TR650 overheating

[nev..]

Every time I come to this thread, I find something else I need to buy. If MrsDonkeys had any clue how much money I spent farkling this bike, she'd kill me. She's the queen of buying a bike and resisting the urge to farkle. I.....well....let's just say that I have no ability to resist the farkles.

I know the feeling. I did a report on my spending since I got my terra, including all farkles, fixes, accessories, servicing etc, This bike so far has cost me 160% of the original ride away price.

 

[jodie]

Took my terra on a 600k trip.. goin back i noticed the temp would play like there was air in the ratiator , and water would drip from the overflow tank.. but it did not overheat..

Upon inspecting the radiator, looks like i lost a few 50ml or more..
I think the radiator cap does not allow water/coolant to flow back in..

Got me a regular radiator cap from the autosupply and now i can open it without removing some of the side body panels..

It also reads .9bar instead of the 1.2bar in the standard cap...
Lets see what happens,

Even if it overheats or gets a littke hot. I can now add water with ease..

Cap was $3usd

 

[PaulC]

Yes Jodie the standard caps are shiit
No doubt you purged all the air out, but being a .9 cap your motor may get hot again when you stress it.
Atmospheric pressure at sea level = 1 bar or 14.7 psi.
.9 bar will lower the boiling point....... causing gases.
I recommend replace the cap with a 1.2bar or 17 psi cap, Same as the standard cap.
If you continue to run a water based coolant.

As an added precaution consider using a waterless coolant, like XF+ or liquidintelligence.
No corrosion, doesn't need changing and this stuff doesn't boil.
Its the way of the future, anyway

Hope this helps

 

[jodie]

thanks for the tip paul.. ill ride my husky around town before i use her again on long trips... ill up date as soon as i have results

cheers

 

[jodie]

so far so good.. changed the coolant.. seems to be running cooler now..

http://wongvin8.blogspot.com/2010/11/radiator-cap-09-bar-11-bar-or-13-bar.html

 

[ghbgator]

I am having over heating problems when the bike is going slow. I burped the radiator, there was some air in it, and I topped off the expansion tank with water. I have not replaced the Radiator cap but I intend to. I also intend to flush the Radiator and replace the coolant. I want to do this because I have no confidence that it was ever done correctly the first time.

QUESTIONS? Will flashing the software help? How do I confirm what version of software is currently running?

 

[drzcharlie]

As far as what software your ECU has, just turn on the key. As you switch on, look at the right segment of your instrument panel. On the top of the screen you will see a snowflake, a spanner and your current MOSS (software) edition.

 

[ghbgator]

As far as what software your ECU has, just turn on the key. As you switch on, look at the right segment of your instrument panel. On the top of the screen you will see a snowflake, a spanner and your current MOSS (software) edition.

Thanks

 

[ghbgator]

It reads "MAP II".

Is that the good stuff?

 

[Mr Ford40]

Ok, I've got almost 1,000 miles on the bike, so I would think any air bubbles would be gone by now. I was coming home from work the other day in about 108 F. weather (normal for around here) and after about 30 miles the bike starts spitting all over me. I'm assuming this was from the overflow outlet. Anyway, I pull over for about 2 minutes and the temp. light still won't go out. I am not very patient when it comes to waiting for a bike to cool in 108 F. temps, so I get back on the bike and ride home. After about a mile the temp. light finally goes off and I finish my last mile home with the bike acting like nothing happened. 40 some odd years of riding and this is the first bike I've ever had overheat...


... if you don't count a few Spanish bikes seizing in the early days.

So what now? I haven't even looked at the bike since. Too hot to work on bikes, and not too hot to ride the others. I'm thinking a booster or wuku might help. But I would really hate for this thing to overheat sometime when I am in the middle of Death Valley.

Raise the rad cap up higher so it is the highest point and let the bike idle until the fan comes on , let it idle for a minute or so after the fan comes on , but you donot need to sqeeze hoses the air will flow fine out of these , Also donot fill the rad all the way to the top as you have to allow for expansion and air and steam to exit also for the best results use cold boiled water as this does not contain o2 , using water out of the normal mains pressure tap has o2 in it this creats issue's . Think of it this way water out of the tap a fish would survive put it in cold boiled water mmmm no O2 . Let me know how you go , at last but not least to much coolant not good ,coolant retains heat and makes it hard to disperse heat. I have spent many hrs trying to solve overheating issues and these are just some of the simple solutions hope they help.

 

[Glengemen]

I've found there is only 2 ways to get the air out of the cooling system.

The reason is actually pretty obvious if you just stand back and look at the bike. That motor has a steep rake forward. That leaves a lot of area for air pockets to form in the motor. If you were to pick up the front end until the motor (and radiator) are vertical to the ground this would cause the air to be relieved like every other motor.

The second way is a vacuum filler. This puts the entire cooling system under vacuum and fills using suction. This is the method I use. I've never overheated due to air pockets and I've had my coolant out about 5 times. The filler I use is called an AIRLIFT. I know there are others. That really is the way to do it though.

 

[Mr Ford40]

Radiator fluid level was fine but bizarrely, coolant squirted out of the radiator cap when I loosened it to check the level. Bike was stone cold, so radiator holding pressure when cold??? Overflow coolant level may be too high - when I had the overheating episode a few weeks ago I thought there was no water in the system as the radiator hoses were soft and cold, when the engine was hot. I added about 300ml of water; that might explain the water squirting out of the overflow cap.

I will replace the radiator cap as well, hopefully that will cure the gremlins in the cooling system

In regards to coolant being squirted out when the bike is cold I would say two things one being a faulty rad cap and if the rad's a pressurized and it's cold I would be looking at other issues such as a Head Gasket . What people have to understand is the hotter engines run the better they perform but this temp must stay with in 8 -10 degrees either side say take a 3.8lt commodore motor that runs at 112 degrees a old ford 302/351 cleveland 98 degrees and bigger rads do not solve the issue they just take longer to heat up and longer to cool down, another thing I see is people cleaning there rad's front on with high pressure hose all that dirt and dust end up in and around the fins , you need to clean from the rear and like I do I some times pull my rads out and let them soak front facing down . Sorry for going on but I would be looking at is the first two things. Would br nice to here how you go.

 

[hasenpfeffer]

As far as what software your ECU has, just turn on the key. As you switch on, look at the right segment of your instrument panel. On the top of the screen you will see a snowflake, a spanner and your current MOSS (software) edition.

MAPII ? Is that what you are thinking is the current MOSS edition? This doesn't tell you anything except that the LCD display has 'M', 'A', 'P', 'I', 'I' letters that test okay. The same as the snowflake showing during that time. It's just a self test to make sure all the LCD indicators are working.

The MAPII indicator is only used on the Huskqvarna Nuda, which shares the same display. The Nuda can switch ECU MAPs. The MAPII indicator is unused on our TRs.

It seems that the most reliable MOSS version information is based on the MOSS tool's software version. The most current version of MOSS tool software for the USA is v14 at the time of this writing. I have seen v16 mentioned in Europe, but can't verify that. I can verify v14 for the USA is the most recent version.

However, this only gives you the current version of the MOSS tool's software. I have not found anywhere any mechanism of indicating what version of firmware/software the bike's ECU actually has.

 

[ghbgator]

MAPII ? Is that what you are thinking is the current MOSS edition? This doesn't tell you anything except that the LCD display has 'M', 'A', 'P', 'I', 'I' letters that test okay. The same as the snowflake showing during that time. It's just a self test to make sure all the LCD indicators are working.

The MAPII indicator is only used on the Huskqvarna Nuda, which shares the same display. The Nuda can switch ECU MAPs. The MAPII indicator is unused on our TRs.

It seems that the most reliable MOSS version information is based on the MOSS tool's software version. The most current version of MOSS tool software for the USA is v14 at the time of this writing. I have seen v16 mentioned in Europe, but can't verify that. I can verify v14 for the USA is the most recent version.

However, this only gives you the current version of the MOSS tool's software. I have not found anywhere any mechanism of indicating what version of firmware/software the bike's ECU actually has.

Thanks

 

[ghbgator]

I still have overheating problems.

I haven't found a replacement Radiator Cap yet. This is the Philippines, so.....A Radiator Cap is a Radiator Cap. "Boiling Point" we don't need no "Boiling Points"! .9 BAR is all I have found so far.

The instructions on burping say that after the fan has come on....Remove Expansion Tank Cap and stand the bike up so that the coolant will flow back into the Radiator.

I don't see any flow.

When I start burping... Expansion Tank Cap on, Radiator Cap Off...Before the Fan comes on I see the Radiator fill and bubble over. By the time the fan comes on the level has gone back down. I run the bike one more minute, shut off, open expansion tank, stand bike up, add coolant to expansion tank, midway upper/lower marks and repeated twice more.

I am confused.

I "not" have tested since the last time I burped it. Either this afternoon or in the morning.

Help

 

[hasenpfeffer]

Check if half of your radiator is hot and the other half is cool. This would indicate a definite problem, most likely a bad thermostat, which requires a new radiator, if I'm not mistaken.

Other common problems are the radiator cap, and make sure the overflow hose is not pinched. The overflow tube is routed poorly and could be pinched from too tight of a turn.

 

[ghbgator]

1/2 of the Radiator was hot; 1/2 of the Radiator was cold :-(
It's 3 hrs to the shop; I'm trying to find a truck.

 

[nev..]

1/2 of the Radiator was hot; 1/2 of the Radiator was cold :-(
It's 3 hrs to the shop; I'm trying to find a truck.

Realise you already burped the radiator, but probably worth taking the radiator cap off again and checking the level again before you organise a truck. Make sure the radiator is full to the cap.

 

[ghbgator]

I delivered the bike to the shop today.

 

[Quirky]

Out of no where, Yesterday afternoon I received a shower of coolant straight from the nipple of the reservior tank. Winter here and was less than 16 degrees celsius. First thing I remember saying WTF? then looked straight at the Temp gauge =Normal, slowed down noticed the temp gauge then rising. pulled up then another bar hotter on the gauge then the thermo fan cut in and it started cooling down immediately. So just gently rode home that wasn't far, no issues.

Home and cap off-
Seem to have an amount of scale or something floating around in the radiator.
A sludge greasy/waxy type of build up on bottom the of radiator cap.
Then topped it all up with distilled water while running to remove any possible airlocks. However it seems to keep making bubbles with the cap off. BTW- I changed the cap 6months ago to a matched tridon 17-120. Engine oil looks fine.

I then read this entire thread last night and slept on it, "somethings not right"
First thing this morning had another look and wanted to smell the radiator cap, well I'm not really into sniffing things but pretty sure both cooling system caps smell more like exhaust gas than coolant.
Also I have just spoke with Nulon here in Oz about their blue longlife coolant (i have used this in my terra) and queried the technical department about their product. Their view is it's not likely to them that this has caused any of the issues, and claim they will happily discuss this matter further if needed.

Soooo my best guess is that I have a small head and or gasket issue. Any thoughts on this from you lot?

I'm taking it to the dealer next Friday.