runnin hot

um.... mines the same... gets hot in slow traffic. and the weather is cool at the moment... around 20C at the hottest. .... adelaide summers hit 40C well regularly.

i dont like it, it scares me

mine runs similar at the 6 bars and the fan will come on at 3 bars from top during warm cruise throught town with lotsa lights.

I have never seen the hot light though! that would concern me...

My fan has also come on at moderate temps (<70 F) while putting around,

this bike needs AIRflow by way of speed to be happy

tim

'07 sd (stock impeller) w/ fresh coolant

hey Strat, is it possible you're running too lean??

only other suggestion would be fan switch for hot climate, which i think kicks the fan on at lower temp... i've seen them on gay-bay a while ago...

My bike runs surprisingly cool i must say... i've heard the fan go on maybe a total of 3-4 times in the 3 years of ownership... even at 35-40C the fan would only kick in if bike was left idling for a while... having said that, i have never been stuck in stop & go traffic, and i hardly use her in the city at all, so that could be a part of it...

Cant you put a fan the other side too? sure I have seen that on here before appreciate its more expense....

Have a look at my end post and link re lower temp. fan switches here:

http://www.superduke.net/forum/viewtopi ... c&start=50

and ditto here re an additional fan:

http://www.superduke.net/forum/viewtopi ... c&start=75

Useful

there cant be air in the system, its been bled twice!

maybe it's a almost defect thermostat? You could easily check this. Just put the thermostat in boiled water and see if it pops open...

Hi guys!
Please help me with advice.
Problem - engine overheating in city traffic.

Outside the city engine temperature keeps about 6-9 bars.
After riding few minutes in city traffic temperature rises to maximum very fast and temperature lamp lights up(already two times today ), of course I turned off engine very fast.
In coolant system i have Liquid Ice, i guess. with level everything is ok.
What seems strange to me - fan switches on only at 11bars or even at 12bars, when it`s too late.
I think problem maker is - THERMO SWITCH, which gives to fan wrong information.
Question -when normally fan needs to start working? at how many bars? How many bars in traffic is +/- normal to SD? temperature outside ~ +20c.
Called to dealer, they can take to service, only after 3 weeks, it`s too long.
Please help me.

What i noticed today, a little bit of liquid was squeezed out near of water pump. What it means?

Has the bike been serviced recently? When did the liquid ice go in? I ask this as if the bike didn't have the front end lifted to bleed the air out of the system she will overheat. Try getting the front of the bike 20+ degrees up and that should release any airlock.

It does sound like the fan is kicking in too late. Mine kicks in at 5 bars but I have a switch that kicks in a few degrees lower than the OEM.

Sounds like a faulty thermoswitch and/or wiring - if you are replacing the thermoswitch, I've been using one of these for sometime now - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15230&hilit=fan+switch - still looking for one circa 80-85 degrees though.

You know one thing I am noticing about this post is that the folks running Liquid ICE seem to be running hotter than normal.. I know that I use the recommended antifreeze and my bike runs generally at the 5 bar mark all the time and runs hotter in stop and go, but I have NEVER seen the red lamp.

My question is maybe this is a liquid ICE issue? Do we know if this product works as well as a coolant as standard antifreeze?
(I know nothing about liquid ice...)

Maybe you folks having extreme cooling issues and are using liquid ice might want to try bleeding the system completely and trying the recommended antifreeze and see if this helps...

Just a thought..

Try them - received mine two days after order.

I just figured it's a big Vtwin with an itty bitty radiator and one puny fan being pushed through a hot day in traffic....no worries!!

I know it's hard to believe but....

The radiator and fan is enough to cool the engine to where is can maintain (10 bars on an 09) all day even in heavy stop start traffic at 40DegC ambient on a hot day!

My bike used to overheat run hot etc but since flushing the rad a couple of times and finally getting most of the casting sand/silt out of the radiator. I dont think you need the lower thermostat unless its more for peace of mind. If you are using it to put the fan on earlier to try and stop it overheating its not gonna solve your problem of overheating. The root cause could be a blockage like I had where the radiator couldnt transfer the heat as the flow was restricted in the radiator.

Good luck with sorting the issue out!

Hi guys,

I have had a problem running hot as soon as i am moving slowly it heats up quickly , it seems that my bike wont keep the coolant in the expansion reservoir. Its just been serviced and radiator and reservoir topped up, i rode for 20 mins today and kept stopping every 5 mins to check coolant in expansion res and all fine. then suddenly throttle started choking a bit and then kicked in again......i stopped looked at expansion res and nothing in it, it had all been sucked out?? No evidence of leakage anywhere? Can anyone help at all??

Thanks

Hi Ben (and welcome)

What country are you in, what age bike do you have, do you know it's history?

Sounds like it could be one of a few things, I'm no expert on these things (one will likely be along soon) but sounds like a faulty radiator cap.
Not sure how that would cause the engine to die though, that makes it sound more serious...

When you say running hot, is dash showing maximum/excess engine temp ie all or flashing bars?

Hi guys and thanks fro coming back to me so quickly. I have a 09 SD and yes I have the history fr the bike and in the UK. When i am moving along normal speeds it seems to be ok, its as soon as i slow down it heats up towards the top of the gauge but I also think perhaps ever sinced i have owned the bike it has never really had any coolant in the expansion reservoir. I went to alps last summer and again it didnt miss a beat but it cant be right not having anything in there. Hence i want to sort it out before we go touring again this summer.

Could it be air in the system? Reservoir cap seem clean and firm/tight when on? Very odd it just vanished in 2 seconds earlier today?

Almost definitely air lock - has it been bled properly?

I have never done it!? Guessing it needs to be done asap? Is it easy? I am a rookie at this type of thing!