the temp on my bike has always run at about half way to 3/4 but most the riding i do is on freeways or country roads today i had to take a ride down a busy street and was in traffic for about 40min had a look at my temp and it was well past the red so i pulled over and let her cool off for a bit and it was still high after that but not in the red. When i got where i was going had the bike off for about 2hour and started it and let it idle for 3-4 minutes and the temp was back up around the red again but once i got moving it dropped to about 3/4 im also thinking it could be because i changed the oil a few days ago to penrite monograde SAE30 before it was running yamaha 15W-40 but couldnt find that oil so went with the penrite since it has 10W-30 stamped on the bike any ideas why this is happening? thanks
Did your fan come on when you hit the red zone? Have you boil-tested your thermostat? Do you HAVE a thermostat? What is the condition of the coolant in your rad? How strong / how clean? Is there enough? (I forget what board it was; young fellow complained of an odd 'hot' smell, even though his temp gauge never got past half. Turned out his cooling system was f'n near EMPTY, and he was smelling his engine frying itself <!-- s:-? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_Eyecrazy.gif" alt=":-?" title="Eye Crazy" /><!-- s:-? --> ) Do you have a leak? Are the hoses kinked? Do you have an air pocket? What is the blow-off pressure of the rad cap (any dealer or garage can tell you that in about 5 minutes; if your friends with the guy at the counter, they might not even charge you)? What does your rad look like? Full of bugs, leaves, small animals? Half the fins mashed shut? I doubt the oil would cause that bad an issue that quickly; I'd say you have an issue with your cooling system. Have fun - let us know!
i have my fan set on a switch which i had forgot to turn on so as soon as i noticed i did but even after letting it sit for 2hours and starting it back up with the fn it was still running hot boil test i have now idea how to do that, to be honest i wouldn't know what to look for for the thermo but i assume its working fine because ive never had a problem with the temp before yeah i did read that as for the coolant theres plenty in there i can see the its up to the radiator cap (might sound dump but is there a gauge somewhere i can see the coolant level other than just by the rad cap?) the radiator and hoses are all clean and in good nick as for an air pocket and checking the blow off pressure ill look into it but i dont see how that could be a problem because i havent had anything off the only way id think it would get an air pocket is if a line had been unplugged or something
the bike does not have a coolant level gauge where you can see what is happening. What it does have is an overflow tank under the seat. A long as this is about half full and the radiator cap is working properly the radiator level will be maintained. If the bike overheats consistently I would replace the thermostat. The bikes do tend to get hot in heavy city traffic if you are not moving much.
Thermostat boil test - suspend t'stat in pot of water along with reasonably accurate thermometer - heat water slowly, stirring constantly - t'stat should open at 80-84C If it doesn't open, or doesn't open fully, pitch it and get a new one. Thermostats do go off suddenly, that's why there's a definite test. There's a little wax plug inside that expands and pushes the valve open; a pin-hole leak in the body lets the magic out. It's like electricals - once the magic smoke escapes, the item stops working...
I (being the young guy with the heating problem) have exactly the same issue as this. by the way, there was plenty of coolant in the bike, it just pisses it out over the overflow all the time. I will try changing the thermostat aswell as it certanly smells like no cooling is happening to the engine. And maybe since the thermo isnt opening up the water is cooking itself and shooting out the overflow? Will most bike shops sell a thermostat for this bike? ta JB
NewbieFZR - try swapping your rad cap, before trying the thermostat. If the cap barfs at too low a pressure, the coolant boils too fast and the engine overheats!
Hey mate yeah i have already put on a new radiator cap, it didnt fit in very easily though, lol same size as the one that was on it (original) just had to encourage it on, LOL
? It should require no persuasion. Check that nothing is bent, twisted, or otherwise not a happy camper - sealing disk, the inner neck, the outer neck, and the cap locking section.
UPDATE i have no idea what the problem was but i drained the coolent and refilled it and it seems to be fine now may have been an air pocket
Well that is good news. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s -->
are fans only suppose to turn on when the bike is in the red zone? cuz my fan is on like... all the time when i'm not riding the bike hard... my bike stays in the 90 degree zone all the time.... and i hvae this digital temp display, that has a background colour turn red when ever the temperature hits 90 degree. I'm hoping that the previous owner has calibrated the display... on fzr250, the oem coolant temperature sensor is actually an sensor, not a switch right? i.e. I rebuild dirt bike engines, and what honda's dirtbikes have are temperature switch, that just send a voltage the ecu when the coolant temperature is above xx degree. I'm asking this because i want to know that i can trust the temperature sensor... that's on the engine right now. and also does anyone know where this sensor is located on the engine? I really hope i haven't been constantly over heating the engine.. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mad.gif" alt="" title="Mad" /><!-- s -->
The temp sensor is a progressive resistance sensor and there is a also a temp switch that runs the fan - both are located on the thermostat housing which is on the right hand side of the bike, behind the top of the radiator. Just follow the big hose from the top of the radiator.
