Update !!! radiator issue.. need advise

[jtryz]

Driving on mass pike on the way home i see my bike heat bars are on 9 out of 10 and smell somthing.
pulled over. the overflow looks real high with coolant as if the radiator is not circulating fluid. is it possible to get air in it?

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted

Pressurized coolant system (head gasket failure) or the thermostat is jammed.

[jtryz]

Just went to look at it. fan was stuck and not movinf. tapped it with a screw driver . now fan is on. still odd about the coolant reservoir so full. so i burped it a bit. we will see tomoro.
thanks

[jtryz]

Hi guys, need some help. let me put it all out there and I hope someone has had the experience to assist me. Thanks

07 Daytona
34K miles, in great condition but ridden hard

Normally the bike on hwy or street moving sits at about 5 bars on the temp dash. I have NEVER seen it in 8,9 or 10 ever. Not even on the hottest of days.

With that said,
Driving home on the Toll road last night after work, 8 degrees or so staying at about 45 miles an hour. Then I smell a sweet smell, almost candy like? Then the bars on the dash goes from 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 to9!!!!!! Then I pull over let her cool down and wait for traffic to chill out some. Jump on it drive home never going over the 7th bar. Smells still occurring.

Cools off, I think maybe air is in the radiator? So I burp it a bit then notice while she is in idle, the fan is not kicking on. I take a long screwdriver, tap is, nothing! Then I for turn it and it felt stuck. Now the temp drops a bit.

Have to test it out so drove to work, this morning all is good, never goes over five

BUT 2 miles from work, the small returns and BAM!!!! 5, 6, 7, 8 to 9!!!!!!

Got to work, so

1. How often do you change your coolant and can this have an affect like this? I dont think so,
2. If the fan is going bad, will the fan not working cause it to heat THAT fast? I mean within a few minutes while driving at 25-30mph
3. I really need to find out how to test it, low on cash and handy but need real good advice.


Thanks for taking the time to read!

[WordTooYoMamma]

Wirelessly posted (Infuse)

Flush your coolant if you have never done so. Usually a bolt on the engine and removing a tube off the lowest part of the radiator.

A bar system is new to me. What level does the fan normally come on at? Shouldn't need the fan if moving at 30 unless you fapping in first gear at like 10k revs.

[jtryz]

My fan turns on at 6 bars aoutmatic.

No actual temp gauge is on bottom

Fluid is full, change it 10K ago, should be time but this is more then that

If the fan does not kick on could it cause the temp to rise that fast?

[sandman]

see post 2

bring the bike to a mechanic

sell bike

you pick one

[jtryz]

see post 2

bring the bike to a mechanic

sell bike

you pick one

real advise is needed, thanks

[WordTooYoMamma]

Wirelessly posted (Infuse)

Your fan has nothing to do with the bike heating up. It is there to cool it down. If you notice the fan kicks on just enough to drop it a dozen or so degrees then shuts off. Your bike should be able to cool itself while moving. If its not then refer to deg's post and go see a mechanic. I would give the system a good douching before taking it to a mechanic though.

[Sheppo]

Wirelessly posted (Infuse)

Your fan has nothing to do with the bike heating up. It is there to cool it down. If you notice the fan kicks on just enough to drop it a dozen or so degrees then shuts off. Your bike should be able to cool itself while moving. If its not then refer to deg's post and go see a mechanic. I would give the system a good douching before taking it to a mechanic though.

WRONG the fan not coming on certainly is one part of the equation for the engine to heat up. IF he is going at a normal speed not stuck in traffic then the fan is not usually on. IF you are in traffic with impeded air flow you need the fan to come on.
Flush the system, not just dump and refill. I will also check and make sure that when the bike is running there are no air bubbles in the coolant. Make sure the coolant is circulating. A bad water pump can cause this. A blocked radiator can cause this, a blown head gasket can cause this...

[WordTooYoMamma]

Wirelessly posted (Infuse)

Wirelessly posted (Infuse)

Your fan has nothing to do with the bike heating up. It is there to cool it down. If you notice the fan kicks on just enough to drop it a dozen or so degrees then shuts off. Your bike should be able to cool itself while moving. If its not then refer to deg's post and go see a mechanic. I would give the system a good douching before taking it to a mechanic though.

WRONG the fan not coming on certainly is one part of the equation for the engine to heat up. IF he is going at a normal speed not stuck in traffic then the fan is not usually on. IF you are in traffic with impeded air flow you need the fan to come on.
Flush the system, not just dump and refill. I will also check and make sure that when the bike is running there are no air bubbles in the coolant. Make sure the coolant is circulating. A bad water pump can cause this. A blocked radiator can cause this, a blown head gasket can cause this...

He was implying that it not working made the engine hotter. As in adding to the heat instead of just not cooling.
At least that's how I took it and what i meant by it.

[slammp]

It actually sound like a temp sensor issue if the fans not properly kicking in. Is there an electronically controlled thermostat on triumphs? If there is that would make the most sense as it sounds like the fluid is not circulating properly and the fan is not kicking in.

Just a thought

[JettaJayGLS]

Sounds like a temp sensor problem since the fans are not working. If the temp sensor is off and thinks the bike is cooler than it really is, than the thermostat may not open and the fans will not turn on. If the thermostat is not open than the coolant bottle will look higher than if it was open.

Thermostats are normally designed to fail in the open position, so I'm guessing that it is okay as it appears to not be opening.

Whats your oil look like? That should rule out a blown head gasket pretty quickly.

[Duffy21690]

In his first post he said when he tapped on the fan it turned on, this means the fan is probably shitting out, I've seen this a lot on cars when they overheat, the fan motor is going and when you tap on it you jog it enough to start it spinning. Check the electrical connection and check with a test light to see if there is power being set to the fan at the proper time.

[Bobert]

Any idea how the fan is powered? An easy check would be to power it standalone and just see if it runs with you beating on it a bit and shaking it around. Could be the bearings seized or depending on type of fan the brushes could be fucked if it's powered directly from the alternator output. Not sure how common that is, though.

EDIT: I guess this assumes you have supplies for AC/DC voltages which you probably don't.

[Bobert]

The fans kicking on during a tap might be coincidence since he only saw it once.

[Duffy21690]

It should be on a fused relay and be switched on and off by a temp sensor. If the fan isn't running it will cause the bike to overheat because it is just going to keep heating up the coolant it is circulating. At speed it should be fine but even in at a moderate pace in summer hear it could overheat. It probably just has a two wire plug unless that you can put power directly to if one so wanted. Some cars have a variable relay to adjust fan speed and a lot of times the initial power the fan is given isn't enough to kick it over as the fan gets older.

[jtryz]

so, odd stuff.. Just like this morning, the bike was fine until about 30 minutes in to work and then bike was HOT, then when i started hitting down town, the heat started up.

On the way home, humid out, the bike was fine driving but just few miles from the house and started hitting lights. Bike started to over heat.

Made it home, fan NOT ON. While it was on i reached in and tried to move the fan. Keep in mind that fan is like light as a feather. you can normally blow on it and it will move. seriously.
IT was stuck, took some pressure to get it to move then it worked?

Now I am wondering if the fan is the issue.

BUT still, can the little fan make that much differnce?

[jasnmar]

A bit hard to diagnose based on information. If, at highway speeds you can run at a good pace with no problem, and the problem only starts when you slow down it could be the fan.

As much as it seems the fan is sticking it needs replaced. Can a fan make that much difference? At low speeds, yes. Start the bike. Don't move it. Let it run until the fan should come on (sounds like bar 6-7 on the dash). If the fan doesn't start, tap it a bit. If it then starts, the fan is at least one problem (there could be more). Replace the fan.

To do this more correctly you could put a voltage meter on the fan inputs and see if the fan gets a signal to come on. If the fan get voltage and doesn't start replace the fan. If no voltage is sent to the fan, then there is a sensor problem.

There could be a fan problem, a sensor problem, and a "passage" problem (bubble, blocked radiator, hose) as well. The head gasket is also possible (and not very nice to deal with).

As others have said, flushing won't hurt anything. Eliminate problems one at a time. When you've removed all other possibilities, the only thing left, no matter how improbable is the answer you seek.

If it's doing OK at speed, that decreases the likely hood of blockage problems (but doesn't eliminate them, as the bike was designed to cool well at speed).

[OreoGaborio]

Now I am wondering if the fan is the issue.

BUT still, can the little fan make that much differnce?

Here's an idea... replace the fan.

https://www.google.com/search?q=2007...w=1280&bih=796

[Duffy21690]

I think a few more people need to recommend replacing the fan.

[jtryz]

After calling a dealer and at 85 an hour. he said it may take several hours to diagnose. i will just start with fan and move on. it will cost way less to replace parts myself then just labor to be looked at. thanks guys

[Bobert]

Until you misdiagnose it thirty times lol. Do you have schematics and/or a service manual for that bike?

[golden chicken]

If it was a car, at this point, I'd be recommending a t-stat and a fan to start.

[R7]

Can you tell where the smell of antifreeze is coming from? Out the exhaust? Maybe the overflow tank gets overfilled when hot and is leaking out?

Several hours to diagnose a cooling problem seems a bit extreme seeing there are very few components to it, and some very simple tests to check for the biggest issues.

I'd start with the fan, because you know that isn't working properly anyways...though by what you describe, i don't think that is the reason.
Go to autozone and borrow a cooling system pressure testor, it "should" rule out leaks in the system..including a head gasket.
Also keep in mind, the reason coolant doesn't boil when hot is because it's under pressure, so if your radiator cap is bad, it may not be holding pressure and your coolant is boiling, making air bubbles, which slows down the transfer of heat, and causes your overflow tank to fill up faster.
I've had a few thermostats go bad in vehicles, but never bikes. It was always instant though and never while traveling. They always seemed to either stick closed when first started in the morning, or stuck open after the engine was warm and causing the engine to run much colder than normal