Thermostat

[Imp]

I just changed the thermostat and found that it did not close all the way due to corrosion. I think it was due to my lack of coolant change. I went by the 2 year coolant change recommendation (the little booklet) and not by the yearly change intervall recommended by the forum.

The problem was that it was cooling too much and did not warm to the 4 bar range (2nd gen) which is the usual temp while riding, it would go down to 0-2 bars while going 50 -70 mph. This would occur during cool weather 30-50's, it would heat up to the 7 bar mark quickly during city riding during warmer and take longer and longer to cool down.

I used Honda pre mixed to change the coolant. This was my first change since I got the Feejer in Oct 08. It has 48,883 miles on it now. Thought I should share the info.

Oh by the way the way the 08 reservor has to be taken off to get the coolant out, is no big deal since one just has to unbolt 2 bolts.

 

[SkooterG]

Pretty sure my Yammie 'booklet' recommends 12 months or 16,000 miles, whichever comes first.

 

[ionbeam]

My Gen I owners manual says 24 months or 16k miles.

 

[SkooterG]

My Gen I owners manual says 24 months or 16k miles.

I stand corrected.

Personally, I never really worried about the time limitation as I hit the 16k in 6 months give or take. And actually, for the most part (there have been a few exceptions) I just have the coolant replaced every 27k or so when I take it to the dealer for a valve check. That still works out to less than a year for me.

 

[Denver_FJR]

Curious... Was it corrosion or build of of solidified coolant. Not that it matters much, guessing one follows the other. Strange it happened within 2 years.

 

[ionbeam]

OMG!!! Imp is a Manatee herder, after all he is from Crystal River. I have actually done some scuba diving with the manatees in the springs around Crystal River. Good thing the National Wildlife Refuge is protecting the manatees, have you seen RadioHowie skulking around the area?

Well, we know that it wasn't cold weather that may have been associated with the corrosion. I have seen some auto thermostats with a bit of corrosion caused by trace leaks at either gaskets or hose clamps. As the hot coolant flashed off through the tiny leak it seems to have formed crystals on the metal surfaces. Did you ever have to top off your coolant bottle?

 

[Imp]

Haven't harrased the manatees lol. They are pretty cool to see, well not that much to look at I think they look like a slow foating blob :blink: .

I am not sure why the thermostat gave out, I haven't had a leak and did not have to add fluid. When I took the old one out I found it locked in a partially open position. It was not all that much extra work to change it. I took 3 srews out popped the old one out and carefully put the new thermostat in making sure I place the little hole in at 12 o'clock.

I belive this malfunction must have been caused by me not changing the coolant sooner. I posted to share info thats all.

 

[Imp]

inobeam I have not seen Radiohowie, well I ride a 2nd gen. He had some sort of meet but it was for gen 1.

There are a lot of bikes here on the weekend and I have seen a couple of Feejers. There is someone with a 06 but have not been able make contact. I would like to meet some fellow FJR owners. My wife and I are contemplating on going to the 2011 in Kentucky (she has a 07).

 

[escapefjrtist]

Thanks for the information Imp. Since my 06's cooling system started behaving differently, I'll be changing my T-Stat this winter as well. We'll see if there's something as obvious as yours.

--G

 

[Afast03nNJ]

Haven't changed the coolant yet in my 03 and my coolant tester tells me it's still doing it's job. I don't get all the fuss about coolant changes. Lets see, my Nissan is 11 years old and has 175,000 trouble free miles on it. Coolant has been changed only once in it's life. My 98 Ford S'ploder has 83,000 and has never seen a coolant change. If my tester says it's good and it still looks pretty, I leave it alone. Seems to work for me.

 

[ionbeam]

Haven't changed the coolant yet in my 03 and my coolant tester tells me it's still doing it's job.

Your coolant tester tells you that the ratio of ethylene glycol to water is good. It doesn't tell you if the anti-corrosive properties or electrolysis suppressors are still present.

 

[C&C]

Only if your coolant tester is similar to this: https://www.gwrauto.com/RadStrip1.htm

+1 to ionbeam's comment

 

[Fred W]

When it comes to coolant, time is the main determinant as to when it needs changing. That's because it is the anti corrosive agents that get "used up" since they are constantly in contact with the inside of the cooling passages, even when sitting. Mileage really has little effect on how quickly this happens. Most vehicle manufacturers do not even quote a mileage spec for coolant changes (and brake fluid for that matter) and just go by elapsed time.

Two years is a fairly conservative estimate as to when to needs to be changed. There should be plenty of anti corrosive still available after only 2 years. Unless you topped up your system with salt water or something, I would seriously doubt that your thermostat failed due to corrosion in less than 2 years. The thermostat is, however, a thermo-mechanical device, and therefore subject to (premature) failure on its own accord.