Help...My BUSA is Overheating

[btreaves]

I have a 2000 Hayabusa with nearly 40k miles...Recently my bike has started giving me a weird overheating problem, but it’s unpredictable. I can ride around and the bike is in the low temp range, it’ll creep up a bit if I sit at a light, but nothing major. However if I really ride the bike hard I notice that the temp guage goes up to the half way mark, but then if I just ride it around at highway speeds it’ll start dropping back down, but then at other times it seems that no amount of highway riding will cool it down, it just stays in the middle, but now if I stop at a light for any significant period of time she will definitely overheat...It’ll go into the red if I don’t shut it off or get moving again. I also notice that the overflow tank is sometimes full and sometimes almost empty...Last weekend while I was riding I stopped at a light and happened to look down and coolant had come out of the overflow tank and drained on the ground.

Any idea what this could be? Could it just be air in the system? If so how did the air get in there, cuz I wasn’t having this problem until recently...I’ve never had a problem at all with my cooling system. I hope it’s not the head gasket...I don’t notice any loss of power, no milkyness in the oil sight glass and no white smoke out of the tail pipe. Maybe the system just needs to be burped or flushed, but I really don’t know what the hell is going on or how to approach it. BTW, it can’t be the thermostat because I don’t run one.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[DAB]

Is the fan kicking in when you're stopped?

Has the bike been tipped over recently (i.e. could coolant have leaked out somehow?)

 

[btreaves]

I have a 2000 Hayabusa with nearly 40k miles...Recently my bike has started giving me a weird overheating problem, but it’s unpredictable.  I can ride around and the bike is in the low temp range, it’ll creep up a bit if I sit at a light, but nothing major.  However if I really ride the bike hard I notice that the temp guage goes up to the half way mark, but then if I just ride it around at highway speeds it’ll start dropping back down, but then at other times it seems that no amount of highway riding will cool it down, it just stays in the middle, but now if I stop at a light for any significant period of time she will definitely overheat...It’ll go into the red if I don’t shut it off or get moving again.  I also notice that the overflow tank is sometimes full and sometimes almost empty...Last weekend while I was riding I stopped at a light and happened to look down and coolant had come out of the overflow tank and drained on the ground.

Any idea what this could be?  Could it just be air in the system?  If so how did the air get in there, cuz I wasn’t having this problem until recently...I’ve never had a problem at all with my cooling system.  I hope it’s not the head gasket...I don’t notice any loss of power, no milkyness in the oil sight glass and no white smoke out of the tail pipe.  Maybe the system just needs to be burped or  flushed, but I really don’t know what the hell is going on or how to approach it.  BTW, it can’t be the thermostat because I don’t run one.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Fan kicks on like it should...Bike hasn't been tipped over.

 

[Glamisman]

The quickest and cheapest thing to do is to replace the radiator cap and go on from there.

 

[pure_ego]

Have you changed out the coolant lately?

it says to do it every 10,000 miles.. maybe time?

if it's air that would solve that problem also..

and it would verify it's not just low or something.. plus it's cheap.

 

[rubbersidedown]

usually when fluid pukes out,its because it over heated,which is usually caused by the lack of pressure within the system.
The cooling system needs X amount of pressure to keep the coolant from the boiling point. Pressure test the system and the cap .

Why dont you run a thermostat? The temp of the coolant is monitored (usually) in 2 places. What tells the fan to turn on,if there's no thermo ? What is sending the temp guage its info, if you dont have a thermostat?

 

[douglasjre]

usually when fluid pukes out,its because it over heated,which is usually caused by the lack of pressure within the system.
 The cooling system needs X amount of pressure to keep the coolant from the boiling point. Pressure test the system and the cap .

 Why dont you run a thermostat?  The temp of the coolant is monitored (usually) in 2 places.  What tells the fan to turn on,if there's no thermo ?  What is sending the temp guage its info, if you dont have a thermostat?

rubbersidedown is spot on with this one. Get a good quality pressure test kit. Get a hydrometer. Start diagnosing. Test your coolant mix and make sure it's not pure water (not likely as pure water pressurized to about 13psi will not max out the guage, although steam from boiled water will).

Spend the cash on diagnostic tools. There's no sortcut around this. The problem could be as simple as a leaking rad cap, or a leak on the low pressure side. A low pres side leak will not drip, but insted will suck air, causing the overflow tank to puke.

Don't just replace parts til you get it working again. Spend a hundred bucks on fine tools that you can use over and over again and find the problem, then fix only the problem. http://www.mityvac.com/automobile.html

If all that checks out, check the thermostat, the waterpump, etc before refilling the system and driving it again. Buy tool, test, diagnose. Often, a stuck thermostat will cause a motor not to reach operating temp, and allow wide fluctuations in temp cause coolant is flowing when the motor is cold, and flowing slowly when the motor makes an abundance of heat.



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[raptor_rohit]

clean the radiator

 

[RonB]

And check the fins on raditor, make sure they aren't bent or damaged.

 

[mtang1717]

Guys,

Can you help me out? I remember seeing a posting regarding relocating the thermostat which has a pic by pic on how it should be done. I believe the reason for this mod is because hayabusa place the thermostat at a location that doesn't true tell the exact temperature.

HELP>

 

[gsferrari]

I dont understand your reluctance to get it checked by a mechie. Why are you bent on DIYing with a 1300cc high performance engine?

Have it looked over before you sieze the darn thing. Get the coolant fluid flushed out and changed. Change the lube while you are at it. Check the gaskets for burn and corrosion. If you have managed to "plume" your coolant then the chances of all these things happening is dramatically increased.

if you dont know what you are doing - go to someone who does...unless you like writing off expensive motorcycles