Over heating problem

Redonthehead

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Hi guys and gals.Newbie here I picked up an 06 FZ6 for a steal (now I know why) it over heats and bad. I need help. Heres the skinny, previous owner PO dropped the bike avoiding a car scrapped up the right side but not all that bad bent the fairing stay left side broke loose from bracket now hangs down Im gonna try to straighten it out if not ill need a new one. other than that it all works rides great just funky looking front fairing. Ok back to the over heating, the bars on the temp guage go to max at speeds above 50 or so but if i keep it under that it will go to 4 bars. Here is what I have done so far. Changed oil and filter, new thermostat (yamaha couldnt have made that any harder to change), new radiator cap and coolant. yes all of the air is out of the system, fan turns on at 4 bars on guage can hear it and feel it lol burnt the ****e out of me hand testing it lol so fan works. I can see fluid circulating when i pop the cap off in the radiator. so not thinking water pump is the issue but this is my first yamaha Im a CBR guy sorry. anyhoo I plan to fix this bike then sell but WONT pass this problem off to someone else like was done to me. any help would be appreciated.
 

TownsendsFJR1300

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Is the thermostat OEM or a knock off?

Short of the fan locking up (from a pebble kicked up), the cooling system is pretty stout.

I would check ALL the hose clamps for tightness (they DO loosen with the many heat cycles) and can prevent the system from fully pressurizing. With the engine hot, the larger hoses should be hard from the pressure, are yours?

I gather you checked under the WP itself looking for leaks. Inspecting VERY CLOSELY where ever a rubber hose attaches to a fitting is imperative. A small leak can evaporate very quickly and never hit the ground. Also, check that there's no coolant in the oil...

If nothing found, scroung up a pressure gauge and check the system after hooking up and pressurizing the radiator..


Have to ask, are you certain the thermostat is installed in the correct direction?


BTW, you won't be able to straighten the "stay". That's also very stout un-less "it's dropped". I'm on #2 or 3, lost count..
 
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Redonthehead

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Thank you very much for the reply, The thermostat is OEM Yamaha and is in correctly with the little hole facing up (I do have to thank yamaha the thermostat cover makes it where the thermostat can only be installed one way just have to make sure hole is facing up) and the radiator cap is OEM Yamaha as well. Since posting I have removed and fully flushed the radiator and oil cooler, There is no oil in the water or water in the oil.I will go check all of the hoses later as the radiator flushing helped a little bit but not a cure as a precaution I ordered a new water pump impeller shaft new mech seal and both orings reason being is if this was a car this is a water pump issue itself, most likely, as the fan turns on when it should promptly at 4 bars on the guage what ever temp that is i dont know as this bike is digital tach. I did notice that the PO used only water so the hoses kinda crunched a bit when squeezed so ill look at replacing them all soon. I was able to bend the stay back close (thank you 20 ton shop press and two pieces on steel) but fairing is still kinda off but way better than b4, it was a stout mofo as you said so ordered that new as well 105$. I have not found any leaks just yet but will look very closely today. Here's a newbie question do Yamaha's just run hot, I live in sunny dry hot AZ and still 100 degrees everyday til late OCT b4 90's and 80's come to save us. Am I throwing $ at a problem that cant be fixed due to ambient temps of nature combined with internal combustion engine heat? ill update when new parts are in should be this week. Im hoping I dont have to take the bike apart and sell it piece by piece.
 

Motogiro

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We had a member who had his bike at a shop when he had a blown engine. It was a Daytona 675 triple. He had it at a shop and they wanted too much money to get the bike running again. He bought a used engine and asked for help installing it. We did the install and it ran well except there were times it was overheating as he rode the bike for a few weeks.

Turned out that when another mechanic had the bike, oil was spilled on the radiator. As he road the bike the oil gathered more and more dirt from the air and left very little air passage through the radiator vanes. Check to see you have adequate air flow through your radiator vanes. The FZ6 is known for it's great cooling. Sometimes it's simple as airflow... :)

We cleaned his radiator vanes of the grime and oil and it ran cool again...
 
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TownsendsFJR1300

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Those hoses should be hard when at temp even with just water.

Gentlemans bet you have a hose or two not fully tight.

I'm in SW Florida, with LOTS of humidity and low 90's regularly. I think my fan came on maybe twice in 7 years.
My S2 shows the actual temp (not bars) and normally stays around 178F. Stop and go traffic, almost ALWAYS UNDER 200F.

Point being, the cooling system is NOT a weak point in the bike. You still have an issue somewhere, just got to find it.

The new pump won't hurt(I still have the original pump, thermostat, etc with 26k miles)..
 

Motogiro

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Hit the back of that radiator with a water nozzle and make sure it's clear of debris. :rockon:
 

FinalImpact

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Define overheating....
Boiling over into the Reservoir, or dumping reservoir contents once full is a sure sign. But that can be air in there or a bad seal of one of the 3 areas at the radiator cap.

That said a light on or high reading could be corrosion of a contact or a bad sensor.

Does it ping, detonate, or knock when allegedly overheating?

If you have an IR heat gun or a contact probe you can shove in the radiator or outlet hose (exterior) and its greater than 235°F, that's cutting it pretty close if not at full pressure.

Do share the exact signs if something more than a light and fan on...
 

Redonthehead

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I have tried to reply twice, this is the third time, it seems my replies are too long in the typing and I get timed out when I click the reply button then I have to re log in and then my replies dont show.
 
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Motogiro

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I have tried to reply twice, this is the third time, it seems my replies are too long in the typing and I get timed out when I click the reply button then I have to re log in and then my replies dont show.
I've also had timeouts. I believe it's a problem with our hosting server. It seems to be intermittent.

Sent from Moto's Motorola
 

Redonthehead

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will do. as an answer to finallmpact I knwo it is over heating because when it reaches max temp bars are maxed out and top bar blinks the bike will shut off at stop lights or speeds below 10-15 mph I can smell the hot oil and feel the heat it takes 5 mins or so b4 she will fire up again. im now wondering if its a fan problem not pump issue. but how do you test a fan that is spinning and turns on when it suposed too?
 

Motogiro

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will do. as an answer to finallmpact I knwo it is over heating because when it reaches max temp bars are maxed out and top bar blinks the bike will shut off at stop lights or speeds below 10-15 mph I can smell the hot oil and feel the heat it takes 5 mins or so b4 she will fire up again. im now wondering if its a fan problem not pump issue. but how do you test a fan that is spinning and turns on when it suposed too?

If the fan is turning on, are you sure you're getting adequate air flow through the radiator vanes? I know it sounds very basic but make sure you see light through the radiator. In your original post you did say the fan comes on at 4 bars.
 

Redonthehead

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in one of the replies that didnt show lol, when I took the radiator off i soaked it in hot water for a good 30-45 mins the fully flushed it and rinsed it for a good 10 mins or so. I could hold it up to the sun and see through it the one thing in all this I am sure of is lack of air flow is not the issue. I should have put this in the post of flushing out the radiator.
 

FinalImpact

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Lets recap - during an overheating episode, the coolant BOILS! When it boils it makes steam. Steam makes pressure and the 15PSI radiator cap is over pressured and coolant from the block leaves headed to the reservoir.

If this is NOT happening, then your problem is electrical and Cliff should come over and hit it with a hammer! Blah
 

FinalImpact

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And ya, 15 psi is a WAG.... Think it's 16. End game is the same.
Did it expel fluid? If no, likely a false reading and the ECU is shutting down for invalid reasons.

As in, ECU set points are such that once it boils over it has no cooling and actually shuts down before permanent damage occurs.
Make sense?
 
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