another 'am i running too hot' thread?

just need my mind put at ease....

my 04 VFR has basiclly been resigned to DD commuting, which is 60 miles one-way (all freeway).

on the way home, she's mostly sitting right between 200-210.

the weather: 80 degrees or hotter (according to the Air Temp on the bike), and humid

my driving style: 75-85, but not aggressive. no downshifts, very few WOT situations

the bike: 2 Bros exhaust, no snorkel, K&N, but otherwise bone stock with 15K miles.

i haven't had the bike long enough to run in really hot temps, so i don't know if this is normal or not. the temps around here have just started picking up, so i've only noticed this trend hitting in the last couple weeks. if the weather is cooler, it'll run cooler.

am I ok?

Mike

 

sounds OK to me, that's where mine is if not a coupla degrees warmer...

 

yes, DD is what you think.

i'm in Durham, NC.

fan kicks in at 220 on the dot. stays on til 210

Mike

 

Your're not running too hot. 220 225 not too hot fan will drop the temp.

I hit 223 today in stop and go. What I noticed is stop and go 1-5MPH is worse than just sitting still.

 

temps reached upper 90s this week. air temp on bike read 98 degrees, and the engine temp wouldn't drop below 220 the whole commute home. i'm legitimately worried.

at what temp should i REALLY care, though?

Mike

 

Yeah you're fine. I've hit over 230. It eventually went down though. I'm in GA and it's super hot, especially when the interstate turns into a parking lot.

 

my advice is to goto ur local bike shop and get a fan switch. I got one here for $6.99 and at about 205 I flip the fan on manually and I havnt seen 210 since I got it. Before the switch I was 220-225 24/7 here in south texas

 

Whiteboy, we be neighbors, I'm in Durham too. Last monday and tuesday my air temp was reading 103 running on I-40 and the engine stayed around 205. Once off on the side roads it was about 218.

 

checked the coolant last night. seems a bit low. i'm planning on stopping by the bike shop today. anyone have any recommendations for/against products like Water Wetter?

Mike

 

I'm with stuka on Water Wetter. Several weekends ago on antifreeze I cruised around downtown atlanta at 90-100 degree weather and I saw the temperature climbing to 235

So about a week ago I flushed out the antifreeze and put in water wetter along with distilled water and while it's not a HUGE difference I can see that the engine runs at least 5 degrees cooler. When I was on a spirited ride in 90+ degree weather the hottest I saw the bike get up to was 222 degrees.

Plus I've been sitting on intersections and highest I ever saw it climb up to was about 220 degrees and that's way better than 235!!

 

My '04 runs at about the same temps., maybe a little cooler. But I've never seen over 225. The fan kicks on at lights and usually turns off before the light tunrs green.

 

My O7 runs between 215-225 when riding home from work around Sacramento in 90-100 degree weather. One thing that makes it run hotter is running the rpm's in the 5-6000 range versus 4-5000. My son rode the bike home from a dealership that put new tires on. The outside temp was 100 degrees. He had never ridden the bike before and was accustomed to his CBR600. He kept the rpm's at 6-7000 for 20 minutes in stop and go traffic and the temp soared to the point the warning light went on. My dealer says nothing is wrong with the cooling system. For whatever reason when the engine is running faster it generates quite a bit more heat that needs to be disappated. I agree, the fan works better when stopped than it does crawling along at around 5-10mph.

 

You're fine at those temps. sitting at idle is cooler than stop and go. Stop and go or slow ride will produce friction without enough airflow to cool the engine. 200-235 probably ok. Water wetter is a good product but meant to be used with water(distilled). For now, If you are in a climate that is not too cold and worrys about engine block freeze are low, try topping of your overflow tank with distilled water.

Water does a better job at cooling an engine than anti-freeze. Antifreeze does just that. It prevents the engine block from cracking during low temps It will also prevent over heating.

Water wetter is a surfactant that raises the boiling boint of water which helps the water keep cooling.
If you change or add antifreeze, get (silicate free) stuff. Get either the honda stuff or some HOAT raited. Prestone contains silicate(sand) to reduce the buildup of scale in the radiator but can damage out light aluminum parts. Even if the prestone states ok for aluminum engines that does not mean our engines.

 

sorry to bump this again, but....

i think i'm getting way past 'yeah, that's normal' at this point. since i last posted, i went ahead and topped off the coolant. i added an entire bottle of Water Wetter and topped off the burp tank with Honda coolant. i knew i had put in too much, but figured it would just burp out whatever it didn't want via the overflow hose (which it did). this was last weekend right before a long day of riding up in the mountains. most of the ride, the bike stayed above 200. the temp was high 80s and slightly humid. the ride was a pretty leisurely pace, with little to no trips up into VTEC and minimal stop-and-go.

today, i went on another long one. for most of the trip, the bike stayed fairly cool. outside temps were in the low 70s and even high 60s and the bike rode in the 180 range. it even dipped into the 170s when we hit a bit of rain on Blue Ridge Parkway.

but, on the way home, she was up to her old tricks. slow city temps shot her right up to 220, and the freeway was only worse. air temp said low 90s, and this time i couldn't get her back under 220 no matter what i tried. same riding as my original post (75-85 mph, no downshifts or aggressive acceleration, etc). i hit 228 before it finally started heading back down. fans kicked on, coolant level looks good.

'normal' or not, this bike has me ridiculously paranoid. i'm thinking of trying the following:

1) replace the radiator cap. if the cap isn't holding pressure, the boiling point would be lower and i'd be sizzling off coolant. long shot, but the fluid level WAS pretty low and i couldn't find any signs of a leak.

2) put the snorkel back in. with the snorkel out and the exhaust on, she's likely running lean. lean engine = hot engine, right?

3) valve adjustment? dunno about this one. the bike's never had this done, and it is coming up (or maybe past) the recommended mileage for it.

any other ideas? something HAS to be wrong with this thing.

Mike

 

Damn, it's hot here. Went for a 2 hr ride today in Phoenix. Temps between 105 and 111. Rode the bike pretty normal, not too hard. Bike temp ranged from 217 to 230. No probs.

 

Yup you are paranoid. Those are fairly normal temps. I was out with a pal 4 weeks ago in the mid 90's and our bikes were up ther with yours.

When you topped off your tank with honda coolant and added water wetter you probably aren't going to get what you are looking for. More antifreeze is not a good thing when it comes to cooling. You would have been better off to add more water. A 50/50 dilution is the max amount of antifreeze to water you want. 40% antifreeze -60% water is the lowest ratio to protect against freezing. By topping off with antifreeze and not just distilled water and adding water wetter you could have too little water in the system.
Remember water cools best. Antifreeze raises the boiling point and lowers the freezing point of water to allow you to use water to cool your engine. Water Wetter is also used to raise the boiling point of water.


Just curious what octane rating gas do you use and do you use any other gas additives?

 

I just bought an '07. The owner's manual indicates that the temperature reading will start blinking at 251, and that you should stop riding if that happens. Doesn't sound like you're anywhere near 251, so you're ok.