Please help.... Overheating

[00busaTX]

So here is what I am having trouble figuring out. I have had my 2000 busa for a year and a half and even in the Texas summer heat, she never overheated. I have had water wetter in the cooling system all summer and again, no problems. What gives?

On Tuesday morning I was on my way to work (I have drove the bike for the past 3 weeks to work, same route everyday) and I am sitting as a stop light and she starts getting a little warm. I start moving and she cools back down real quick. I get to the next red light, my heart pounding from the rapid needle movement, and I shut it off. I start it up and as soon as I start moving, bam, right back to the middle mark.

Tuesday night, I tear it down, flush all the coolant (3 times with distilled water) and fill her back up with Engine Ice. I follow the manual on the burping procedure, run her a few miles, and think everything is great. With the Engine Ice, it was staying below the middle mark. Better than the water wetter.

I couldn't drive to work yesterday because of weather, but I was ready to go this morning. I hop on the bike and she is running perfect. I get to the same set of stop lights, and the needle starts to creep. The fan kicks on and I start moving (green light). Everything looks fine again. The next stop light I had to shut her down. This time there was a little white smoke cloud forming around me. I fire her up and bam, she is below the middle mark again. I get her to work, all cooled off, and the overflow tank is empty....Yes empty.

I am lost, what changed. Why now when it is only 55 degrees outside. I am lost.

Someone please help....???

 

[celticBandit]

Are you sure you don't have a coolant leak. Sounds like maybe the coolant is leaking onto the exhaust and that might be what is giving you the cloud of smoke/steam.

 

[Mr Bogus]

oops missed the fan thing...

the "white cloud" would indicate a coolant leak... pull the plastics and start looking... you can just fire it up and let it get to where the fan comes on, shut it off and wait for the leak to make itself seen...

 

[pcosho]

How much coolant did you end up using when you last filled it up? If I remember right it should hold almost 4 quarts(including the overflow tank). Sounds like there is air in the system. You should be able to fill the radiator full, leave the cap off, start and let warm up, you should see air bubbles coming out(cap still off) I moved the bike from side to side making sure all the air is out. After all this is done and you see no more bubbles coming out top off radiator and overflow jug and you should be ready to roll.

 

[pcosho]

OOOps missed the smoke thing too.I think Mr buscuit has it right, you prob have a small leak.

 

[RacerxTex]

White smoke, not good bro. Have ever changed your head gasket? Do you notice any strange odors coming from the bike? (sickly sweet) Need afew more details to nail it down.

 

[00busaTX]

The fan is running when the gauge hits right above the halfway mark.

As soon as I start moving about 10 or more mph the temp comes down fast. I will be looking tonight to see where the coolant is coming from. My thought is that there is an air bubble, not sure how though, I used almost 3 liters of coolant (Suzuki says 2.98 liters).

 

[Mr Bogus]

does the fan cycle? meaning does it run, cool off, and then turn back off?

does this cycle change if you run at a fast idle, say 2500rpm?

Airlock can be a tiny amount of air..

 

[00busaTX]

does the fan cycle? meaning does it run, cool off, and then turn back off?

does this cycle change if you run at a fast idle, say 2500rpm?

Airlock can be a tiny amount of air..

You might be right. The fan kicks on, but does not really help. Once I am rolling (2500+rpm) she cools off in a hurry. If this is the case, why did it run fine all summer? If it was airlock, would this explain why it smoked a little when it got hot. Air expands, pushes some coolant out of the pipe onto the motor and then stops when she cools back down.

 

[Mr Bogus]

well one of two things is going on... either the coolant is not circulating like it should (higher engine speeds can overcome some air locks and/or some kind of water pump issue)

or the fan is not doing its job for some reason (bugs/paper/not spooling up correctly)

If you had a coolant leak to start with, and then created the air lock with the flush, it could explain a couple things.

sometimes more diagnostics works better than a "fix" you need to see if you can exercise an air bubble out of the cooling system first.. Could entail draining and refilling again...

 

[rubber2burn]

You are running the 1397 kit right maybe you just need an extra fan bro the 1397 runs a little hotter than stock. Also I would be willing to bet you just have some air in the system the reason it sucked the resivor dry get the bike to temp and then let it cool down if the resivor is still dry that is your problem most likely. Also do check for coolant leaks as well

 

[00busaTX]

You are running the 1397 kit right maybe you just need an extra fan bro the 1397 runs a little hotter than stock. Also I would be willing to bet you just have some air in the system the reason it sucked the resivor dry get the bike to temp and then let it cool down if the resivor is still dry that is your problem most likely. Also do check for coolant leaks as well

That is awesome, I didn't know that I had the 1397 kit. Wow, I didn't even feel the power gain. Oh well....

Just bustin your chops, The more I think about it, the more I think that I had an air bubble before and I just have another. I really have never sat in traffic untill recently. Thanks for all the input

I am going to go home today and re burp the system. I will update in the morning or tonight.

 

[BA BUSA]

Sounds like your coolant was low and caused the bike to run hot...then after you flushed it, you didn't get all of the air out of the system.

 

[rubber2burn]

That is awesome, I didn't know that I had the 1397 kit. Wow, I didn't even feel the power gain. Oh well....

Just bustin your chops, The more I think about it, the more I think that I had an air bubble before and I just have another. I really have never sat in traffic untill recently. Thanks for all the input

I am going to go home today and re burp the system. I will update in the morning or tonight.

I thought you dropped a 1397 in when you had her down for paint and getting her fixed back up. Oh well not the first time I ever made a mistake

 

[00busaTX]

ok, here is the deal.

I refilled the bike with coolant, then tipped it over like R2Burn had instructed. Side to Side while it was running. I took it through the heat cycle. All was good, the fan cycled 6 times and cooled it off in a hurry. Late last night we checked the level in the radiator and all was good. Heated it up again and the fan was doing great. It would get to the middle of the gauge and kick on, cool it off, and then turn off. We cycled the fan about 5 more times. This morning I get up to put all the plastics back on and decide to heat cycle it one more time just a last check. Then the fluid started coming out of the cap really slow. WTF?

That is when I realized that the radiator tab that the cap pulls on was slightly bent and was not letting it grab properly. I put a screw driver in there, and barely pulled it back out. It is now sealed perfectly. Hopefully this has all been put to rest.

Thank you all for your input and help. And thanks to R2Burn for taking the late night call on the phone for the last minute questions.

 

[Mr Bogus]

it is going to push out a bit of fluid.. it will pull it back in when it cools..

Did you read the manual on refilling by chance?

 

[00busaTX]

it is going to push out a bit of fluid.. it will pull it back in when it cools..

It came out the radiator cap, not the resevoir..... The cap was not sealing properly due to the bent tab. That is was I fixed.