[dadztoy]

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(continued report from post of Blazinbye of August 20th)



Changed the radiator cap to the previously mentioned Stant and that didn't make any difference... On a 200 mile ride to the Wisconsin Dells last weekend in 80+ temperatures the bike acted pretty much the same...

One of the strange things that is happening here is that with repeated excursions into the mid range or higher, the temp gauge never quite goes as far down (cooler) as the previous time... There seems to be an ever increasing engine temperature during these heat/cool down cycles with the average engine temperature climbing ever so slightly each time a heating/cooling cycle occurs... Once engine heat builds to this point and after I arrive home and pull the bike into the garage, the fans will never shut off... I can usually get one cycle of the fans if I start the bike from a cold state... After that, the fans will come on a second time and never shut down...

When I get a bit of time I'm going to pull the cooling system down again and do a through inspection of all parts involved... If I can see into the radiators that may tell me if there is a buildup in them... If I can find a shop to do it, I might just have them rodded out and see if there is any difference in performance...

Another part I am not sure of is what Honda describes as the "thermovalve"... It looks like it's in the carb heating circuit but I have no idea what it actually does or if it could effect overall cooling...

Les

 

[Tonys96]

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The "Thermovalve" is just a carb heater, whenever you pull your carbs, you'll see a brass tube looped underneath, no affect on cooling, large affect on cold drivability.

 

[exavid]

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dadztoy wrote:

If I can see into the radiators that may tell me if there is a buildup in them... If I can find a shop to do it, I might just have them rodded out and see if there is any difference in performance...
Les

You've pretty well checked out everything else, I think it might be a good idea to take a good look at the radiators. When I run my engine with the radiator cap off the coolant level stays pretty constant, the fact that yours rises as did thecoolant of my friend's Toyota (which did have a pretty plugged radiator even though it was only five years old) makes mewonder how much flow you are getting through them.

 

[Skooter]

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Did you replace the thermostat? Thats probably the first thing to do in a m,ystery OH problem. Also chek if the radiator hoses are getting very hard. If they are then you may have a blowing head gasket.

 

[teacher]

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hi dadztoy,

I've read all the post and have not seen a mention ofthe possiblity of either the front or rear brakes sticking. Is the possibly? At first I just thought my bike was just slow getting off the mark, but once it started to overheat I started to look at the brakes. I had already check everything as you did.

 

[GWNorman]

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Water pump failure is also possible. You need to check that the coolant is circulating.

 

[dadztoy]

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The water pump was replaced about 2 weeks ago... The thermostat was replaced last season and didn't make any difference...

I had just installed stainless steel braided brake lines about a month ago so the brakes were checked over pretty well at that time... The right front pad is starting to get a bit thin, but other than that, everything looks good...



I just talked to my mechanic buddy and he is going to check with his radiator shop to see if they can do the Wing radiators... As soon as I find a shop that thinks they can do the job, I'll tear the bike down and pull the radiators and take them to them for rodding.... Will let all of you know what happens after that...

Les

 

[exavid]

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Onecheck of the radiatoryou can do is to use an electronic thermometer with a probe and check different areas on the face of the radiator to see if there are any areas that are significantly cooler than others. The radiator should be pretty much the same temp across the face horizontally. It should have a noticeable drop in temperature vertically measured. If you plot the temps across the radiator at 1" intervals horizontally and vertically on a piece of paper you can get an indication if there's any areas that are plugged or not flowing properly. Both radiators should show pretty much the same temps. An electronic meat thermometer can do the job if you don't have anything better on hand. If you pull the radiator off the bike you could see how well water flows through both to see if one is more restricted than the other. Your fans coming on as they do pretty well verify your gauge reading. Since you've checked out the hoses, water pump, thermostat, radiator cap and dont have any indications of combustion gases in the coolant about all that's left is the radiator.

 

[dadztoy]

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Thanks Paul,



Yeah, I just got off the phone with my mechanic buddy and he suggested that we use an infrared thermometer and take some readings on my bike as compared to his or another... Makes sense to me... He also told me that his radiator shops pretty much refuse to try and rod an aluminum radiator so if they do need replacement, I'm going to have to buy new (ouch!!)...

So before I spring for $500 for new radiators, we'll take a few measurements and see what it looks like...



The saga continues:X

Les