[Tweek]

I let my bike overheat while letting it warm up several months ago, now my cooling fan doesn't work anymore and hoping there is no other damage. The bike is fine while I am moving, but whenever I get stuck in traffic my fluid will flow out of the overflow. I am having to replace fluid at least once a week. Any ideas on where to start looking?

By the way not sure if I ever introduced myself. My name is Eric and I live in Baton Rouge. I have a 2008 Ninja 250 and this is my first bike.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Start by checking the fuse.

 

[spooph]

How did your bike overheat by warming up? Did you stay on the throttle at red line the entire time? I think there's something else going on here...

 

[Tweek]

I left the choke on while I went back in the house, got distracted (for about 5 to 10 minutes) and when I got back outside my coolant was leaking out through the vent. Made for a wonderful scene, some coolant got on the exhaust and smoke/steam was rolling out from under the bike. Not one of my proudest moments in life.

 

[Shady Lane]

pics or it didn't happen

 

[spooph]

Tweek, there is something else going on with your bike. First off, the bike won't overheat at idle. Second, keeping the choke on makes it richer, which makes combustion temps lower. Third, the fact that you were warming it up implies that it was colder outside, and ambient temps below 70F there should be no overheating probs.... So, it's overflowing and pumping coolant out. Here's a couple of q's:

1.) Do you use antirfreeze and/or water, and at which ratio?
2.) what are the typical ambient temps when you ride - when the bike is running.
3.) Where are you filling up the cooling system? In the overflow bottle, or at the radiator cap?
4.) How many miles on the bike, how long have you had it, how often do you drive it, are you the first owner, and have you had all maintenance done at the appropriate times?
5.) Has the bike ever been layed down? If it has, please describe in-depth what got injured - you can share what happened in the crash as well, but I'm really interested in what happened to the bike.

Please answer the q's to the best of your ability, it will help diagnose the issue.

 

[Tweek]

1.) Do you use antirfreeze and/or water, and at which ratio? - I use a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water

2.) what are the typical ambient temps when you ride - when the bike is running. - Temperatures range right now 90s to 100s on my ride home

3.) Where are you filling up the cooling system? In the overflow bottle, or at the radiator cap? - Been filling in the radiator cap, but last time tried filling both

4.) How many miles on the bike, how long have you had it, how often do you drive it, are you the first owner, and have you had all maintenance done at the appropriate times? - 7,000 miles, had it for 3 years, ride 5 days a week during summer, not too much during winter (Only 2 months here), Maintenance yes

5.) Has the bike ever been layed down? If it has, please describe in-depth what got injured - you can share what happened in the crash as well, but I'm really interested in what happened to the bike. - Bike has never been layed down

Just got to the fuse box and the fuse was blown. Replaced it and the fan still will not turn on. I was able to get the fan to go by jumping it on the plug.

 

[Tweek]

Just got back from a test ride. The fan is working again and I topped off my coolant. Hoping the fan was the main issue.

More details about what was happening:
- The bike would overheat on my way home. It would be fine as long as I was moving, once I got into traffic that is when it would overheat and spew some coolant out the vent.
- It would not overheat on my way into work, but the outside temps are about 20 degrees cooler and I have no stop and go traffic this way.

 

[spooph]

fantastic! Thanks for the info!

Next round:

How comfortable are you working on your own bike?

How much do you know about electrics?

Do you own a multimeter, and do you have some extra 18+ gauge wire laying around?

 

[Tweek]

Somewhat comfortable as long as I have some good directions. I know some about electronics and yes on the wire and meter.

 

[spooph]

Tweek, I'm a bit busy this weekend, so please be patient with me. I'll look up the values for the temp sensor and we'll go from there. If you have the maintenance manual for your bike, you could look it up as well. Also, some members on the board have access to a pdf manual, so, if anybody's got the manual, please hook Tweek up. On a personal note, I've always spent the money on a maintenance manual, it's nice to have the actual book in your hand to be able to jot notes down and such.

Tweek, you gotta warm the bike up and measure the resistance of the temp sensor (right underneath the radiator filler cap). It will change as the bike warms up accordingly. Make sure it's in spec.

Next, take some wire and hook your cooling fan directly to your battery to make sure it works. Make sure to bend and wiggle the wire going to fan to see if you can find a bad connection anywhere.

I have to look at the wiring diagram to figure out where the fan switch/relay/actuation method is, and figure out how to test that. Feel free to try this on your own from the manual.

With all the components tested, the only thing left would be to test power going to the fan through the wiring harness, which will require you to get the bike hot and wait to see, with the multimeter, if the power leads energize.

Once the electrical part of the cooling system has been checked, and no problem found, the next step is to figure out if it's pressurizing appropriately. I will help as much as I can, but it's kind of difficult over the keyboard, so please bear with me. If you feel comfortable doing what I'm saying, go for it, if you think it's too much for you, the shop would be a great place to go!

 

[Tweek]

It hasn't overheated yet, but we have not had the scorching heat we are used to. Maybe next week will provide a better test.