Temperature Issue

So I was out for a good ride today (about 1-1/2 hours worth), all back roads here in CT. Sun was shining and the trees were overhanging the roads. Beautiful day. So, after about a half an hour I look down at the instrument cluster and notice that my temp gauge is pegged on low. Now the temp outside was about 82 deg. F and on the back roads I was only going about 45 mph. I stopped a little bit later at a looooong stoplight and my gauge went up to about 1/4 the way. So I know that my gauge is working. When I did the carb sync a couple weeks ago I had to put a fan in front of the engine because it was getting hot, and yes, my gauge actually moved. So, here's my question, is this normal for other 3rd gen's out there, or do I have a problem with the t-stat? The thermostat was replaced at the end of last season, and I wouldn't think that it went bad allready, but I could be wrong. Just looking to see what other 3rd gen's are seeing out there. Thanks in advance.

Adam

 

Normal to be fluctuating around in the bottom 1/4. Start being concerned 1/2 way up and above. Shut down if your fan does not kick on.

 

you could look at the fuse for the fan. Its on the right side inner fairing. Think it even says FUSE, I had a blown fan fuse and road a long time without any issues in NJ. First week I had the bike in south FL it started to piss antifreeze out. Long story short, replaced the fan fuse and havent had an issue in ten years and maybe 25,000 miles or so.

 

The thermostat is easy to check and if failed it will be easy to see that it is stuck open.

 

Fan works fine. What happens is when I ride, the temp gauge stays pegged low. If I stop and idle for a while, the gauge will rise. When I sync'd the carbs, the gauge went to half way after about 30 min with a 85 deg. F day. My concern is that it's low when I ride. What are you other gen 3's seeing when you ride? Is the temp gauge low, or is it up, mid-range or so?

 

It really sounds like your thermostat is stuck open . Not a gen 3 thing, it is all engines , they need to run at temp for good health. Let us know how it works out please.

 

I'll check it out, but what's really funny is that the t-stat was replaced in Oct of last year and was working fine. Do they break that often that you need to replace them every year?

 

My 91 starts off low and then goes about mid way. Once in stop and go traffic you can hear the fan kick on about 2/3 up the temp range. Once under way as you get up to speed you can see the temperature go down to mid way or so. Even though you have a radiator you still need to circulate air, so riding cools things down. When I come to a stop and am going to shut the bike off, the fan may or may not be on, if it is on, once I turn the key off the fan stops. This is different than the Kawasaki I own, whose fan stays on once the key is in the off position. GOod Luck with your bike.

 

Mine is always pegged low unless I'm idling for a long time. Then, and only then, will the gauge be anything other than pegged low.

 

So I just got done riding, and the temp gauge did actually move off of being pegged low. It got up about 1/8th of the way up the gauge, where the line starts for the range. It hung out there for a while, then went back down to low again. Maybe this is part of the reason I'm getting lower gas mileage (28 mpg average). Time to do a little more digging I think.

 

Sounds perfectly normal to me, they all do that. Mine is exactly the same and every other one I have every heard of.

 

So I decided to go ahead and replace the thermostat. I haven't checked the old one, but the parts are cheap enough and the labor is the same for checking / replacing. When the new one get's here I'll go ahead and take her apart. Thanks for all the help.

 

mine's like that too, always bellow 1/4 save for heavy stop and go.

TG

 

So I finally got off my ass

So there I was....I finally got off my ass and replaced my thermostat. When I took it apart I found what was in the picture. It was hard and crusty. I also found this on my remote sensor for the temp gauge. So, I bought a new thermostat and cleaned off the sensor. Took the girl out for about a 1 hour ride today (83 deg. F) and the temp gauge actually moved and came up to about 1/4 of the range and stayed there the entire time. I think that was my problem. I'm going to try and take her for a long ride this coming weekend to check out the gas mileage. Keep you posted. Thanks to all for the help.

Adam

 

So, I took the bike up to Cape Cod this weekend. I rode up Friday night and came back today (Saturday). I averaged between 32 and 35 mpg the entire trip. So, I say, from going from 28 to 35 mpg that's a win and the thermostat replacement did the trick. Thanks for all the help.

Adam.