09 TE 310 overheating and clutch drag issues...

[michaelyogi]

Did you have have the new coolant in the bike?

Not trying to let the bike off the hook here but water cooled engines are gonna overheat if not kept at a certain speed ... Thats why many of us would like to see air-cooled engines back in some fashion ...

My 08 TXC250 is gonna overheat on technical stuff ...ESP on hot days in the sun ... I have to ride defensively to help the bike ... roll down hills with the engine off, shut the engine when stopped (no idling) ... maybe let my friends get ahead of me a good distance sometimes so that I can maintain speed ... If stuck in a section, I gotta get out of it quickly or I'll just kill the engine and let it cool off... I'm the issue many times for riding like a hondo guy I think and not the bike ...

Some of the Huskies have that neutral issue problem ...Mine does but I'm ok with it ... There were some things said about something in the tranny causing this sometimes but I can't remember the real cause or solution ... PM BMP and they might know something specific on this issue ...

New coolant is in the bike.
In response to your statement above... I ride with buds who also ride Huskies... a TE 450 and a TE 250... yesterday the TE 250 barely even got the fan going, yet my 310 puked. Same trail, moderate temps... low 80's... both riders of roughly equal skills. The bubbling went on for 5+ minutes after I shut the motor off. This is the norm also. My Suzuki DRZ 400 (I know I know) never overheated.
The parts guy at Tasky's mentioned the head gasket as a possible cause, yet I have good power (even when hot) and no mixing of fluids.
I have Enduro Engineering radiator braces... the braces are very close to the radiator... rather wide aluminum stock. I wonder if they are restricting air flow.

I'm not really into having a bike I have to baby... I ride approx 3000 miles a season. Bike has to be able to handle it.

This is baffling.

 

[ray_ray]

New coolant is in the bike.
In response to your statement above... I ride with buds who also ride Huskies... a TE 450 and a TE 250... yesterday the TE 250 barely even got the fan going, yet my 310 puked. Same trail, moderate temps... low 80's... both riders of roughly equal skills. The bubbling went on for 5+ minutes after I shut the motor off. This is the norm also. My Suzuki DRZ 400 (I know I know) never overheated.
The parts guy at Tasky's mentioned the head gasket as a possible cause, yet I have good power (even when hot) and no mixing of fluids.
I have Enduro Engineering radiator braces... the braces are very close to the radiator... rather wide aluminum stock. I wonder if they are restricting air flow.

I'm not really into having a bike I have to baby... I ride approx 3000 miles a season. Bike has to be able to handle it.

This is baffling.

yep .. I see your point ...

My bike cools off quick after a boil ..5 minutes and I'm off again ...

The guards sound like they might be an issue ... What do the other bikes have for guards?

 

[Xcuvator]

A leaking head gasket, cracked head or cylinder can leak very hot (1000+ degrees) combustion gases into the coolant system and cause instant boiling.
No fluids need to be exchanged.
The leak can be hard to diagnose because it may only occur when the engine is working hard and it is not possible to look in the fill hole for tell tale bubbles when you are climbing up a gnarly hill.

 

[michaelyogi]

Not sure of the brands but both of the other bikes' rad guards are in front of the radiators and are fairly open. The EE braces run behind the radiators and are very close to the radiators...

I drilled holes in the flat stock in an effort to allow more air to flow through... didn't do it.

 

[Tinken]

Tight 1st gear technicals will not push enough air past the radiator.
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/te-cooling-fan-install-on-tc-txc.10496/

Engineice will boil over, it still contains some water and I boil my engineice coolant over in the technicals as well. Ty's XF coolant (which is Evans and I will be picking up tomorrow) will never boil over unless you have a serious engine issue. It contains no water in it, unlike Engineice.
http://www.ziptyracing.com/xs-coolant-1/

 

[michaelyogi]

Tight 1st gear technicals will not push enough air past the radiator.
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/te-cooling-fan-install-on-tc-txc.10496/

I ride with buds who also ride Huskies... a TE 450 and a TE 250... yesterday the TE 250 barely even got the fan going, yet my 310 puked. Same trail, moderate temps... low 80's... both riders of roughly equal skills. The bubbling went on for 5+ minutes after I shut the motor off. This is the norm also. My Suzuki DRZ 400 (I know I know) never overheated.

Granted, but isn't this supposed to be what the fan is for?... When the airspeed is low. After riding with other Huskies, I'm not sure about the "too slow for airflow" reasoning... I do appreciate your input though. I just don't think this is the reason. Those other Huskies don't overheat... the 450 had issues which were solved with the HF impeller and the Uptite "Y".

Let's talk about head gaskets... anybody ever have overheating issues caused by a head gasket? Like I said in an earlier post, great power all through the throttle and temperature range. Could I have a head gasket issue that just never gets worse?

 

[AndrewS]

Are you sure you're not running too lean?

 

[michaelyogi]

Power Commander V with Autotune... 13.2 AFR... the computer has leaned the bike over the entire range.

Edit: I should add... I live at 2500' and generally ride to higher elevations nothing over 6500' or so. A general leaning of the AFR from sea level is the norm for this area.

 

[michaelyogi]

A leaking head gasket, cracked head or cylinder can leak very hot (1000+ degrees) combustion gases into the coolant system and cause instant boiling.
No fluids need to be exchanged.
The leak can be hard to diagnoss because it may only occur when the engine is working hard and it is not possible to look in the fill hole for tell tale bubbles when you are climbing up a gnarly hill.

Can a leak down test possibly find this.

 

[Xcuvator]

It may or may not. If you have a leak it may only occur when the engine is up to temp and under load. As hot as the combustion is, it doesn't take much or even a constant leak to cause overheating of the coolant. If they told you at Taskys that there have been head gasket problems, I would lean towards thinking that is the problem and not a crack-yet.
As you probably know, running it hot can cause something to crack or warp.
I would try getting the bike up to temp and do a leakdown at 100 PSI or more and see if there are bubbles.

Can a leak down test possibly find this.

 

[ray_ray]

You could always pull the guards off the radiators and do a ride and see how much it changes the behavior .. Not too big a job except that there is no easy way of draining the coolant without spillage ...

 

[huskyte310]

Here is my .02 cents. Make sure your radiator fins are clean. no mud in there. I would disconnect the power commander and set the co settings to 100,100,100. see if that makes a difference. If all fails they make a universal block tester for automobiles. You put a blue chemical into a glass tube. You hold the tube over the radiator cap inlet with engine warm and suck air from radiator. If the blue chemical turns yellow you have combustion leak.

 

[HUSKYnXJnWI]

Good info guys!

I hope its not the Head gasket- if all else fails definately something to check.

Next time you go riding with your husky friends that don't have overheating issues- exchange radiator caps. See if you are the one to gush coolant first then. Rad Caps do wear and can cause the bike to "puke" way early. Some further thoughts on that....

The Enduroengineering Guards are less restrictive than others that have screens in the front for front protection. I have OFG's and they are of the same design. 7602's are also simular +/- the front guard. I think it any restriction is a factor- but not night and day. With your guards- you still use the plastic louvers- make sure you have them on the (correct) right and left sides... otherwise it does not pull air in.

Is your fan working? With as much as your cooling system appears challenged- your fan should be working overtime.

Good Luck!

 

[michaelyogi]

Next time you go riding with your husky friends that don't have overheating issues- exchange radiator caps. See if you are the one to gush coolant first then. Rad Caps do wear and can cause the bike to "puke" way early. Some further thoughts on that.... New high pressure cap installed.

The Enduroengineering Guards are less restrictive than others that have screens in the front for front protection. I have OFG's and they are of the same design. 7602's are also simular +/- the front guard. I think it any restriction is a factor- but not night and day. With your guards- you still use the plastic louvers- make sure you have them on the (correct) right and left sides... otherwise it does not pull air in. Yep and correctly installed.

Is your fan working? With as much as your cooling system appears challenged- your fan should be working overtime. It is.

Good Luck! Thanks.

How close to the radiators are your guards... mine are about the thickness of a dime away from the radiators.

 

[michaelyogi]

Make sure your radiator fins are clean. no mud in there. I would disconnect the power commander and set the co settings to 100,100,100. see if that makes a difference. If all fails they make a universal block tester for automobiles. You put a blue chemical into a glass tube. You hold the tube over the radiator cap inlet with engine warm and suck air from radiator. If the blue chemical turns yellow you have combustion leak.

I've blown and washed out the fins... back to front of course. The Block test is my next move... I want to eliminate the head gasket as a possibility... or confirm it's the issue.
Nearest Husky dealer is about 4 hours away... makes it rather difficult to reset the CO settings with Ibeat... I tried to buy a copy of Ibeat but it got sold from under me. Thanks.

 

[Indorider]

I'm running a Power Commander on my 250 and it seems to be spot on. You can download the map and see if you are running lean. I pretty much only ride technical 1st/2nd (sometimes 3rd) gear singletrack and have never overheated (and it's pretty damn hot here in Indo). Actually I'd never even seen my fan running so I let it idle for about ten minutes and sure enough it came on.
That's a bummer deal you've got goin' on. Hope you get it sorted in the easiest/least expensive way possible.

 

[Ex HVUK]

I'd be tempted to try running a fully synthetic 10/50 or 15/50 oil such as Castrol Power 1 Racing or the Motul Factoryline. It's a cheap test to see if it helps. Other than that it is beginning to sound like too lean fuelling or a head gasket issue.

Long shot may also be to swap the water temperature sensor for a new one, just in case this is giving the ECU spurious readings causing it to lean off the fuelling unnecessarily. I have seen them do this without showing a fault code but its rare.

Dave

 

[michaelyogi]

Just got a "block test' done... head gasket is not leaking. I think I might just run it and see if she seizes... maybe it has too much fluid in the rads. I keep the level at the top of the cooling fins... Dunno' at this point.
Bike runs great at all times... even when puking on my boot.

 

[michaelyogi]

So today I took the 310 out for a ride a fairly gnarly mountain ride today. 19 miles above 4900'... Two passes above 7000', numerous gnarly dry loose switchbacks, lots of rock, lots of clutch work. Never overheated once... never boiled over.
I put fluid into the overflow, duh... well maybe this was part of the problem... Then again it was only about 55 degrees today.
We'll see next year... ambient temps are definitely cooling down here.

 

[ray_ray]

So today I took the 310 out for a ride a fairly gnarly mountain ride today. 19 miles above 4900'... Two passes above 7000', numerous gnarly dry loose switchbacks, lots of rock, lots of clutch work. Never overheated once... never boiled over.
I put fluid into the overflow, duh... well maybe this was part of the problem... Then again it was only about 55 degrees today.
We'll see next year... ambient temps are definitely cooling down here.

Sound Ok but it was 55 degrees out side? Any times the sun is hidden and the temp lowers it helps my bike greatly and it is much hard to run it hot as compared to a sunny day ..

That's why I can't see waiting till next year for verification ... You gotta load that Husky up and head south to higher temperatures in the near future ...