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It overheated. should I be alright?

21K views 205 replies 18 participants last post by  Bike...and Dennis 
#1 · (Edited)
i notice my wing was over heating. I pulled over and and a whole bunch of terrible smelling smoke was coming out the right exhaust. I waited and hour or so to keep riding home. when I opened the throttle at first and it was very choppy as if i was in 3rd gear trying to take off. but it smoothed out as i kept riding. I just need more oil in there is all. I was just wondering if i potentially did any real damage to my poor wing. any thoughts?
 
#2 ·
it probably will be just fine.

I used to have a '94SE and rode it out to San Diego from Mesa, AZ.

going was not so bad, it was coming home that was terrible....

50+ mph winds, blowing sand, a Tulsa Tall +4 windshield, and me wanting to get home and pushing 85 mph all the way.

About 20 miles west of Yuma, AZ, the oil light came on, and when I slowed down, I could hear the valves all clicking and clacking...... I slowed down to about 30 mph and rode it the rest of the way to town, stopped in at a Denny's and had some chow.

2 hours later, I checked the oil level and it was okay, between the top and bottom marks.

the oil had just gotten too hot and had lost its' viscosity... at that time, the engine had Castrol Oil in it, which one? don't remember.....

once the engine cooled down, I rode the rest of the way to Mesa at about 60 mph and the light never came back on.

Back home, I drained the oil before the engine cooled down.... let it drip all night.
Poured in Delo 400 15w40 and never looked back......
never had another minutes worth of trouble from that bike.
 
#3 ·
In your case, I would look for signs of water in the oil, if none, good.

look for signs of water loss, make sure the overflow tank has water in it, if none, then there is a leak in the overflow tubing, or the tank is cracked ( not likely )

it very doubtful that you have a headgasket leaking...

if the smoke goes away after letting it set all night, and on the next start up, I would just watch it.
 
#5 ·
You never said why it overheated. I think you might believe it was because you were low on oill. That is almost certainly not going to overheat the engine. If it ever got that bad there would be no bringing the thing back to life. A wing that runs without oil so long it overheats is almost certainly terminal. Lack of oil will cause much more serious issues long before it overheats.
In spite of the new head gaskets I would still look for all the common issues first. Is the bike up to snuff on the coolant level? Does the fan turn on when it should? What is the condition of the coolant and the radiator? Is the radiator free of debris externally? Do you notice a stream of air bubbles in the coolant if you run the engine with the radiator cap off, or black combustion residue around the neck of the radiator? Blowing or losing water out of the radiator?
 
#8 ·
hey redwing, I added more oil today and i checked the coolant and it was VERY low!! I had to add a lot more and burp it all up. I then started the wing with the choke fully open,and it had a very rough start. for a good 15 seconds it was extremely choppy and sounded like it was about to die, then it slowly sped up and smoothed out back to normal. I rode around for a good while and all was good, still smooth and no over heating. Question is, why the low coolant level. I will need to keep tabs. I REALLY hope my heads arent bad. Also, when I looked at the cap, there was the "mayonase" on it, which meas its mixing with oil if i remember right, this makes me so scared about the heads. please chime in yall!
 
#9 ·
mayonnaise on the oil cap means "water" in the oil, or condensation which will create water if enough is there.

I would just watch it and see if all is normal "now"....

our engines are much happier if we use them frequently.
 
#11 ·
It does seem like you might have a head gasket that failed. They can fail in several ways. The most common is between the water jacket and combustion chamber. When that happens you will lose coolant and get combustion gases in the cooling system. That is why you check for bubbles in the radiator. If the mayo is black that is a pretty good indication the head gasket has failed. Also what your bike displays is the miss at start up. That is because the failed head gasket allows coolant to leak in to the cylinder while it sits over night. When you start it the coolant gets on the plug and fouls the plug for a while. Usually it will steam also. Do you get steam out the exhaust? You might think it is smoke but probably steam. It will almost smell sweet in the air and the cloud will go away in a minute from the air. Smoke stays way longer. Hate to say I think you have a bad head gasket again. I do not necessarily believe in OEM as much as Dennis but I have seen enough aftermarket gaskets fail that I too would suggest OEM only if it turns out you need them. Good luck my friend..

EDIT: As I read again I noticed you said mayo on the cap. Which cap? On the oil filler cap is usually coolant in the oil while on the radiator cap it is combustion gases in the cooling system. Either scenario is an indication of a failed head gasket. Take all the plugs out. See if one is perfectly white like it has been steam cleaned. Bet you know what that means.
 
#16 ·
I am just a little concerned that the temp gauge did not move. If the bike is too low on coolant the temp gauge sensor will not be imersed in coolant and the gauge will not move even if the motor is blistering hot. Where are you seeing the mayo? On the oil filler cap?
 
#17 ·
the temp gauge did move definitely, just stayed a lot on the cooler side this time. mayo was on the rad cap, wasnt too much either. also, if i do replace the the head gasket. will the head need resurfacing again? I will be checking spark plugs tomorrow for more details.
 
#18 ·
Here is a great how-to on DIY head resurfacing. Use the marker trick to make sure your head isn't warped.

http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=13935

+1 on Mother Honda head gaskets!!

Also, to confirm you have a blown head gasket, let 'er sit over night, pull out the plugs. Key on, kill switch off - hit the start button. Did any cylinder spit coolant?

Mine was obvious :sad:
 

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#20 ·
It'll happen quick, drape a clean rag over the plug holes. You may even want to mark the rag as to which plug hole it covers. Hit the start button, then go search for the rags, they will fly quite a distance! Look for coolant marks when found.
 
#22 ·
That is a great idea. I can tell you how not to do it also. I suspected a particular cylinder on a V8 and thought that it might be good to have a little light on the plug hole when cranked over. Well, there was lots of water in the cylinder that came flying out. Broke the light bulb and shocked the pi$$ out of me and blew water on my face. Made the guys laugh. That is not the right way! :)
 
#23 ·
#24 ·
so i had the chance to do the rag test after letting her sit a couple days. I pulled out the spark plugs and they seemed healthy, they were just moderately covered in gas. then i did the rag test and NOTHING! just air came out. I put the plugs back in and i started her up. just a bit of smoke/steam came out again. I took her out for a long ride, and I intentionally did a lot of stop and go riding to make her angry and overheat. She decided to stay mellow and calm and the heat gauge only ever went about half way at the worst. I came back home and parked her and just a tad bit more smoke/ steam came out again and that was it. I then checked the coolant overflow tank and it was still good. all went pretty smooth. I don't know what to say....maybe she was just throwing a temporary fit? anyhow, I will keep my eye on her for any other suspicious activity. I also will try to do the leakdown test!
 
#26 ·
yeah i feel the same way unfortunately. I didnt get a chance to check the rad since it was sundown and didnt wanna start wrenching then, but i shall tomorrow. when I open the cap tomorrow, should i instantly see coolant? maybe i should drain it all out to check if its mixed with oil?
 
#28 ·
If the rubber hose between the cap and the overflow bottle has a crack in it, the radiator will overflow when it gets hot, but suck air back instead of antifreeze when it cools down.

Had that happen to a 1994 ST1100 that I bought, the guy said 'it seems to overheat".

Replaced that hose with a new one, and all was well.
Make sure the outlet at the radiator cap neck is open, and not plugged with debris.
 
#29 ·
hey all! i think I have confirmation now! i went outside to check on her to find a tiny puddle of coolant DIRECTLY under the head. Maybe the rubber hose between the cap and overflow tank has a crack and it dripped from there, but that seems unlikely since i have been having smoke/steam come out my exhaust. would this be considered confirmation? I will check my rad cap and hose anyway for more info, but i have the feeling this is conclusive. Now, if it IS indeed my head, the great news is that i have done this repair before already so it wont be my first rodeo. That being said I have a few questions for y'all. 1) would any of those liquid gasket sealer products be useful in the meantime until the new mother gasket comes in the mail? 2) when i start doing repairs, should I keep posting in this forum, or in the one i made for my last head repair? 3) If it is my head that is blow, why did this happen? is there any other possible reason besides improper installation?
 
#30 ·
If you have water coming out from between the block and head that is head gasket confirmation and no sealer etc. will help. Just park it and fix it. If you did not use OEM gaskets that might be the reason for premature failure. That is assuming the head and block are flat. Also torque the heads with a known good torque wrench to the proper torque and toorque in order. Make sure the block and head are clean and dry when you put the head on. No sealers or silicone etc.
One other cause of head gasket failures is getting hot for any reason. A small leak that is not repaired and coolant gets low slowly until one day it overheats and blows the head gaskets. Always keep and eye on the bikes life blood. That is all fluids. Don't trust the reservoir height. Check both the res and the radiator. If the res hose has an air leak the res can be full and the radiator empty. When bikes get this old they need extra TLC to survive.
 
#32 ·
Something I would add to Redwing's list is to smear a light layer of moly paste to the head bolt threads and under the head bolt flanges.
 
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#35 ·
i have a manual and a cheap torque wrench. I will get a quality one soon. I wonder if i should do the other head as well, as i probably failed to torque them right too. i know not to fix what isnt broken but o would hate to do this a third time a month after I finish this repair... i think this one through
 
#36 ·
Change 'em both. I can't think of a root cause (bad parts, low coolant, inaccurate tools, missed procedures, etc) that would affect only one side.
 
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