Overheated!

[Botch]

Well, tonight I met with the Hill Riders Club (Hill AFB UT) for the first time, we met outside the gate and were going to drive to the Stoddard Inn for some twisties and steak. There were about eight of us, nice blokes, two sport bikes, one LARGE BMW and the rest Harleys, including a V-Rod with solid chromed wheels (nice!).
The other sportbike was a Honda CBR, the rider got off and immediately got on his cellphone. 15 minutes later was our departure time, he was still on the phone and we rode off, and I never did see him again. :tard:
We headed toward I-84 up the canyon, but US89 was under construction and down to one lane, and it was rush hour. After about ten minutes two harleys turned around and went the other way. Then I thought, maybe overheated? It was stop-&-barely-go and 95F. I glanced down and my temp was climbing. Went another couple hundred feet and my red Temp light came on too. 247F. I coasted up alongside the next guy and told him I had to turn around due to overheating too, and took off. Was shifting into the next higher gear and the light came off, so I don't think I got her too hot.
I would've thought ALL the air-cooled cruisers would've overheated before my fizzer. That's the first time that's happened to me.

Vegasrider, or you other guys who ride in hot, stop-&-go conditions: does this happen to you often?

Really had my heart set on a steak tonight...

 

[victorb]

Stating the obvious but have you checked your fan / coolant?
I do a fair bit of stop and go in the city and never had the bike overheat. As soon as the fan kicks in, the temperature drops down. Fans turns off, temperature goes back up in a minute or 2, fan kicks in etc etc. for at least an hour without a problem.

 

[wrightme43]

Seconding fan failure. Our fan can really cool the bike off well. That or a sticky thermostat, or, a failing water pump.

 

[stevesnj]

Construction Zone = Possible debris in the fan

 

[RJ2112]

Stop and go on 90+ days, 30-40 minutes straight, no issues with overheating.... at least, the bike......

Days like that, it's wonderfull to get a full tank of fuel, at 50 something degrees out of that subterranean tank....... I've been known to 'snuggle up' to that cold for some emergency cooling of the nether regions.......

 

[paulinus]

+1 RJ hehe...I'll confess that guilty pleasure with you

 

[CarpeNoctumDC]

...It was stop-&-barely-go and 95F. I glanced down and my temp was climbing. Went another couple hundred feet and my red Temp light came on too. 247F. ...

Vegasrider, or you other guys who ride in hot, stop-&-go conditions: does this happen to you often?

Botch.. I used to live in the desert and on 115/120F days in stop and go traffic for a half hour - hour I don't think my bike really ever got above 230 (Only time it ever came close/might have gone over was at a dead stop on 120F for a half hour... Just stopped the engine that time.. - Melted a pair of sandals and almost passed out.. but engine didn't overheat)

The other day I was in stop and go 95F day for 45min... Planned to change the cooling system the next day because it desperately needed it.. don't think I went above 219F that time..

Warning light comes on 243-283F...

Was your temp only climbing when you when you where stop and go or was it also climbing just when sitting idle?

Additional Possibilities: Oil - Air Filter - Spark Plugs - Engine coolant passages... Or even the ECU...

Diag codes 05 (air intake) 06 (coolant) 51 (Radiator fan) may provide you with more info...

 

[cap'n]

Ditto what others have said... 23,000 miles mostly commuting in every kind of weather, and never seen higher than 217.

 

[wolfc70]

You have a rock or some other foreign material wedged between the fan blades and the radiator. If you catch it early, the fan maybe ok yet. Check the fuse also, and after fuse replacement if it still will not work, you need a new fan motor.

I have always caught mine early enough, usually at the first signs of getting over 220-230 degrees. I usually stop right away, shut off the bike, and work the fan blades carefully to get the pebble out. The radiator fins are pretty stout by motorcycle standards (thanks Yamaha!:rockon so doing a ton of damage is not likely. This has happened to me so many times that I have lost count. Now every time I drive on gravel or other kicked up debris, I check my fan buy just spinning the blades. When everything is working properly, I have never seen my temp get above 214, even when nearing triple digits outside. When it is that hot, the fan does run a lot in traffic though.

 

[RJ2112]

You have a rock or some other foreign material wedged between the fan blades and the radiator. If you catch it early, the fan maybe ok yet. Check the fuse also, and after fuse replacement if it still will not work, you need a new fan motor.

I have always caught mine early enough, usually at the first signs of getting over 220-230 degrees. ......... This has happened to me so many times that I have lost count. Now every time I drive on gravel or other kicked up debris, I check my fan buy just spinning the blades. ........... fan does run a lot in traffic though.

This is an interesting piece of information, and I thank you for providing it. I ride on over a mile of gravel to get to pavement, every time I ride the bike, and have never had anything block the fan blades. Now I know that it's possible, you can bet I'll check more frequently.

How do you think grave is being routed to the fan? Do you have a chin scoop or something?

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I have had zero issue with overheating, even if it's 110 plus like it will be today.

This is what I use rather than anti-freeze coolant:

Water Wetter... it makes a difference and maybe it's something that you might try during the spring/summer since you really don't need anti-freeze during the summer. I run a 80/10/10 mix of Distilled water, water wetter and anti-freeze.

Red Line Synthetic Oil

 

[abacall]

Hey Botch, I often get the fan clycle on/off on those hot days, especially in traffic on the blacktop where it's a solid 10 degrees warmer than ambient.
Never had a problem, except once when the fan cycled so much that it drained the battery.

 

[bleego]

I also just had the "Rock got stuck in the fan killing it entirely" issue. I checked the fuse, which was blown. But after replacement, still no fan.

It makes me kind of feel like I am riding the death star

Anyone know of a good place to get a replacement fan online? or am I pretty much limited to the local dealer?

 

[wolfc70]

This is an interesting piece of information, and I thank you for providing it. I ride on over a mile of gravel to get to pavement, every time I ride the bike, and have never had anything block the fan blades. Now I know that it's possible, you can bet I'll check more frequently.

How do you think grave is being routed to the fan? Do you have a chin scoop or something?

No chin scoop. The stones are thrown by the front tire, and they bounce off the headers, engine block, and many other items. The stones then fall in through the fan blades, usually wedging between the blade/ "blade ring" and the radiator. For some reason this is an issue on the 07 and newer bikes. I am still trying to think of a way to fix some sort of screen/guard near the fan.

 

[wolfc70]

I also just had the "Rock got stuck in the fan killing it entirely" issue. I checked the fuse, which was blown. But after replacement, still no fan.

It makes me kind of feel like I am riding the death star

Anyone know of a good place to get a replacement fan online? or am I pretty much limited to the local dealer?

Dealer only item. You will faint once you get the price. IIRC my dealer wanted $300 for the fan assembly(mount, motor, blades), which is the only way to get the motor. I would check multiple dealers, to save some money, it is parts like this that have the most markup.

 

[RJ2112]

No chin scoop. The stones are thrown by the front tire, and they bounce off the headers, engine block, and many other items. The stones then fall in through the fan blades, usually wedging between the blade/ "blade ring" and the radiator. For some reason this is an issue on the 07 and newer bikes. I am still trying to think of a way to fix some sort of screen/guard near the fan.

How big is the debris causing the fan jamming?

I'd think a piece of screen door mesh tucked in around the mounting frame would do the trick.... the fan sucks through from the front of the bike and exhausts to the engine block, right? All you're trying for is a 'sock' to deflect crud elsewhere..... even a piece of dark colored pantyhose would zip tie in place, and be invisible. If you wanted somehting more robust that you could form with your hands, some hardware cloth would be nerly ideal.... and you could spray paint that black before you install it. The gaps would be on the order of 2mm x 2mm.... plenty for airflow, hopefully small enough to keep out the rocks and stuff.

As far as '07 and newer, I haven't looked at the fairing enough to see any difference in the region that would allow crud to be flicked up that way any differntly than pre '07....

I went out and looked at my '05, to see what the possibilities were for a deflector.... I'd think a strip of liscense plate (or other soft, easily worked metal) the width of the radiator with an L cross section would bolt up on the lower fan mouting points. Use the lower leg to fill in the gap between the radiator and the engine block, and you almost certainly block the main path debris would travel to enter the area.

This would allow you to build the thing and install it, without disturbing anything else.

 

[bleego]

Dealer only item. You will faint once you get the price. IIRC my dealer wanted $300 for the fan assembly(mount, motor, blades), which is the only way to get the motor. I would check multiple dealers, to save some money, it is parts like this that have the most markup.

After a bit of searching on Google, and figuring out the organization of Yamaha parts sites ( Radiator Hose? seriously? ) I was able to find it for $160. ( cyclepartswarehouse.com )

 

[RJ2112]

After a bit of searching on Google, and figuring out the organization of Yamaha parts sites ( Radiator Hose? seriously? ) I was able to find it for $160. ( cyclepartswarehouse.com )

That would be a Very Good Thing to provide a hot link to.....:cheer:

 

[bleego]

That would be a Very Good Thing to provide a hot link to.....:cheer:

Here you go, Number 8, Blower Assembly

OEM motorcycle and ATV parts from Honda, Yamaha & Polaris – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

[Botch]

You Guys Rock! :rockon:

Sure enough, there was a small stone half the size of a pea jamming the fan, I was eventually able to get it out; they're laying gravel on all the blacktop around here, in every direction, I guess trying to spend all that Stimulus money by year's end.
So, on to the fusebox. Get out the owner's manual, "Main Fuze is under the Gas Tank", I remove the fairing bits, lift the tank and support with Fred's handy-dandy tank support rod :thumbup:, and look around a bit. Reread the instructions, "The FUZE BOX is under Panel D", d'Oh! :spank: Read the instructions carefully, Stupid! I remove Panel D, but gee I don't see a fuzebox. Reread the instructions, Panel D is on the OTHER side, d'Oh! :spank: (in my defense the drawing was a bit misleading that time). Pulled the fuze and sure enough it was toast. Got a 20-amp fuze down at Carey's Yamaha, installed it, put her back together,
ran the bike around a bit, pulled into my driveway and let it idle until it got above 230, still no fan. So I guess I'll be buying a new fan assembly (thanks for the link, Bleego!).
I was planning on participating in a fundraising ride tomorrow morning, the route was long enough to put 20,000 miles on my '07; I guess it'll have to wait until next weekend...

One final question for you guys: are the fuzes used on the fizzer a standard "style", something I could pick up at a hardware store? I've never gotten out of Carey's Yamaha for $3.14 before, but that's still a lot of $$ for a damn fuze...