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engine temp


pjohn

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whats up everyone,
 
 i notice my engine temp fluctuates when I'm riding/cruising. i believe this only started after my 6000mile oil change this past weekend. for example, it would read 174 then would jump to 180 and back to 174. i remember it used to be steady at a certain temp when I'm cruising and of course it would change when i slow down or come to a stop. any input guys?
 
 
this is the oil i used
 
link
 

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I have 2 2015 FZ-07's and they both do the same thing, flip back and forth from 172 to 178 mostly, with no steps in between.  I just figured that whatever electronics controlled the gage didn't read or send the info fast enough, or that the steps were programmed that big.  Now I'm curious to find out why they do that.  I did try to research it some on the internet, but couldn't find anything about it.

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I've seen anything from 165 to 186 during normal riding, with 176 (80C) a guesstimate average. This used to be common for cars as well back in the days, now most cars will sit exactly at 194 no matter what in my experience (90C).

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Temp rises till thermostat opens this allows a glop of cool water from radiator in cools stat stat close but
not befor engine temp drops a bit, this goes on but as the water in the radiator gets hotter the effect is
less noticeable,

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Have no idea why it would do that but no matter the reason for it fluctuating while at a steady speed, I wouldn't worry about it fluctuating a little unless it started over heating. That's just me.

Beemer

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Yep, mine does that same flip back and forth from 172-178 and has done so since new. Bugged me a bit at 1st, my other bike is rock stable at 172. Just ignore it now.

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Yeah mine does 176* to 181*F. continuously while moving, just figured it's the thermostat opening/closing. It's always done it since I've owned the bike.

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this annoys me lol. i wonder why it started doing it
These cooling systems are quite small in volume making them prone to little variations in temp.  
The sensor is also under the throttle bodies in the cylinder/head where you'd normally find it closer to the radiator or water pump. This may also contribute quick changes in temps.
 
And then there's the possibility that the computer is just reading every small resistance change the sensor/sender is providing and instead of being programmed to dampen/ignore out those wee changes, it's just telling what it sees.
 
 
Yep, it's a little annoying, but assume it's normal and just ignore it. As long as the fans come on in traffic and keep it from overheating, life is good. And keep in mind, most car thermostats are regulated up around 190F - you just never see it cause most cars only have a little pointer saying all's well w/no numbers
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If you've ever driven an older vehicle that had a quality mechanical gauge, you would be accustomed to constantly varying temps. Climbing a hill- warms up a little. Pass a car- warms up a little. Flying down the highway then instantly stop on the side of the road- warms up a little.
 
I'm actually very happy to see the temp gauges on these bikes are something that actually gives you real time information vs just an idiot light that shines red after everything has already went South.
 
Engines temps and oil pressures vary constantly, and so should the gauge reading. I really miss mechanical gauges :(
 
 

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My car has an analogue engine temp gauge and it's never been past 90C - once warm it will sit there steadily, whether summer or winter, driving hard or cruising. I don't know if it is accurate or not, but I know it is steady.

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Took my fan assembly off day one. More room for hands to work, less weight, less airflow restriction. Temps run between 174ish to a high of 229, mostly in neighborhood of 195. I've long since stopped paying attention to temp since it's never over heated even racing in 100+ degree temps..
 
20160410_152325_2.jpg
 
Subsequently put a gaurd in front of radiator to prevent damage and unplanned evacuation of cooling system. The gaurd did add 2 degrees to average temps tho. An acceptable trade.
 
 
20160410_152214.jpg
 
upload photo to website
 
Of course I don't sit in rush hour traffic much. I do warm motor to put heat in the bottom end before twisting it's tail and use cool down lap to ease temps before shut down.

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If you look at our radiator for a minute you'll realize how poorly it 'ISN't' shrouded, the high pressure air in front can go over the top, under the bottom and around the cosmetic side shrouds and any air that goes around spoils the low pressure area behind.  The air that goes through the radiator is channeled over the top of the engine and under the fuel tank...both places you'd rather not have heated air go. This can be improved upon with a little work, no room for perfect but better is possible.
 
I left the fan but replaced the coolant with Evans waterless, temps may have changed a degree or two but insignificant. Evans has very low expansion and doesn't require the huge coolant reservoir so I ran it without for a while but saw a few drips out of the over flow tube so installed a small catch tank behind the right side radiator shroud. I installed the Evans for several reasons as follows:
 
1. no water, no corrosion
2. very high boil over temp.
3. low pressure system, easier on entire system and if you spring a leak...it's a slow leak
4. life time coolant
5. allows removal of large coolant reservoir which cleaned up the engine visual for me
 
Shroud swung out to show homemade reservoir with Yamaha cap, mounted with high strength Velcro,
after a ride shows about an ounce then gets sucked back in as she cools
DSCN1213_1.jpg
 
free image hosting sites
 
 

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  • 2 months later...

I almost wanted to start a new thread, but this one is good enough...

 

I was out for a ride today and the outside temp was 55 degrees. I have 8000 miles on my bike, and do pay attention to things like the temp. So today this thing is going freaking crazy. My bike typically is at either 176 or 178 when crusing. It will do the 172/178 shuffle like I have read from other people. But today, it was going from 178 to 205 while I am sitting at a red light. That has never happened before. Even in the hot weather, it takes a lot of stop-and-go mixed with a long red light to hit 205 (2WDW flash causes the fan to kick in at 205). It was happening consistantly and the bike was plenty warmed up. I hit the interstate quickly after I left my house so I never noticed what was going on until after I got on secondary roads 20 miles later. Coolant level looks good but it is the OEM radiator fluid. I didn't check the oil before I left this time, but I did about 3 rides ago, and it was fine. 55 degrees is pretty cold, and like I said, this has never happened before. You could just watch the numbers steadily go up at what amounts to a 2 minute traffic light.

 

Any thoughts as to what this might be? I'll know about the true oil level shortly, but at the fully hot level, it has the view window full as it typically does. Anyone have issues with the sensor? I wouldn't be so whacked about this if it was a consistant thing, but it's not. Seems to me that in 55 degree weather, a 20-25 degree jump in 2 minutes indicates something is wrong.

 

Thanks for any info!

 

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Instead of oil level, you might be more concerned about the coolant level. If the overflow bottle next to the oil filter is empty, you'll be needing coolant. 

 

There's really not much coolant in these systems - the radiator holds a whopping 1.6 liters (less than 1/2 gallon) and that overflow bottle only 250cc.

 

If you have a slow leak or you haven't looked in a long time, water will slowly evaporate out until one day, there's some air in the radiator - it'll overheat pretty quick when that happens. 

 

If that reservoir is indeed empty, I would also open the radiator cap to make sure that is also full. If you have a big air pocket in the radiator, even filling the reservoir might not get the system burped of air

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Oh, btw, after 3 years, these coolant systems should be drained, rinsed and refilled with a 50:50 mix of glycol based antifreeze or whatever yer favorite coolant

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16 hours ago, FZ07R WaNaB said:

I almost wanted to start a new thread, but this one is good enough...

 

I was out for a ride today and the outside temp was 55 degrees. I have 8000 miles on my bike, and do pay attention to things like the temp. So today this thing is going freaking crazy. My bike typically is at either 176 or 178 when crusing. It will do the 172/178 shuffle like I have read from other people. But today, it was going from 178 to 205 while I am sitting at a red light. That has never happened before. Even in the hot weather, it takes a lot of stop-and-go mixed with a long red light to hit 205 (2WDW flash causes the fan to kick in at 205). It was happening consistantly and the bike was plenty warmed up. I hit the interstate quickly after I left my house so I never noticed what was going on until after I got on secondary roads 20 miles later. Coolant level looks good but it is the OEM radiator fluid. I didn't check the oil before I left this time, but I did about 3 rides ago, and it was fine. 55 degrees is pretty cold, and like I said, this has never happened before. You could just watch the numbers steadily go up at what amounts to a 2 minute traffic light.

 

Any thoughts as to what this might be? I'll know about the true oil level shortly, but at the fully hot level, it has the view window full as it typically does. Anyone have issues with the sensor? I wouldn't be so whacked about this if it was a consistant thing, but it's not. Seems to me that in 55 degree weather, a 20-25 degree jump in 2 minutes indicates something is wrong.

 

Thanks for any info!

 

If you're stationary, the only appreciable way to cool an engine is with fans. With the fans off, the temperature will almost always rise, so I see nothing weird. Fans kicked on, temp went down. Bike was moving, temp went down. In an absolute temperature sense, 55F is not much colder than 100F - it is still 92% of the absolute temperature - but it is still enough of a difference that 60mph air can cool very well, so your temp should reasonably fall from 205F pretty quick and then the thermostat shuts and stabilizes the temperature once your moving. 

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one thing to check

 

is the level of fluid in the overflow bottle rising when the motor is hot and then dropping back down after it's cold. It should. As the fluid gets hot and builds pressure, a valve in the cap will open and allow fluid to move into the overflow. Think pressure inside the radiator is regulated somewhere around 18psi. If that can't happen, pressure will get higher and the fluid and motor will get hotter quicker.

 

When you shut off the motor, the pressure inside the radiator drops and another valve in the radiator cap opens and allows fluid to get sucked out of the overflow bottle and back into the radiator.

 

It's an easy thing to check - note the fluid level before a ride and then look again at the end of the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have found outside of buying uber expensive evens is Honda Pro HP 50/50.  I tried it all Water wetter with distilled (Next Choice), Engine ice, AMSOIL Coolant Boost (NEVER MIX WITH DISTILLED) the Honda blend seems to be the best use at least in my non scientific study running me R1 in Commifornia Tarmac during rush hour in mid summer.

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria

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With 3 different types of coolants on the store shelf - inorganic, organic and hybrid organic, it's probably best to never mix them. You can accidentally kill the corrosion resistance by mixing in a small amount of an incompatible coolant just by topping up. 

 

I like to totally flush out the old stuff with DI water if I don't know what's been in there. Once I've switched, I'll stay with that - forever. My Aprilia is now 15+ years old and has been cooled by Peak Long Life for 12 of those years w/o issue. 

 

Probably also best to stay away from silicates and phosphates these days. 

 

This probably isn't a coolant type - or age issue. 

 

 

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5 hours ago, rick said:

 

is the level of fluid in the overflow bottle rising when the motor is hot and then dropping back down after it's cold. It should. As the fluid gets hot and builds pressure, a valve in the cap will open and allow fluid to move into the overflow. Think pressure inside the radiator is regulated somewhere around 18psi. If that can't happen, pressure will get higher and the fluid and motor will get hotter quicker

So I did get a chance to check out my bike further today. It seems that the levels look normal. The radiator itself is full and the fluid looks clean. The reservoir is at halfway. These were checked cold. The oil is halfway up the window which was check after 3-4 minutes of running.. Of course all of these were checked with the bike level. I'm not sure about the amounts in the reservoir both hot and cold - I'll check that tomorrow. The only thing I didn't do was get the bike hot enough not observe it more closely. I'll try that tomorrow. I wouldn't be sweating this if it weren't for the fact that I never so it go up so quickly as it is now.

 

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