GL1000 Overheating

[BigDub]

yes it probably bad these are very old bikes very old wiring and such ......me myself on all my wings i don't use the temperature switch or thermostat or the heat shield thing on my bikes ....i want full flow in the cooling system....i want the fan to come on when i want it to ....and i want heat to have full escape from the radiator.....

so i take out the thermostat ......wire the fan up with a manual switch and remove the heat shield......

others on the forum have temp switch with adjustable temp setting ....there is a car temp switch that can be bought

the temp switch is right there beside the top radiator hose towards the middle of the motor with the wire hookups .......

on my bikes with thermostat out i only use the fan stop and go traffic and when I'm out of it turn it off .....it runs cooler in traffic than any other time.....

i just cant stomach the thought of having my wing dependent on cheap parts :mrgreen:

THIS IS A+++ INFORMATION! We need more posts like this. I debated about removing the shield and finally did during my build. Now the supports that I felt I should leave in are coming off. that should make carburetor removal a breeze!!! Now, I can do fast switch-outs on the carbs for regular cleanings + easy-on-off will allow me to do testing when/if i need to do a rebuild on a set for a friend! Thanks again for the heads-up on the GOOD!

 

[54Greybeard]

Wonder why Honda wanted to step the guage voltage down to 7 volts?

 

[quennc]

So my question is, seeing where all you guys that have taken out the thermostat live. Wouldn't the climat differences matter to those of us who live up north. Meaning, we do get much colder weather here and the understanding i gather is the bike should run with some heat. Right now the temperature is really hot but the coming months when the temperature drops the heat won't be there for the bike. I'm only aasking because right now my bike does overheat and i am looking at replacing the thermostat or simply removing it. Same with the heat sheild. Also have a tiny leak just below the waterpump housing. So going to check the water pump to make sure it's fine and replace the gasket and Oring.
Funny thing is the bike doesn't overheat at night when it cooler out. But during the day when it's hot, The temp goes well above half. And this is not stop and go driving. There is air flow but it's been very humid during the day here. So i don't think there's any problems with the waterpump since if it was faulty the bike would overheat regardless of the temp outside. Atleast that's what i think. Could be wrong. Also the fan wasn't coming on but i did install a toggle switch and it works fine now but still overheats during the hot days.

 

[mcgovern61]

In your climate, I believe keeping the thermostat in is required. (Then again, I am also under the opinion that the thermostat is an engineered part of the cooling system on aluminum engines.) Check your radiator fins and see if they are clean. If air doesn't pass, water will not get cooled while riding. Normally, the fan does not need to come on while riding down the road. If the thermostat is working correctly, it will open when the operating temp is exceeded and the cooler water (coolant) in the radiator will be allowed to enter the engine in a controlled flow. That water has to have been cooled to be effective. Sometimes, the radiators get clogged because the coolant has not been changed .....or ....only water has been run in the system (real bad for these bikes if water only is used or coolant has been allowed to stay in the system for a long time).

 

[dan filipi]

I'm with the crowd that says run with a good thermostat.
All engines are designed to run at a certain temperature, the reason for the stat is to bring it up to that temp as soon as possible.

quennc, I have been in extremely HOT weather. I'm talking over 120 degrees, in fact once in Yosemite the over road temp was 127. The gauge read 3/4 with fan running steady in stop and go traffic, it never overheated.
Once we started moving over 40mph for 5 minutes or so the temp came down enough to turn the fan off.

I have also had a few leaking head gasket jobs.
All of them ran hot like you describe, in the 3/4 gauge range.

Removing the stat is NOT a fix. As long as the water pump is spinning then it's pumping water.
The pump is NOT the problem.

I'd start with having the radiator flow tested.
A radiator shop can do this and will let you know if it needs anything more.

The air deflectors help A LOT when slow moving to direct air flow over the radiator.
If they aren't there, install them.

Next up I'd be looking at leaking head gaskets.

 

[joedrum]

theres always the option to leave the thermostat in andstill use a manual switch on the fan ....this is a better way in my opion thana fan switch with no control to turn it on by the user ..... :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

theres always the option to leave the thermostat in andstill use a manual switch on the fan ....this is a better way in my opion thana fan switch with no control to turn it on by the user ..... :mrgreen:

Or you could wire in a manual switch to bypass the fan on if wanted.
Imo its just too easy to forget turning on the fan so I run with the auto switch in place.

 

[quennc]

After seeing that the fan wasn't working, i did install a manual switch. After installing the switch, i took the bike out on the highway doing average 50 to 60 mph with the fan running the whole time and the temp still continued rising. I've just pulled the thermostat out tested it on the stove and it opened up like normal. The waterpump housing didn't have a proper gasket on, just do it yourself gasket maker. The pump has been changed (metal impellors) and looks fine. I always thought a clear sign of head gasket issues would be white smoke and residue on your plugs. My plugs are really clean with no smell to them. There's no smell of any kind coming from the bike of antifreeze unless i'm at the really early stage of head gasket issues and just don't see it.
Still going to replace the thermostat with a new one regardless, have a new gasket for the pump and O-ring coming tomorrow. If nothing changes then will do as Dan suggested and have a flow test done. Then to the head if the flow is not the problem.
Where are the deflectors you're talking about and what do they look like. Not exactly sure what to look for.

 

[mcgovern61]

This is what the radiator coolant deflectors look like on an 1100:

 

[quennc]

i definatly don't have those deflectors. Just the grill in the front, that's it.

 

[joedrum]

the deflector will diffinitl cause some heating up ....but im thinking that you have some exhast leaking into the cooling system maybe and disrupting good coolant flow ....we had a 1200 here awhile back that suffered this ....they won show any of the signs of head gaskit failure like white smoke or coolant and oil mixing ...there sign is air bubbles in the radiator and not enough flow to col anything no matter about thermostat in or out or fan running or not :mrgreen:

 

[quennc]

Well i've done a few tests now that was recommended and still nowhere with this. There's no bubbles in the reservoir even with the temp above half. At idle with fan on temp never drops. The front of the rad , temp feels the same all the way around. The only thing i haven't done is the rad cap. It's really gunked up. Trying to find 1 right now. Not easy since honda won't give out the part number. And tells me i have to wait 2 weeks before they can get me 1. Love their customer service. But i will be pulling the rad out and bringing it to a rad shop to have it properlly flushed and do a pressure test on it.

 

[quennc]

Well lets just hope the fractured finger and 3 stitches were worth putting this girl back together. Let you all know how it goes after my ride.

 

[mcgovern61]

Well lets just hope the fractured finger and 3 stitches were worth putting this girl back together. Let you all know how it goes after my ride.

?????What happened??????

 

[quennc]

Well the trip was short since trying to pull the clutch in was a little to much for my finger. LOL! Just to let you know, i found after pulling out the stat that if i'm constantly moving the temp stayed at half or just above. At a stand still with the fan on the temp just kept rising, but for the first time the temp would actually go down once i was at a steady pace.But being in the city it was more stop then go. Have to wait till traffic dies down a little to give it a real test.
And as for my injury, lol, A hose clamp broke directly bellow the rad, so i tried to use a tie strap temporarily to stop the leak of rad fluid so i can go and get a new clamp. Well i used a set of plyers to try and make the strap as tight as possible but then the strap broke and you can pretty much guess what went wrong from there. All part of BUSTED KNUCKLES GARAGE. LOL!

 

[dan filipi]

Like we discussed by PM I'm starting to suspect your temp gauge isn't reading accurate.

No bubbles in the recovery, no tell tale signs on the plugs or exhaust odor, otherwise running fine.

If you can get a hold of a non contact thermometer to check the radiator temp that will shed some much needed light on this problem.

 

[quennc]

I kinda agreeing with you on that but you mentionned that the fuel gauge is also connected, but the fuel gauge isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. I have ordered the temp reader. But while i wait will be bringing it in to the shop to have all the test done. Compression, flow test and pressure test. But will also be looking at the tempurature sending unit. In the end i will finally get an answer. But Dan, i think you are right with the temp gauge. Will soon find out.

 

[dan filipi]

Well cool then.

Keep us updated what you find out.