Air in coolant line after flush/fill?

[onegunguitar]

Nothing is ever easy One thing you gotta worry about with overheating is blowing the head gasket or worse. It is possible the gauge or sending unit is wrong or going bad. When I had mine I added a switch to turn the fan on sooner and ran Redline Water Wetter in it,it seemed to help somewhat. I think some people run Engine Ice too.

http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=10

http://www.engineice.com/

[Me Again]

Check the temp gauge when you first start the bike to see if it's reading correctly.
Better yet check it before you start it.

[Gpa_Joe]

I added the water wetter when I got the bike. changed oil, and flush/fill radiator.
thought that would help, but recently dug a little deeper and changed clip/thermostat.

when I turn key on with bike cold, gauge is all the way cold as it should be.

now, whether or not it reads correctly when it says overheating, I doubt. I can put my hand on the radiator cap when it gauge is full and warning light is on. if it was running that how, wouldn't the cap would be too hot to touch?

[Me Again]

Clean the water temp sensor and replace.

[Gpa_Joe]

thanks for the tip. I wish I was a little smarter. that would have been real easy to do when I had the radiator off this weekend... :/

just like wipe it off, or use a solvent?

appreciate any input. :)

[Me Again]

Probably more like emery to get the crud off.

[Gpa_Joe]

roger that. thanks for the info. :)

[Scott in IL]

Joe,
There are 2 temp sensors, one on the left side front oh the head and the other on the tube the upper hose clamps to. I don't remember which is connected to the temp gauge.
After you replaced the clip, could you turn the impellor by hand? If not, then I would think that gear is OK.

I have a question about the coolant coming out with the cap off. When does this happen? When the engine is first started, or when cranking over? Is there steam coming out of the exhaust?
If it is doing any of this, it sounds to me like a blown head gasket. Had that happen many years ago on a Chevy Vega.

[Gpa_Joe]

while I was originally trying to get air out of the line, I took cap off with engine warm and running. I could see movement in the coolant, and as I increased rpm, the coolant came out.

now about that clip on the impeller. I could turn the impeller by hand after I replaced clip. does that mean the gear is bad, or ok? should the impeller turn?

please don't tell me the water pump gear... :/

[Scott in IL]

Well not necessarily. Did it spin completely or just move a little?
The shaft has a pin that goes into two notches on the back of the impellor. If it is slipping, the impellor may turn but not as quickly as it should.
If you take it apart again, check if the impellor spins all the way around, or if you can turn the shaft by hand. If you can spin the shaft by hand, then unfortunately that gear may be gone.
I don't remember exactly, but I think you can see the gear if the valve cover is removed. To replace it, you have to remove the head.

[Gpa_Joe]

Scott,

very bad news, but thanks for the insight.

the impeller spun all around, along with the shaft, I could see the shaft pretty good when I had it taken down.

now... as everyone knows, that gear is very hard to find.

I am sure this will be the dumbest question asked in a long time, but is it possible to fit an auxillary pump in between one of the radiator hoses? is there such a thing in existence?

even if I could find the gear, a complete engine teardown is way outside of my abilities...

[Me Again]

I have reread the whole topic and did not notice if the fan actually turns on.
You did say you unplugged it ,but never said if it was working before/after unplugging it.
The one by the pump is the fan switch. and the ENGINE TEMP switch is the easy one to get to under the injectors. Test is OHMs and set temp

[Gpa_Joe]

fan most definitely is running...

fan was before, and after I investigated the issues.

impeller spun around very freely after I replaced clip.

it did not dawn on me that the thing should be locked in place by the gear with the engine off. :/

I have replaced cap, thermostat, clip on impeller. I have not driven it more than 50 miles ever yet, but I still don't understand why if it was truly overheating, why doesn't it boil out onto the ground?

just very disheartened. LOVE the bike, but concerned about something very bad happening with it while I am driving.

[Me Again]

The bad news is if it spins freely,the nylon gear is shot .
Long before it boils over the red light starts to flash.your probably getting enough movement from the pump to keep you from really overheating

[Gpa_Joe]

so...

a new wrinkle...

I took the bike out on the usual route I test it for overheating. it is about a 20 mile round trip, but I NEVER make it to the first stop sign (about 5 miles) before light starts blinking. here is the kicker, it never came on once. now it has me second guessing if I was just spinning the impeller with the clip off, or if I actually did it after I replaced the clip. I will never be 100% sure unless I take it back apart.

so the gauge got up to one short of the light blinking, but dropped down 2 bars and stayed that way. could it have actually been a stubborn air bubble that finally worked its way out? if it goes down on the gauge, there must be some flow???

thoughts?

[Gpa_Joe]

my wife is convinced the bike is just 'finicky' like its owner...???