Too hot to handle
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38 special
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Re: Too hot to handle
Got it. In fact I did just get it. Looks like I might need to re-oil it again too.
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38 special
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Re: Too hot to handle
Oiled her back up and reinstalled the cable. The little misses and I took a short ride around the area where Kent Boyd (so you think you can dance) lives. It's only about 15 minutes from my house. It works again. Didn't help my over heating problem but at least I can ride again. Yeah!
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Me Again
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Re: Too hot to handle
I have a bad feeling you're going to be pulling that waterpump.
Hope it turns out to be the clip and not the gear.
Hope it turns out to be the clip and not the gear.
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addonii
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Re: Too hot to handle
So.... Have you done any of the stuff I mentioned in my previous posts?
If not you might as well tear into it and get it over.*
If you are going to tear it down make sure you change out that old thermostat. This will save you another tear down. The one in my bike was out of spec on opening temperature and also didn’t fully open according to Kawasaki’s specifications.
*Two easy things to try before going through all the trouble is to check out your thermo switch and see what condition your radiator cap is in (most auto parts stores have a radiator checker that doubles as a cap checker if a previous customer didn’t loose the adapter).
I had 2 bad used OEM caps, one which didn’t hold any pressure and the other held about 9 lbs. The stock cap should hold around 13lbs. You can get a Stant 13 lb pressure release cap at WalMart.
Easiest way to get at the thermo switch is to go in from the right side front of the engine after you pull off the lower right fairing leg and pull the single blue wire running to the thermo switch and ground it to the engine with an alligator clip. Don’t stick your fingers in the fan at this time even if you could get them in there. Doing this should turn on the fan even if the ignition switch is not on. Don’t pull on the blue wire to disconnect it - grab the connector.
If the fan doesn’t run you need to check out one of the relays on the left side of the bike near the battery & also the fan itself needs to be checked.
While you are at the right front of the engine you will also notice the 2 wires that go to the fan, you can jumper these to check out if the fan spins bypassing both the thermo switch and relay. Pay attention as to which wire is + and - polarity.
On my bike, besides the thermostat being out of spec and a bad radiator cap I found out the thermo switch was the final faulty item. I had a stack up of 3 bad items contributing to my overheating problem. If I ran the bike for under 2 hours I didn’t have a problem after I did all the stuff I put in my previous posts, but if longer than 2 hours I found the switch failed and wouldn’t turn on the fan. I have ridden the bike for about 1,000 miles now after changing out the thermo switch without a boil over problem. The bike does run anywhere from half way up the temp gauge to one bar remaining depending on traffic and or speed.
The way some people have fixed the thermo switch problem this is to put a manual switch into the circuit. You can wire it so both the thermo switch is active and also your add on switch will activate the fan if the switch fails.
Possibly a good and bad idea because if you turn on the fan via the switch (which does not need to be on all the time you will probably forget it and come back to a bike with a dead battery) good emergency measure, bad permanent measure. I have had the fan running on my bike running jumpered like this for over 4 hrs as a test and did not run the battery down on a bike that was not running.
Cutting to the chase here – here is what I would do now that I think I know what I’m doing.
Jumper the blue wire to the thermo switch leaving the fan running. Replace that radiator cap (only about $5.99).
Go for a ride near the house and see if your overheating problem still exist.
If the problem is still there and the fan was running and your radiator cap allowed pressure to be built up in the system then its really time to tear into the engine and replace the thermostat & check out the water pump.
If not you might as well tear into it and get it over.*
If you are going to tear it down make sure you change out that old thermostat. This will save you another tear down. The one in my bike was out of spec on opening temperature and also didn’t fully open according to Kawasaki’s specifications.
*Two easy things to try before going through all the trouble is to check out your thermo switch and see what condition your radiator cap is in (most auto parts stores have a radiator checker that doubles as a cap checker if a previous customer didn’t loose the adapter).
I had 2 bad used OEM caps, one which didn’t hold any pressure and the other held about 9 lbs. The stock cap should hold around 13lbs. You can get a Stant 13 lb pressure release cap at WalMart.
Easiest way to get at the thermo switch is to go in from the right side front of the engine after you pull off the lower right fairing leg and pull the single blue wire running to the thermo switch and ground it to the engine with an alligator clip. Don’t stick your fingers in the fan at this time even if you could get them in there. Doing this should turn on the fan even if the ignition switch is not on. Don’t pull on the blue wire to disconnect it - grab the connector.
If the fan doesn’t run you need to check out one of the relays on the left side of the bike near the battery & also the fan itself needs to be checked.
While you are at the right front of the engine you will also notice the 2 wires that go to the fan, you can jumper these to check out if the fan spins bypassing both the thermo switch and relay. Pay attention as to which wire is + and - polarity.
On my bike, besides the thermostat being out of spec and a bad radiator cap I found out the thermo switch was the final faulty item. I had a stack up of 3 bad items contributing to my overheating problem. If I ran the bike for under 2 hours I didn’t have a problem after I did all the stuff I put in my previous posts, but if longer than 2 hours I found the switch failed and wouldn’t turn on the fan. I have ridden the bike for about 1,000 miles now after changing out the thermo switch without a boil over problem. The bike does run anywhere from half way up the temp gauge to one bar remaining depending on traffic and or speed.
The way some people have fixed the thermo switch problem this is to put a manual switch into the circuit. You can wire it so both the thermo switch is active and also your add on switch will activate the fan if the switch fails.
Possibly a good and bad idea because if you turn on the fan via the switch (which does not need to be on all the time you will probably forget it and come back to a bike with a dead battery) good emergency measure, bad permanent measure. I have had the fan running on my bike running jumpered like this for over 4 hrs as a test and did not run the battery down on a bike that was not running.
Cutting to the chase here – here is what I would do now that I think I know what I’m doing.
Jumper the blue wire to the thermo switch leaving the fan running. Replace that radiator cap (only about $5.99).
Go for a ride near the house and see if your overheating problem still exist.
If the problem is still there and the fan was running and your radiator cap allowed pressure to be built up in the system then its really time to tear into the engine and replace the thermostat & check out the water pump.
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38 special
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Re: Too hot to handle
Many thanks, Addonii and you too Me again. I will try the last things you mentioned before tearing the water pump area down. I've put this off so far fir fear of the unknown. Can I do it or not? I have thought of adding a switch to turn on the fan manually. I almost always plug my bike in to a battery maintainer when not in use.
since the electronics always are pulling a little juice I try to keep the battery up to snuff. It's been extremely hot and humid here like a lot of places. Once it cools down I'll see what happens.
since the electronics always are pulling a little juice I try to keep the battery up to snuff. It's been extremely hot and humid here like a lot of places. Once it cools down I'll see what happens.
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Me Again
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Re: Too hot to handle
Anyone who can put a 38 Desoto back together shouldn't have any problems with a puny little waterpump.
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38 special
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Re: Too hot to handle
Me again. I had to laugh as soon as I saw your reply. You do have a really good point but I can't hurt a pile of junk that didn't run under it's own power. Plus it took me 9 yrs to get this far with the old 38. By the way I won best of show a couple weeks ago with it, yeah! My bike runs and I like to ride while the sun shines. I know tearing the bike apart when it does run is my mental block. Thanks for being my cheering section. -
Me Again
- King of the Road
- Posts: 1789
- Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:27 am
- 16
- Current bike(s): 1988 1300 Voyager
- Location: Wisconsin
- Has liked: 0
- Been liked: 262 times
Re: Too hot to handle
My bike runs and I like to ride while the sun shines.
I totally agree.If you can deal with the heat and are not going to make it any worse ,I would keep riding also ,at least until I could find time to work on it.
My bike sat for 9 years before I bought it and it has a number of little things that need to be fixed.My problem is I ride every day (MY primary vehicle) and do not want to start taking something apart that I can't get back together before I need the bike again.
I totally agree.If you can deal with the heat and are not going to make it any worse ,I would keep riding also ,at least until I could find time to work on it.
My bike sat for 9 years before I bought it and it has a number of little things that need to be fixed.My problem is I ride every day (MY primary vehicle) and do not want to start taking something apart that I can't get back together before I need the bike again.