Hello fellow drifters . The summer weather has arrived today reaching the high 80's . I road MA-DEUCE into work with no issues at all , the ride home a whole different story.
With school graduations and vacationers it was like driving through a parking lot during Christmas shopping , coming out of the city today to get home from work . Now I drive 76 miles one way to and from work so , yes it took some time getting home tonight . Now I've driven MA-DEUCE to and from work numerous times already this year , in fact I've put a little over 3000 miles on her this year alone.
What I experienced today were a couple issues that deeply concern me . For one she was backfiring and sorta hesitating when shifting gears . More so on initial take offs once she got hot . Now I already removed the EPA crap as one of my winter projects and also did the marble trick following Wolf's site . I thought by doing this would solve my backfiring issues ? Now I would like to remind you ' s I've also changed out my exhaust from last year to the road house .
Also my temp light illuminated for the first time since owning the bike . The oil and coolant were changed beginning of riding season . Once the light popped on I pulled off the road way to see if the fan was on or not . It was not . I then shut the bike off to see if the fan would kick on . Usually once I pull in the garage after arriving home the fan will kick on .
Can these two issues coincide with each other , or they just two issues that occurred at the same time ? What should I check and do for these issues ?
Thanks for any help you guys can offer . With drift-in creeping around the corner I want to resolve these problems as soon as.possible . Not to mention MA-DEUCE will be resting till I do so .
not sure if I can help, but I was out today, and it was 75 ~ 85* F today, and I did about 50 miles this afternoon. I have the Roadhouse exhaust, I have never changed anything else. I have not had these symptoms happen yet, but then my riding was pretty steady and not stop and go, this Sunday I'll be doing the Reunion so 100 miles up and back, 80 mile cancer ride, so a total of 280 miles in the day and I'll watch to see if any thing happens, I will also keep an eye on my fan to see if it comes on.
Hope you get it all sorted out.
Check your coolant level!
Quote from: Troll on June 27, 2014, 20:53:35 PM
Check your coolant level!
That's good advice. If your "hot" light came on, it got too hot.
Plus make sure your cooling fan is working. When a bike (or car) is going down the road, the air is flowing through the radiator. When you stop in traffic, the fan is the only thing that keeps air moving, thereby cooling off the rad. No fan= no air when you're not moving (or moving slow) = overheating.
I will check the coolant first thing in the morning . It was filled to spec when flushed and I have seen no leaks . If the coolant is gone I have a bigger problem then I hope for .
The fan is not kicking on to cool the radiator/engine down when in heavy traffic . Like you said GB no air = over heated engine .
I'll report back tomorrow after re checking the coolant . Thanks guys
I "ass"umed you had already checked the coolant level.
So if we are going down that road, also check the rad cap. If you are putting on the miles you are it might not be visible and if you are down on coolant, it might be so simple as a poor rad cap and just need to be replaced or even tightened.
Drift1: I think the group has you moving in the right direction on the cooling system...level, cap, fan operation. But let's talk about this backfiring and hesitating....
- is that something you had before you took all the EPA stuff off?
- if so, has the carb ever been set up correctly?
If I recall earlier pictures before the Roadhouse, it was straight pipes....so makes me think minimum back pressure and mixture. When you reduce the backpressure in the exhaust, you can be running lean and increase popping on deceleration.
Just adding the Roadhouse would not have done this, if it was a pre-existing condition....When I put the Roadhouse on my stock 800....starting without a baffle at all....aside from loud, it backfired a little and had a hesitation when you opened the throttle. As I baffled it up, the popping and hesitation went away.
Also rode a stock 800 with straight fishtails when I was in the hunt....it had a stumble off idle and some minor popping. Owner was clueless on the status of the carb.
So, just another view....IMO, the cooling system problem is first....the popping and hesitation is a tuning issue. Good luck.
Guys first off I would like to thank you all for the great advice and help on these issue's .
Here's where I'm at this morning :
1) coolant level checked and full
2) traced the wiring for the fan . All wires look to be in great shape , connected properly ... even the ground wire
Now these next set of question's I should be able to answer myself except I'm at the lake house and we'll , my kiwi bible ( Clymer book ) is home . Is the fan set up on its own fuse ? Maybe the thermostat went bad ? I mean ALMOST everything else is new on this bike might as well replace that as well ... lol
KW ... I had the same backfiring issue's with the straight pipes and " thought " by removing the EPA and marbling would cure that . Yesterday was the first time it did this when she got hot sitting in traffic . My guess is the same as yours , carb needs to be adjusted to fix this problem . Definitely need to solve the cooling issue before moving on to the carb .
Lucky for you, I have my e-version of the 800 manual.... Yes there are actually 2 fuses, apparently, for the fan on the 800. looks like you can jump the sensor to complete the circuit.
if your coolant is full, that is a good thing - meaning it probably did not overheat drastically and cause any damage. I still think the fan is the culprit, due to the fact your problem was when you were in traffic, unless there's something else we don't know about yet.
As far as the backfiring - now that I realize this problem was ongoing, KW is prob. on the right track with the jetting issue. Do you know if it has stock jetting? or has it been increased? My suggestion is (if you haven't done something similar already) since you are already partway there ( I think you have a K&N already if I remember??) - is to grampsize it and put the jetting in recommended on the russwolf instructions. They are some much drastically different than stock, you won't easily find the right jet combination by buying a "jet kit". When I was looking, the jet kits that I could find available were only a couple sizes bigger. Individual jets were available from J&P and the suggested sized from the grampsizing mod worked pretty well.
Looks like the 800 has the same circuit as the 1500. Not a big surprize
Ok here comes a dumb question for ya , is the fuse located under the seat or the tank ? Just want to make sure what area I need to be in before I go taking things apart .
I just came back from a very short ride ( 2 miles ) and before I left I squeezed the hose coming out of the radiator , felt soft . Rode a mile squeezed the hose , felt hard . Doesn't this indicate that the thermostat is indeed functional ?
GB I should of went ahead and did the grampsizing mod during the winter being I'm have way there with the removal of the EPA . Hopefully with some adjustments ( air/fuel ) I can eliminate this problem . Grampsizing is on the top of the list for this winters mods .
I have the solution to your issue!
Your 1500 is feeling rejected and has cast a bad mojo spell on your 800! Ride the 1500 more and the bad mojo will go away!
OK, seriously.......
You say the popping seemed to have gone away until the overheating incident? Did I read that right? If so, could the head have gotten hot enough that when the spent gasses left the combustion chamber they reignited as they headed out of the exhaust?
Lol .... The 1500 has been getting her fair share of wind time as well PC . I've been rotating them so no one else left out . Still haven't provided a name for the 1500 so a curse of bad mojo could be possible . I was going to call her Ruby , but then if/when I change the paint scheme , that name will no longer suite .
I'm not convinced the popping occurred because of the overheating issue. I'm guessing it was more so do to the warmer weather . When I had the straight pipes on MA-DEUCE did the same thing in warmer weather . During cool days she to was fine with no popping . This is why I removed the after burning stuff .
Ok all test are complete and narrowed the over heating issue down to a bad sending unit . I did so by :
1) checked all fuses to be sure there was continuity
2) check the fuse box for 12 volts
3) checked the fan plug for 12 volts
4) jumped the fan using a piece of stripped wire to be sure fan turned on
By doing these steps I found the sending unit to bad . I'll get the bike to temperature now and give a tap on the sending unit to see if maybe the connectors got stuck during the open and close process . If this don't work ordering a new sending unit is my only option left ... lol .. Now here's another theory I came up with . What do you guys think if I wire in a toggle switch and eliminate the sending unit all together ? I'd be able to control the fan myself , especially while being stuck in heavy traffic ? What are your thoughts on this ?
I'd be more a fan of the automated fan.....pardon the pun.
as an emergency measure, I'd be fine with it, but for a "permanent" solution, you'd be better off with OEM design
Thanks for your input Troll and Pastor dude . I ordered the new switch and think I'll wire in a back up toggle just for emergency use purposes .
You guys are all making me think about just ordering a fan switch to replace mine - with all of these going bad - Mike922, James, now D1 - makes me think maybe it should get changed every other oil change or something!!!
As far as using the toggle switch - Hey, I've seen a lot of old-timer's vehicles fixed up this way. That way you have control positively of when you want it on or off. But that's the problem too, you have control and have to make sure you turn the thing on every time you need it - but you don't really know (as well as the temp switch in the coolant does) when you need it. The automatic method should be the better method -when it works.
Now, like you mentioned, the toggle might not be a bad idea as a redundant over-ride type of thing....
Wow I didn't realize others were having the same issue ? Sorry guys , maybe I should have found these threads before posting a new one on the same subject . I'll try to find this/these threads .
GB ... I'm wiring in a toggle switch for emergency situations only . This will personally make me feel better if that hot light ever came on again due to a failure on a stinking switch .
At least you know the hot light works
Very true Troll . To busy worrying about solving the problem and ticked off it came on in the first place , that I over looked the positive in this situation . That being , at least I know the warning light does indeed work . Good point , Troll .