Engine temp and fan...

[metallicat]

Hi gang, after the last weekend's outing w/ some of the guys, motojoe pointed out that my engine temp seemed a little high; whenever I come from almost anything short of a freezing or 5 minute ride, my engine temp ala the S2 gauge reads low 200, shoots to around 225 (with fan on at over 200), then after a few minutes trickles down.

I don't always have time or patience to wait and can't imagine it being healthy for the battery.

So my question to you fine people, what temps do you generally see after a ride? Joe sees around 200 or just below, we both have practically the same bike (year, faired, both have chin fairings).

P.S. Its been this way for 4 years since I got the bike, and a full coolant flush last season made no difference at all; so I assumed it was normal.

Thanks!

 

[bdevries]

Hi gang, after the last weekend's outing w/ some of the guys, motojoe pointed out that my engine temp seemed a little high; whenever I come from almost anything short of a freezing or 5 minute ride, my engine temp ala the S2 gauge reads low 200, shoots to around 225 (with fan on at over 200), then after a few minutes trickles down.

I don't always have time or patience to wait and can't imagine it being healthy for the battery.

So my question to you fine people, what temps do you generally see after a ride? Joe sees around 200 or just below, we both have practically the same bike (year, faired, both have chin fairings).

P.S. Its been this way for 4 years since I got the bike, and a full coolant flush last season made no difference at all; so I assumed it was normal.

Thanks!

I too am curious about this. Mine usually kicks on around 214 I guess.. but today spiked to 225 after turning if off:S Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me! You'd think it would cool down the second you turn it off..

 

[metallicat]

No it spikes cuz you aren't moving and feeding cool air into the fan so it kinda bakes with a teeny fan trying to cool it off...

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[oaks]

Not too different from my experience.

I typically see temps around 170 while riding, then in the course of getting home and putting the bike away, temps will spike to 200+ and the fan might come on. Highest I've seen was 215, I think, on a hot day.

Might all depend on your end of ride routine while the engine heat dissipates. Mine: stop, open the garage, pull into the garage, turn it around.

 

[trepetti]

No it spikes cuz you aren't moving and feeding cool air into the fan so it kinda bakes with a teeny fan trying to cool it off...

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+1 Also, with the engine stopped the water pump no longer circulates water from the hot engine to the cooler radiator, so the water gets hot but the heat is no longer carried to the radiator for cooling. Called heat soak.

 

[motojoe122]

After going down and back Crown valley road, we pulled into the parking lot and his fan was on.My temp was at 180 something and his was at 220ish. It seemed a little high to me, maybe air in the radiator? Idk.

 

[Motogiro]

I had a member on our forum with a Daytona 675 that was running hot. What had happened was at one time someone had contaminated the radiator with oil. Although it had been wiped off the oil between the vanes collected dirt very quickly and eventually was not not letting air through the cooling vanes. It wasn't immediately visible but we saw what looked like soot on part of the radiator. I sprayed the radiator with a great grease cutter and the flushed the radiator from the back and it was very impressive to see the gunk that came out! We could now see light through the vanes. The bike now ran normal> Inspect to see if your vanes pass light and jet rinse from the back.

 

[FinalImpact]

Final Impact finds this interesting....

My experience has this to offer. Just like said above, after turning the key off the engine was burning fuel and making crazy internal temperatures but now the cooling system is turned off and the last thing it knew was it was at a crazy internal temp (i.e. Exhaust gases = 1200°F). As such, when the cooling stops, the temps will spike and some vehicle boil over at this time.

As said, once coolant stops being dissipated (fans, air movement), the temps climb. This is normal.

The better question I see is this; is your temp gauge telling the truth?
I run the crap out of my S2 and in 90°F ambient temps it runs 185 ~ 195°F while at speed. As soon as I putter about and idle at a light, temps cruise up quick to 210 --> Fan on, then --->Cooled to 204F and fan off.

Anyone have a laser thermometer? Point it at the upper radiator hose where it leaves the block. Maybe even compare two bikes.
This is just me but we as humans seem to know hot or REAL HOT so I grab something with my bare hand. If that hose is in fact 225F, you won't hold it long. If it more like 195F, you stand a chance of holding it for a few seconds.

^^ poor man test.
If its really 225F, I would bet if you dumped the clutch its would ping and rattle, (knock, detonate, etc) and you'd feel that and hear it. So, in your case, I bet the sensor is bad or has a bad connection so its reading wrong.. Feel the engine, feel your car when its hot, feel another bike. Without changing sensors or pointing a laser at it, the question is does it ping. Cause if its 225, I bet it does when you take off.

 

[metallicat]

Makes sense... Joe recommended a laser thermometer but it would need to be compared to others to make sense.
And no there is never knocking or detonation as far as I can tell. When cruising btw, its high 180s or 190s.

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[JeffSez59]

Like I was saying that day, I've never actually seen my fan on ever. For temp during riding I typically have 2 bars on the temp gauge and 3 if it's a slow pace( traffic and such). If the pace is high then sometimes I'm even reading only 1 bar on the temp gauge. Since the bike is an s1 I don't have any exact temps to give.

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[FinalImpact]

Like I was saying that day, I've never actually seen my fan on ever. For temp during riding I typically have 2 bars on the temp gauge and 3 if it's a slow pace( traffic and such). If the pace is high then sometimes I'm even reading only 1 bar on the temp gauge. Since the bike is an s1 I don't have any exact temps to give.

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Joe has a picture of "Real Hot in NJ", you should be able to compare and/or share! [MENTION=14469]motojoe122[/MENTION] NJ FTW!

 

[Carlos840]

I have noticed that the bike get a lot warmer if you ride it in the lower rpm...

My usual riding is done keeping the rpms high, meaning above 7000rpm and up to 13000.
Doing this the temperature will stay between 160f and 180f.
It only gets higher when stopped at a red light.

Last week i was doing a little bit of riding with a friend on a 125cc bike.
As you can imagine we were not going anywhere very fast. I decided to try to ride keeping my rpm low, shifting around 5000rpm.
My bike shot straight to 200f and would often go up to 210 at red lights.

Note that the riding speed was more or less the same, maybe a little bit slower, it's just that i was 2 or 3 gears up keeping the rpms lower.

I assumed this change in temperature can be attributed to the fact that at slow rpm the water pump is pumping a lot less, and cooling is not as efficient as it is at higher rpm.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Two things NOT mentioned.

The radiator cap and the thermostat.

If the cap isn't holding pressure, temps will be higher. (you two can swap caps while the engines cold and see if the issue follows the cap).

If the thermostat isn't opening fully, that'll contribute to higher temps as well.
Although the shop manual states throttle bodies, etc need to be removed to accesss it, another member replaced his thermostat without all that extra work. Tight but do-able

Down here its about 90-93F middle of the day. My temps usually max out at about 195 and drop fairly quickly back to 180 once underway. I've never had my fan kick on. Most of my RPM, normal riding range, is 6k and under BTW

Something sounds amiss

 

[metallicat]

Thanks all, now I'm definitely convinced that high 220s is off. The bike's been doing this from zero miles, which is the odd thing. I'll check the radiator for debris or dirt/oil, and play w/ the possibility of replacing the thermostat. I'll also invest in a laser gun; has anyone ACTUALLY pointed a gun at the engine block (which brings up another question, WHERER do you aim) for temp?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I think he's referencing pointing the lazer temp gun at the larger hoses.

The hottest temp should be after the thermostat opens, that hose (largest) is on the left side. If you follow that hose to the rear of the engine, its attached to the thermostat housing.

If the temps pan out somewhat normal, something else, if the temp sensor switch is faulty, it could read high and of course turn on the fan when not needed..

I'd take temps going in and out of the radiator (just for S&G's to rule it out) that its functioning properly as well.

BTW, pointing at the head/block won't help. The lazer beam widens out as distance increases, so keep it pretty close..

 

[FinalImpact]

I'm not convinced its actually over heating.

Unless you're running premium fuel or a boost additive 2 things would likely be happening and there is no mention of them.

Boiling over
Pinging - detonation

With that said, Measure the temp where the water leaves the block by the thermostat at the rubber hose. Its the gate keeper of the engine temp. This will give us a warm fuzzy that all is well.

Then to solve the mystery as to why yours runs hotter we ask two these.

Does it boil over into the overflow tank?
Does it ping on take off when the clutch is dumped (maybe slight uphill)?
Do you have an ohm meter? If so we can measure and compare the sensors. I think yours is lying or you'd be talking about these other factors.....

Coolant temperature sensor
5.21–6.37 kΩ at 0°C (32°F)
0.29–0.35 kΩ at 80°C (176°F)

Lastly - how do you ride it? As Carlos points out, keeping them "in the happy spot" keeps coolant in motion as well as LOTS OF OIL flying around inside which is cooling the engine.
- Are you a 2 - 6K rider or a 6 - 12K rider?

 

[Erci]

Interesting indeed. My FZ6 always behaved like yours.. unless the bike was moving, it would quickly get up to over 200 (in slow moving traffic, etc) and the fan would kick on. When coming to a full stop and turning the the engine off, but leaving ignition on, the temp would keep climbing.
There is no need to leave the key/fan on. Shut it off.. it'll cool off on its own. My FZ1 behaves exactly the same way, which I've confirmed with FZ1 forumites is normal. I took my cooling system apart less than a year ago.. cleaned and flushed it all out. No change in temp.

 

[metallicat]

I'm not convinced its actually over heating.

Unless you're running premium fuel or a boost additive 2 things would likely be happening and there is no mention of them.

Boiling over
Pinging - detonation

With that said, Measure the temp where the water leaves the block by the thermostat at the rubber hose. Its the gate keeper of the engine temp. This will give us a warm fuzzy that all is well.

Then to solve the mystery as to why yours runs hotter we ask two these.

Does it boil over into the overflow tank?
Does it ping on take off when the clutch is dumped (maybe slight uphill)?
Do you have an ohm meter? If so we can measure and compare the sensors. I think yours is lying or you'd be talking about these other factors.....

Coolant temperature sensor
5.21–6.37 kΩ at 0°C (32°F)
0.29–0.35 kΩ at 80°C (176°F)

Lastly - how do you ride it? As Carlos points out, keeping them "in the happy spot" keeps coolant in motion as well as LOTS OF OIL flying around inside which is cooling the engine.
- Are you a 2 - 6K rider or a 6 - 12K rider?

Great stuff, much appreciated. I'll try to pick up a gun in the next day or two. As for the OHM meter, I do have one, but what exactly am I making contact with to measure? Lastly, I'm a 2-6k rider - except once in a while when I try to keep up with Erci's fz1 !

 

[lawlberg]

Interesting indeed. My FZ6 always behaved like yours.. unless the bike was moving, it would quickly get up to over 200 (in slow moving traffic, etc) and the fan would kick on. When coming to a full stop and turning the the engine off, but leaving ignition on, the temp would keep climbing.
There is no need to leave the key/fan on. Shut it off.. it'll cool off on its own. My FZ1 behaves exactly the same way, which I've confirmed with FZ1 forumites is normal. I took my cooling system apart less than a year ago.. cleaned and flushed it all out. No change in temp.

Mine is the same way, I flushed it 3 times because I thought that I had done something wrong the first time when it didn't get better after clearing out some brown coolant. Coolant is still bright green, no air in the system (that I could find) and running hot. Oh well..

 

[Carlos840]

Great stuff, much appreciated. I'll try to pick up a gun in the next day or two. As for the OHM meter, I do have one, but what exactly am I making contact with to measure? Lastly, I'm a 2-6k rider - except once in a while when I try to keep up with Erci's fz1 !

Well, maybe try to ride between 6-12k and see if it changes anything!

Ready to bet your temp will go down a lot...