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I totally agree with the last comment from redwing52 (and also most of the other comments about your issue ).
But be aware : overheating is when the coolant boils , not before ! - most engines is designed to run AROUND 90 degrees celsius , but no harm will be done if they run hotter than that if the coolant dosnt boil !
Many switches for radiator fan kick in over 100 degree celsius ( i am not GW specific here) but that is not an problem because the boiling point in an normal engine cooiling system is AROUND 110 degree celsius , and this is because the system is under pressure .
With that being said , - if the combustion gasses go into the coolant and this way makes "air pockets" it is a BIG problem , because the engine will be to hot in some places .
 
Discussion starter · #162 ·
thanks redwing!! i will also try ro clean the cap of that smell see if it re appears. but my main concern is the water pump. any real tests i can do for that? i would really like to run the engine the water pump cover off( the lower part of radiator that connects to the water pump cover) just for a few seconds to see if the impellers are turning. any suggestions?
 
thanks redwing!! i will also try ro clean the cap of that smell see if it re appears. but my main concern is the water pump. any real tests i can do for that? i would really like to run the engine the water pump cover off( the lower part of radiator that connects to the water pump cover) just for a few seconds to see if the impellers are turning. any suggestions?
Yes you can and it won't hurt anything.

I doubt that's your problem as if the coolant wasn't circulating you'd have a geyser long before the fan turned on.:surprise:

You say the gauge is getting to 3/4.
Is this
1: Idling in the driveway?
2: Stop and go city traffic?
3: Sightseeing on country roads?
4: Trying to out run the police on the freeway?
 
I hate to make blanket statement but it is extremely unusual to have your issue and be a water pump problem. It's usually one of those items that either works, or it doesn't. Remember it only circulates the water. No real pressure to speak of as whatever pressure is pushed the same amount of negative pressure is applied to the opposite side. I would say this, you are very aware of the potential issues and seem to be cautious. Maybe over cautious. You have done no damage to your bike given the info of 3/4 scale temps. Were it me I would continue to ride the bike watching things until you get more data. Does it use a little bit of coolant? On cool morning does it steam out the exhaust pipes or pipe? Continue to watch the temp gauge but don't let it get past the hot line. At hot you are probably not hurting anything. That is however a good place to stop and cool down. I have heard many mechanics say that the engine is not hot or getting hurt until it starts to kick out coolant. Then it enters a death spiral.
 
Yes you can and it won't hurt anything.

I doubt that's your problem as if the coolant wasn't circulating you'd have a geyser long before the fan turned on.:surprise:

You say the gauge is getting to 3/4.
Is this
1: Idling in the driveway?
2: Stop and go city traffic?
3: Sightseeing on country roads?
4: Trying to out run the police on the freeway?
Ill go with #4 for $400. :ROFL:
 
By any chance do you have one of the inferred hand held thermometer that you could check the engine with when you think it’s overheated.?
 
Discussion starter · #168 · (Edited)
Yes you can and it won't hurt anything.

I doubt that's your problem as if the coolant wasn't circulating you'd have a geyser long before the fan turned on.:surprise:

You say the gauge is getting to 3/4.
Is this
1: Idling in the driveway?
2: Stop and go city traffic?
3: Sightseeing on country roads?
4: Trying to out run the police on the freeway?
both on highway(not running from police lol) and in my driveway. it takes about 5 to 7 minutes to get to this point.

I hate to make blanket statement but it is extremely unusual to have your issue and be a water pump problem. It's usually one of those items that either works, or it doesn't. Remember it only circulates the water. No real pressure to speak of as whatever pressure is pushed the same amount of negative pressure is applied to the opposite side. I would say this, you are very aware of the potential issues and seem to be cautious. Maybe over cautious. You have done no damage to your bike given the info of 3/4 scale temps. Were it me I would continue to ride the bike watching things until you get more data. Does it use a little bit of coolant? On cool morning does it steam out the exhaust pipes or pipe? Continue to watch the temp gauge but don't let it get past the hot line. At hot you are probably not hurting anything. That is however a good place to stop and cool down. I have heard many mechanics say that the engine is not hot or getting hurt until it starts to kick out coolant. Then it enters a death spiral.
im definitely super cautious. i love just my wing too much, and undoing all the work i just completed from heat would be terrible, but it seems i dont have too much to worry about from what yall are telling me.I have been stopping to cool down when this happens, but i have to stop every 6 minutes or so, so i decided not to ride at all. i havent seen any steam out the exhaust pipes in the morning, ill double check tomorrow morning.

By any chance do you have one of the inferred hand held thermometer that you could check the engine with when you think it’s overheated.?
unfortunately not, ill ride to autozone in the morning and see if they can do it, hopefully this will rule out a faulty heat guage. about what temperature would that read on a heat gun of it is 3/4 up the heat gauge?

also, back to the rad cap, i just watched a video saying a bad cap can release coolant into the overflow tank too early because it cant hold the proper pressure. i need to get my cap tested.
 
Possibility the cap is not up to par but the way it works is if coolant gets in overflow when hot then when it cools off it returns to the radiator if everything is good and coolant won’t boil if under pressure.Similar to 3 mile island a few years back,the reactors run water at 900 degrees under pressure but a leak in the system caused it to go way too high because it was no longer under pressure.
 
crimsonwing

go to Harbor Freight and buy a IR Temperature gun, you will thank yourself many times in the future.

I have always kept one in my toolbox for decades... the first one I got a hold of, was very very expensive, but the company bought it... :)

They have come down in price a huge amount since the first ones arrived on scene.
 
Discussion starter · #171 ·
Possibility the cap is not up to par but the way it works is if coolant gets in overflow when hot then when it cools off it returns to the radiator if everything is good and coolant won’t boil if under pressure.Similar to 3 mile island a few years back,the reactors run water at 900 degrees under pressure but a leak in the system caused it to go way too high because it was no longer under pressure.
it has been doing this exactly, BUT my concern is it can't hold the amount of pressure rated on the cap, so it is releasing coolant into the overflow prematurely, not keeping the pressure, and causing overheating. the springs might be too worn down.

ill also get a IR gun from harbor freight, it should help tons
 
One more thought. On your bike the probability of a radiator cap being the issue is not likely. Those bikes run pretty cool and you might ride the bike for years with a weak cap and not know. Have you tried to carefully loosen the cap when at 3/4? Turn it loose very carefully in case there is a lot of pressure. (there probably won't be but be careful anyway.) Today's cars run 230 degrees all the time with no issues.Your bike should have a 180 degree stat. I would guess at 3/4 on the gauge it might be 190 or 200 degrees??? The bike has no issue and might actually get better mileage at that temp. If you get to 3/4 and it stabilizes don't stop riding! You are not hurting a thing. You do not even know if/what the problem is. If it just runs at 3/4 constant you might want to clean and flush the radiator. If you can make it go to hot there is something wrong but if you do not run long at hot you will not wurt the bike. I promise! Honda builds a safety cushion in there. They want you to know there is something wrong when it goes to hot. It would make no sense to have hot be the point where the engine is damaged. If it gets to hot, (and it truly is hot) that means if you continue to drive you MIGHT be risking damage. At 3/4 the bike is happy as a lark. Especially if there is no steam anywhere and no sweet smell of coolant.

EDIT: Due to expansion, it is normal for the cooling system to push out some coolant even at low temps.
 
Discussion starter · #173 · (Edited)
One more thought. On your bike the probability of a radiator cap being the issue is not likely. Those bikes run pretty cool and you might ride the bike for years with a weak cap and not know. Have you tried to carefully loosen the cap when at 3/4? Turn it loose very carefully in case there is a lot of pressure. (there probably won't be but be careful anyway.) Today's cars run 230 degrees all the time with no issues.Your bike should have a 180 degree stat. I would guess at 3/4 on the gauge it might be 190 or 200 degrees??? The bike has no issue and might actually get better mileage at that temp. If you get to 3/4 and it stabilizes don't stop riding! You are not hurting a thing. You do not even know if/what the problem is. If it just runs at 3/4 constant you might want to clean and flush the radiator. If you can make it go to hot there is something wrong but if you do not run long at hot you will not wurt the bike. I promise! Honda builds a safety cushion in there. They want you to know there is something wrong when it goes to hot. It would make no sense to have hot be the point where the engine is damaged. If it gets to hot, (and it truly is hot) that means if you continue to drive you MIGHT be risking damage. At 3/4 the bike is happy as a lark. Especially if there is no steam anywhere and no sweet smell of coolant.

EDIT: Due to expansion, it is normal for the cooling system to push out some coolant even at low temps.
alrighty redwing, i'll trust in your word and continue riding and consider my repair "complete" as of now. of course i'll still keep an eye out. i didn't know that only the red part on the heat gauge was the danger zone, i guess i learn every day. i have not tried slowly twisting the rad cap! also, i tested both the thermostat and water pump they are fine. the only culprit now is the radiator itself. I ended up prewashing it today, then i started straightening out some bent fins. in the morning, im gonna do the main wash then im gonna paint it!! what can i use to wash it good and rid of all the grime buildup? is it important to get ALL the old paint off before i repaint? or can i leave some flakes here or there? and how much paint is too much paint?
 
As Dave mentioned the radiator is actually more efficient with no paint. What you need to be aware of is and dirt and oil on the outside. The next thing is the deposits that are inside with the coolant. They can accumulate making it impossible for the coolant to contact the radiator tubes. Of course then the efficiency of the radiator goes down. That is what I was referring to when I talked of flushing the radiator. Buy a bottle of radiator flush at Walmart etc. Add it to the coolant and ride for a given time per the instruction. Then drain and flush . Just follow the instructions on the bottle. You did say the fan turns on at 3/4 gauge? If the fan is not turning on it is probably not that warm. Not to add anything to add to the confusion, but there is a part called the instrument voltage regulator on the back of the dash, If it fails it is possible for gaiges to read high because the voltage to the gauges goes up. Don't worry about that for now. Just see if the bike ever get hot. Not too hot of course. :)

I understand what Dennis is saying and it is hard to argue with his logic. It is possible that the bike was leaking coolant in one of the cylinder etc. and the bike was not making all the power it should. If it makes less power it can make less heat. It is possible now you have all 4 cylinders working the engine is making more heat than when it was before. Only a guess of course. The thing I am sure of the fact that it runs at 3/4 of and by itself will not hurt the bike. No noises, no steam, no smells. Were it me I would see if it stays at 3/4 or goes to hot. No disrespect. :)
 
I do agree, Mike, that running at "whatever" on the gauge is not a problem, as long as there are no signs of overheating. But, if it's running "warm" in winter riding conditions, what will summer bring?

The thermostat works, but is it installed correctly?

When working on the coolant tubes on top of the motor, did you scrape off some crud that is now lodged in a narrow passage?

Did a piece of one of those rags you used to plug the holes, break loose and get lodged in a narrow passage?

All things considered though, it's probably best to leave it be and hope for the best.
 
Discussion starter · #178 ·
As Dave mentioned the radiator is actually more efficient with no paint. What you need to be aware of is and dirt and oil on the outside. The next thing is the deposits that are inside with the coolant. They can accumulate making it impossible for the coolant to contact the radiator tubes. Of course then the efficiency of the radiator goes down. That is what I was referring to when I talked of flushing the radiator. Buy a bottle of radiator flush at Walmart etc. Add it to the coolant and ride for a given time per the instruction. Then drain and flush . Just follow the instructions on the bottle. You did say the fan turns on at 3/4 gauge? If the fan is not turning on it is probably not that warm. Not to add anything to add to the confusion, but there is a part called the instrument voltage regulator on the back of the dash, If it fails it is possible for gaiges to read high because the voltage to the gauges goes up. Don't worry about that for now. Just see if the bike ever get hot. Not too hot of course. :)

I understand what Dennis is saying and it is hard to argue with his logic. It is possible that the bike was leaking coolant in one of the cylinder etc. and the bike was not making all the power it should. If it makes less power it can make less heat. It is possible now you have all 4 cylinders working the engine is making more heat than when it was before. Only a guess of course. The thing I am sure of the fact that it runs at 3/4 of and by itself will not hurt the bike. No noises, no steam, no smells. Were it me I would see if it stays at 3/4 or goes to hot. No disrespect. :)
cool, then i shall keep riding, and i will do the flush soon!

I do agree, Mike, that running at "whatever" on the gauge is not a problem, as long as there are no signs of overheating. But, if it's running "warm" in winter riding conditions, what will summer bring?

The thermostat works, but is it installed correctly?

When working on the coolant tubes on top of the motor, did you scrape off some crud that is now lodged in a narrow passage?

Did a piece of one of those rags you used to plug the holes, break loose and get lodged in a narrow passage?

All things considered though, it's probably best to leave it be and hope for the best.
thermostat was installed correctly, there is a chance that some crud went in wen i was working on the pipes, but no rags for sure. i will keep yall posted. what signs should i look for in overheating? and just to be clear, the red part of the gauge is the only danger zone?
 
Bad signs would be steam from anywhere with no obvious reason. Temp gauge that goes in the hot. I am hoping the bike stays at 3/4 on the gauge. Then I bet if you flush the inside of the radiator once or twice you should be good. I agree with Dennis about summer vs winter. If you just get by in the winter you probably have to flush the radiator before summer. Not too many small passages in the cooling system as far as the motor goes. It is probably the dirtiest system on the bike.
 
Discussion starter · #180 ·
Bad signs would be steam from anywhere with no obvious reason. Temp gauge that goes in the hot. I am hoping the bike stays at 3/4 on the gauge. Then I bet if you flush the inside of the radiator once or twice you should be good. I agree with Dennis about summer vs winter. If you just get by in the winter you probably have to flush the radiator before summer. Not too many small passages in the cooling system as far as the motor goes. It is probably the dirtiest system on the bike.
well i unbent all the bent fins on the radiator and triple washed the exterior. i reinstalled it and went for a test ride, still 3/4 up the gauge, although it did take the the engine a lot longer to warm up to that point. one really important thing to note is that a lot of steam/smoke came out the left exhaust when i started the bike, and continued to come out for a good couple of minutes before it all cleared up. that cant be good. anyhow. All i have left to do now is flush out the cooling system so i can find out if that was the issue.
 
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