Noob overheating/ popping question 2003

[eggohead]

I had a fan that would kick on sometimes. I changed out the sending unit to the fan and have had no issues in 7-8 years now.. Cheap fix, but for the $$ of the work they did I would want a complete list.. maybe you have a plugged water jacket or the radiator is plugged up.

 

[Dragmaxster]

(All comments sincerely appreciated)

So took my Max to the dealer who sold it to me. They replaced the r/r, not sure if OEM or a different one. They said it cooled down on the highway, and hey had no problems with overheating.

Well...

I was riding home, and it was quickly in the read. Fan came on to no avail. Thought maybe more airflow should help. I circum-navigated Queens and a quarter of Brooklyn on the highway; running in the red the entire time.

Three days ago I missed my turn and slowly drive around Chinatown and Wallstreet in 90 degree weather. Bike felt very hot, in the red. I parked it, too the fake tank cover off, and got an awesome video of my reservoir boiling.

I'm curious if the coolant is even circulating through the radiator (though the bypass valve (or whatever on the manifold under the radiator), seems to be correct.

Lastly, I noticed the plug on the ? 1st cylinder (rear on the left), was leaking tiny amounts of coolant, and the area around the plug had scaling suggestive of an ongoing problem. I also hear a lot of "pops" when I accelerate (e.g. at least one per second).

Thoughts?

This is what your stock r/r will look like and the stock ones are known for overheating-it's behind your left passenger foot bracket---
Sorry-----Dannymax has it below-----

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=37811&highlight=mosfet

 

[dannymax]

This is what your stock r/r will look like and the stock ones are known for overheating-it's behind your left passenger foot bracket---
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Regulator-R...ash=item3a9c4f252b:g:J3wAAOSwDk5T~tUH&vxp=mtr

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=37811&highlight=mosfet

That looks like the old style R/R, he has an '03 which should have the finned one, like this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/J-97-YAMAHA...ash=item5d5e13483a:g:tB8AAOSwhcJWHTv3&vxp=mtr

 

[Dorney]

Thermostats are cheeeeeap for this bike. Take your old one in to cross it over to one for a car, rather than pay the stealership for a Yamaha OEM part.. A bit of a pita to get to though. It sounds to me like you might benefit from putting in a new one at this time though IF going faster on the hwy does not cause your bike to start cooling back down on it's own. Don't forget you'll also need a gallon or so of new antifreeze to do the thermostat swap out - I never figured a good way to catch and save the old antifreeze easy enough to be worth saving it. I mix mine 50/50 with water.

I'll go along with the thermostat.

Dave