Guys!

I know this has been discussed before, but I need your help. I have a '99 Bird. It is usually running in the upper half of the engine temp gauge when I'm stuck in traffic. Today, I noticed it was above red line a couple of times when I was stopped at a light. Didn't think much about it 'cause it's happened before. Caught up with another Bird and pulled over to the side of the road to chat. Next thing I notice coolant is DRIPPING from my bike. It eventually stopped, but not until there was about a 3 foot diameter puddle underneath my bike. Any ideas. I have 25000 km (15 600 m) on the bike so it's due for its servicing..but I don't think it should overflow like that. Any help would be appreciated.................oh yeah, I haven't heard the fan for awhile...usually when I arrive home and the engine is specially hot, I hear the fan just before I take the key out...I check to see if it's working.

Joel

Where was it dripping from?

you definitly need to have the fan checked out. probably just overheated (due to no fan operation) and leaked out the overflow. just hope & pray that it didnt get hot enough to do any serious damage.

The resevoir should catch any overflow, shouldn't it? Definitely check out your fan, and make sure the line from the radiator (right by the cap, little tube) to the resevoir (under the seat) is connected and in good shape.

the resevoir will catch the overflow. but isnt there a hose that overflows out of that also? in case of an extreme boilover. i may have to go look at my bike to check, i'm not used to those little vehicles with overflow resevoirs :wink: .

It looked like it was coming from the right side of the bike...only about 70% sure though. Yeah, may have to bite the big one and get the servicing done...6 hours labour at $75/hour + parts is steep though...but I guess I have to take care of my baby!

The "service" isn't going to do anything at all for this. Sounds like a fan problem, not covered in the standard 16k mile service. Yes, there is a catch bottle, but when the fluid boils you will overflow that too.

Start by warming the motor at idle and see if the fan comes on at about 2/3-3/4 scale on the temp guage. If not, you have a problem. Also check to see that the fan spins by hand and is not seized.

Same thing happened with an old Concours I had. Pissed antifreeze all over the road at a red light during a hot summer day. I let it cool for an hour or so and drove it home. The fan wiring was burnt out. Therefore, the fan wasn't working..........like previous posts mentioned.
Fixed fan/wiring and bike ran fine for thousands of miles after.

.........and check your fuses.

Quit running the bike until you solve the problem. Overheating can kill an engine in a hurry.

Took the bike to the shop today. 2 weeks to get an appointment!!!! So no ride for me for 2 weeks! It was the cooling system! The fan was not working. Also getting the 25 000 km servicing done on the Bird. Meanwhile, I'm hoping it rains for 2 weeks.

Don't wait, get a Honda manual and do it yourself!!

I've been hearing TOOO many stories of how the dealer can't even fix a bike.

The prob. is one of four things: bad fan motor, bad relay, bad temp sensor on radiator, or an open wire somewhere. Could be as simple as a wire connector that came off.

Save the money, save the time, and get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

BTW: on my bike if you keep the revs above 2k for ten seconds in neutral the fan will come on. Is this true for the FI bikes also :?: :?:

I agree that you should get a shop manual and do it yourself. If you have some mechanical ability, the XX isn't hard to work on.

I had a coolant leak last fall, but it just turned out that the hose clamp on the lower rad hose was loose -- easy fix, but the interesting thing was that it only leaked on cool mornings. But, I never had any overheating.

The fan "should" be an easy fix, though.

Good luck.