 Erion exhaust, temp gauge rarely got above 2/3 up, never seen it running into the red even in NYC gridlock traffic inside the Holland Tunnel where air temp can easily reach above 40C. 

 

 

My current XX is a 2003 FI model, near OEM equipment other than aftermarket grips.

Digital temp regularly indicate above 210, hot summer days fan comes on while waiting for red light to turn green regularly, but I never see the digit display getting above 230. Normal cruising temp is about 190-200. I have not gotten stuck in the Holland Tunnel yet.. but likely will next year. 

The 2000 model VFR800 and 2006 CBR600F4i that I have tends to run much cooler than the 2003 XX, both of them rarely gets above 210 on digital display.. even in hot summer and slow moving traffic pattern. Regular cruising temp is about 170-190. 

 

My 2002 Superhawk was also a cool running machine.. temp gauge rarely gets above 1/2 way up... maybe the jetting and Jardine exhaust help with the flow of hot air. 

Edited November 8, 2016 by el Cheapo

[NoOne65]

My 97 never went above half under normal circumstances