bike overheating

[gnorth75]

I changed my oil this morning, started up the bike and let it idle for about 5-7 minutes and the coolant temp got to 212 degrees and the engine was hotter than its ever been. I did nothing different from my previous oil changes. Any suggestions? Otherwise, I will have to tow it to a dealership to look at it and I REALLY want to avoid getting ripped off.

 

[ChevyFazer]

212 is normal, especially sitting idle with no air moving through the radiator. Nothing to worry about yet.

 

[DefyInertia]

^^^ +1

Other than confirming your fan came on, I wouldn't do anything other than keep an eye on it. You generally shouldn't let your bike sit there for any longer than it needs to get up near operating temp....not "good" for anything.

 

[gnorth75]

I know what you're saying, but its heating up at least 3 times faster than it ever has. something is definitely wrong. The engine shouldnt get so hot that it burns my hand in less than 5 mins.

 

[DefyInertia]

And all you did was change the oil? Did you use the correct oil? Did you mess with the fueling at all? Perhaps you need to burp the cooling system?

And at this point I'm assuming you checked the fan...

 

[gnorth75]

And all you did was change the oil? Did you use the correct oil? Did you mess with the fueling at all? Perhaps you need to burp the cooling system?

And at this point I'm assuming you checked the fan...

fans are all working. I used the same oil as always, Rotella T6. didn't mess with anything else. I will try to burp the cooling system tomorrow and hope for the best

 

[vettrick]

I checked my fan yesterday after I found a stone blocking it.
It came on at 210 degrees.
I think you are normal.

 

[ChevyFazer]

I understand your concern but it doesn't matter how quick it heats up as long as it doesn't over heat, and if your coolant is at 212 then you should get burned by the engine because it's hotter than your coolant by a lot.

Also I can't touch my stator cover after about 4-5 min at idle but my bike runs a little hotter than most with my setup, and I've run it without a drop of coolant in it before, by accident but the SOB still didnt over heat.

 

[FinalImpact]

. . . . and I've run it without a drop of coolant in it before, by accident but the SOB still didnt over heat.

LETS DEFINE OVER HEAT. . .
Without coolant the temperature sensor will not track the engines actual conditions. That is; the steam which was likely present after running without coolant can we say 15 min, guess >210F does not have enough thermal energy to "heat" the sensor (water denser than steam). In essence, engines REAL LOW on coolant do not report the temperature accurately even tho they are overheating. . .

An example is an engine that begins to boil over pushing the water/steam out of the rad-cap in by-pass mode; If left to run like this some will report the temperature dropping. Result people keep driving thus destroying their engines. . .

I'm just sayin don't believe everything you see. . . An at home example is to take and boil a pan of water on the stove. A pan with a rough texture like the engine block. About the time its boiling how long can you keep your hand on 212F pan? A second, 5 seconds? Try it on your block when the temp says its 212F JUST SO YOU KNOW the difference. Although i suggest lower temps for finger testing. . . Lower on the block will get you the oil temp????


I call Fizzer Abuse! Where is the 800 number! :BLAA:

 

[ChevyFazer]

That's true but depending on what coolant and how much pressure is on it most systems will not boil over until about 240-260 and some a lot higher, and most engines would end up shutting down from electronic safety's or just plain lock up. Because remember the under pressure the boiling point is raised.

But this actually happened about 2 weeks ago when I was having problems with my resivor, I say there wasn't a drop of coolant in it but in reality there had to be some in it, just none visible in the radiator or resivor. As long as I stayed moving the temp never got over 3 bars, but at a stop light it would shoot up fan kick on but no change in temp. Even though the gauge might not have been reading 100% accurate at the time I'm positive the oil never got above that critical temp, whatever it might be. I have overheated it once while out in the shop and the check engine light came on and if you tried to rev it it just would not rev.

So in other words, sitting still=easy to over heat but if moving at a steady pace=almost impossible to over heat, a big almost, if the conditions are right I'm sure it would though

And yeah the 1-800 hotline has me on there most wanted list :BLAA: LOL

 

[sloring]

I know what you're saying, but its heating up at least 3 times faster than it ever has. something is definitely wrong. The engine shouldnt get so hot that it burns my hand in less than 5 mins.

something is DEFINITELY wrong, I would take your bike to the dealer IMMEDIATELY. I can touch the engine after 10 mins and it's only slightly warm. Take your bike in immediately before something else goes horribly wrong.

 

[Motogiro]

There are catalytic converters on these bike and I believe later model (s2) have CATs in the header as well as in down pipe. I'm wondering if there is a problem in the exhaust. This would cause the motor to heat up at a very quick rate. Maybe check the exhaust with an infra red thermometer?

 

[TheRabbi]

Living in Texas, if I park my bike out in the sun (or if the shade moves) then it'll probably hit 210 degrees in less than 10 minutes while it's off! :BLAA:

 

[gnorth75]

There are catalytic converters on these bike and I believe later model (s2) have CATs in the header as well as in down pipe. I'm wondering if there is a problem in the exhaust. This would cause the motor to heat up at a very quick rate. Maybe check the exhaust with an infra red thermometer?

unfortunately, I dont have an infrared thermometer. This is damn frustrating though. I think Im gonna have to take it to the dealership

 

[ChevyFazer]

Honestly, it's up to you but I would just ride it, and keep a eye on it. If and only if the temp gets up hot enough that it is actually over heating then I would go down that route. Its summer things heat up quickly.

If it is your cats being clogged up then there is 2 things you can do to check.
1) does the bike still rev up quickly? If it does then it's almost 100% surely not clogged
2) wait until it gets dark outside, crank up your bike and when it gets to temp wait a little longer and you will see the header begin to glow orange.

Also have you actually taken it out on the road to see what the temp does?

 

[FinalImpact]

unfortunately, I dont have an infrared thermometer. This is damn frustrating though. I think Im gonna have to take it to the dealership

As stated above; with an elevated starting temp - it will come up to Hot much quicker. So if you don't trust the bikes thermometer you could do something like this:

An air cooled engine - 3.3cc's but you get the idea. . .

So is it boiling over and pushing fluid out of the radiator cap and into the reservoir? If not, then I'm not conveniced you have an issue. Does it ping and detonate when you take off?

 

[gnorth75]

Well there was definitely an issue, but it has been solved. I had a bad oil filter. I changed the filter again and its heating up like normal. I had it running in the garage for 10 mins and the coolant temp never went over 185 and I can touch the engine without getting 3rd degree burns.

I just want to thank everyone who took the time to respond, you guys are always helpful.:thumbup:

 

[ChevyFazer]

Bad oil filter...

Hmmmm....

It would be almost impossible for a oil filter to cause a bike to heat up quick or over heat.

Now if it was low on oil that could cause it, but the filter itself no.

 

[gnorth75]

Bad oil filter...

Hmmmm....

There is no possible way a oil filter can cause a bike to heat up quick or over heat. Sorry but there just isn't lol.

Now if it was low on oil that could cause it, but the filter itself no.

It definitely wasn't low on oil; I drained 3 quarts and put the same oil back in. The only change was the filter, and a defective filter that doesn't allow the oil to circulate properly can certainly cause an engine to overheat. So that seems to be my culprit.

 

[ChevyFazer]

All oil filters are made with a safety so that "can't" happen, because flowing oil is more important than filtering oil.

However, on a really old filter it can happen from that safety getting stopped up too. Either way I'm glad your satisfied with how it's running now.

Any chance you could cut the other filter open and post some pics, so we can see what if anything was defective.