Heats Up Quickly

[Glen007]

My bike seems to be getting hot quicker than normal. My VMax has always heated up fairly quickly in the past during 75degree+ weather and in stop-and-go traffic, but this morning going into work it was starting to heat up in high 50's stop-and-go traffic. Once it starts to get hot it begins to idle like ****, which just makes matters worse because then I'm forced to hold the idle up another 500rpms to keep the idle from dropping irregularly and stalling.

Also, I rarely hold the clutch in for more than 10 seconds at a time, popping it into neutral if I'm sitting, so I know it's not that.

Is this normal or is something up with my bike?

Thanks,

Glen

 

[johnpclynch]

Slight overheating with a rough idle can be a sign of a lean burn - the simplest cause would be cracked rubber around the carb/Vboost

The worst cause for overheating would be a blown head gasket but you'd be spitting out coolant with something as serious as that

 

[jfeagins]

You're bike has most likely come down with the charging bug. Sounds to me as if it is not putting enough charge to maintain a healthy battery level. The CDI box is notorious for misfiring at low RPM's when it isn't provided enough voltage. When the fan kicks on, your charging system is prolly not keeping up, and starving the CDI box. All this will cause the bike to overheat further. Check your idle voltage WITH THE FAN KICKED ON. Should be over 13.25. With the bike revved, it should quickly jump into the low 14's. Ton's of info regarding charging issues, causes and fixes around this forum.

 

[tugla]

also is your fan turning on. how is the coolant. has it been checked or chamged lately. quality and level.

yes ignition issues f it starts running rough. ciils wires plugs also should be checked.
what's charging voltage at idle and 2500 rpm?

 

[tugla]

oops just saw the prior post...+1 in his comments

 

[Glen007]

Thanks you all very much for the suggestions. I'm going to run my multi-meter on my VMax when I get home to check out the charging situation. If it's not the charging, could the lean burn be adjusted with the idle mixture screws? I'm fine with most stuff but carburetors still baffle me.

-Glen

 

[johnpclynch]

The lads made a good point, check the battery/charging first - worry about the carbs later

 

[MaxMidnight]

A few other things to add to your 'must check' list.

i) Coolant system pressure cap or sealing gasket u's.
ii) Thermostat not operating correctly.
iii) Radiator clogged.

Suggest that you check the charging rate first.

Then pull the plugs or better still do a plug chop to see if there are indications of a lean mixture.

If the above check out OK then you are probably looing at a water circulation or coolant pressure issue.

Start by feeing around the radiator core as the motor heats up to establish if there are any cool spots which can indicate a clogged core.
If OK swap the pressure cap from a known OK vehicle.
if OK test the thermostat,
if OK revers flush the radiator and run some rad system cleaner through.

 

[Glen007]

Thanks all. I got a little side tracked trying to tune my cartridge emulators yesterday and by the time I busted out the mult-meter I realized I'd be waking up all my neighbors. Unfortunately, I do all of my work in a covered parking garage under my condo building and things get pretty loud when you're surrounded by concrete.

A funny dumb#@s thing I did yesterday tuning my emulators: As I reassembled everything I thought I noticed quite a bit more of the preload spacers sticking out but didn't think anything of it. In order to get the caps back on with a socket wrench (no impact gun) I had to push about 150lbs of force on the caps while I had my wife turn the wrench. Once I got the bike off the jack-stands I gave it a little test and the forks are now about 1000% stiffer, nearly bound up. I checked the forum to figure out proper preload, and oh yeah, it's not supposed to be 3" it's supposed to be 3/4" - 1". I think the emulators must have gotten tipped after I dropped them back in so that they weren't settled on top of the damper rod. I didn't have time to pull it back apart at that point last night so that will be an ongoing project today.

It sucks, I had to drive my car into work today and it's supposed to be 81 degrees. Not many days like this living in Seattle.

 

[Glen007]

Figured it out. My fan's not coming on at all.

 

[SFCMcGan]

Figured it out. My fan's not coming on at all.

It's funny how all the technical answers usually end up eing something simple... Glad you found it was a somewhat easy fix!! I can't wait to get back to Washington and get some late Oct riding in!!

 

[jfeagins]

Figured it out. My fan's not coming on at all.

The OEM fan won't kick on until your temp indicator needle is nearly up to the red line, if I recall correctly. At least, I think it didn't come on until more than 3/4th's the way to redline. :ummm: Even when the bike was brand new, I hated that and thought something may have been wrong from the factory until I found this forum and saw that it was common and factory designed that way.

I, along with many other Vmaxers, installed a different electrical temp switch to the cooling system that kicks the fan on at a cooler temp (when the needle is just about directly pointing to the tiny little dot 1/2 way up the dial. Other Vmaxers think this is too early, and/or it would cause the fan to run too much, including while they are cruising down the hwy.

I've been satisfied with my aftermarket auto-switch since I first put it in, and would buy another should it ever fail.

 

[alorio1]

I think when you get around to checking your charging system ,like jf suggested you are going to be on the low side of having a heathy charging system.......