07A heating issue

[Slappy]

Mike, thanks for the input. However in my younger days we were stranded in the middle of the desert with an over heated hummer. We pulled the thermostat and it ran like a champ in 130 heat until the end of the war. It took forever to heat up on cold mornings and ran like crap until it did but once it reached operating temps it was perfect.

Motorcycle-Ed, thank you for your input. While I have the bike apart to replace the thermostat I will pull the hoses and just give them a once over just to be sure. Thanks.

 

[radman]

It'll be fine without the stat-with a tendency to run too cool. Pain in the ***, but affix some cardboard to the rad in cool stuff if the bike doesn't gain enough temp to go into closed loop-look for the lowest running number of bars you've seen in the past. Otherwise, she'll run rich as a ***** and ruin that fresh oil you put in.

 

[Ignacio]

Mike, thanks for the input. However in my younger days we were stranded in the middle of the desert with an over heated hummer. We pulled the thermostat and it ran like a champ in 130 heat until the end of the war.

And we all know 2007 FJR's are JUST LIKE Hummers.

It's a little known fact that Yamaha engineers took the spec sheets for the Hummer cooling system and used Word to globally replace "FJR" wherever "Hummer" appeared. Who knew their ability to craft sports motorcycles expected to run efficiently between a range of temperatures instead of below an upper limit was such a direct product of military engineering? :glare:

Concur with Rad. Bungeed cardboard and contaminated oil is far more hassle than a new (or revised range) thermostat.

 

[Slappy]

Ignacio, I understand what you are saying. Yes they are completely different animals. However, if a Diesel engine in 130 degree heat can survive I believe a petrel motorcycle engine in barely sub 100 degree heat can survive a couple of days without a thermostat and not cause damage. Mike 101 made an objective opinion based on personal experience as did I. I did not discount his opinion, however I knew the extreme conditions I experienced and based on that I made my final judgment.

Thanks for your input though.

Radman using the cardboard to restrict the airflow through the radiator is stupid simple and I never would have thought of it. Thanks.

 

[RED]

Coming home from TWN's memorial it got rather chilly around Lompoc so I decided to extend the side fairing to keep the damp cold air off me. All the way home the temp never read higher than 4 bars. The outside temp never went above 73 until 5 miles from home when I finally got out of the fog. It quickly rose to 85. I sat in very light traffic and the temp gauge quicly rose to one from the top. When I moved the temp quickly went down. Having had 5000 mile old oil I thought this was the problem. Changed it last night and this morning while riding in 70 degree temps I got the same high temp reading. I still have the faring flaired. Anyone still riding in warm conditions have this issue? While riding at speeds the temp is normal but when stopped for any lenght of time the temp shoots through the roof. This only seems to happen when the fairing is flared wide not in its normal position.

My 06 has just over 17,000 miles on it and mine has done that since day one.

 

[Slappy]

Red, mine didnt. Since day one it happily sat at 3-4 bars until I hit traffic or waited at lights on hot days. Then it would warm to 7 bars, the fans would kick on and it quickly drop below 6 bars. Whether it was 65 or 105 this never changed. I do not believe the FJR should ever run 1 bar away from overheating and stay there while sitting in traffic. I am not an engineer nor do I play one on TV but commons sense tells me this is bad.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

I have a friend who had warranty work done on a Kawasaki for what eventually became excessive oil consumption. The cause was a piece of 'flash' (a piece of aluminum casting waste) in the cooling system passages of the cylinder head. The bike probably ran 'hot' since new -- but, no one but the owner ever looked at the gauge (and..., the owner had never seen the gauge show anything but a high-ish needle placement...normal?).

Anyway, the engine needed complete rebuild -- which was done and paid for by Kawasaki.

 

[Slappy]

For anyone that gives a crap. After 2 hrs its finally done. It was definitely the thermostat. Changing it is relatively simple. After replacing thermostat and filling with water for first flush the temp never got over 6 bars.

The change the thermostat on a Gen II simply take off the left top piece of tupperwear and the whole left side piece of tupperwear. Dont have panel numbers and im a little to bitchy to care at this very moment.

After removing the two panels do a radiator flush. ******** are fine I just did a simple drain and fill, drain and fill and drain and fill with radiator fluid.

Once the radiator is drained the first time get yourself an 8mm socket or wrench. Its the same one you just used to open the drain plug and a phillips head screwdriver. Looking from bottom up you will see two radiator hoses with good old fashion clamps. Simply turn the screw to loosen the clamp. Remove clamp and hoses. Now use the 8mm to remove 3 bolts just under the radiator cap. Once bolts are removed simply remove overflow hose on top of black piece and pull.

Before removing thermostat notice how it is inside the silver half. The thermostat outside is oblong with a hole at the top. Remove old thermostat and replace with new thermostat. Gasket is already attached to the thermostat. Align hole at top of thermostat with black dot on top of silver half or just use best judgement.

Attached black half to silver half using 8mm bolts. Attach hoses. Make sure drain bolt is in and I recommend filling overflow with fresh distilled water. Do your radiator flush, re attach tupperwear and ride happy.

Thanks again for everyones input during this situation. Its always nice to hear others opinions and make me think outside of my zone.