Hello fellow riders. I have a 2009, with 74,000 miles which is running perfectly. However it has been some time since I had the valves checked, and I have a big trip coming up so I wanted to double check the valves. I took it to the dealer, they checked the valves, changed the valve cover gasket and they also replaced the spark plugs while they were in there. All valves were within spec (and have been every time since new) and the bike is still running perfect. On my way home from the dealer yesterday, the bike performed fine on the freeway, but once I was in the city in stop and go traffic, the temp gauge seemed to remain at the top of the scale, and the fan pretty much ran the entire time. It was quite hot when I started the ride, somewhere around 90, but by the time I got to the city, it was only around 62. I could smell antifreeze at each stoplight.
A little late but to bad you didn't have them do it while they had it undressed. When I did my valves I took the opportunity to remove and flush cooling system.
The idea that this bike has gone 74,000 miles without even one of the 16 valves getting out of spec is impossible for me to believe. While I wish it were not the case, it's not at all unheard of for a dealer to simply pronounce your valves "OK" and hand you a bill without actually doing anything. You could be the 1:1,000,000 exception but that's unlikely.
This is the first time this dealer has checked the valves, and I've had them checked by someone I trust very much three times prior to this. Also, I don't think I'm the only one who has had this result. While unlikely, I think your odds are way off.
It's not necessary to drain the coolant to perform a valve service. But some do, and they remove the radiator in order to get some extra "elbow" room so to speak. I suppose it's possible that an air bubble may have formed and the system needs to be purged. Did you check the overflow tank level? If that empties it's possible for the system to take up some air. The level should always be above the MIN line.
Hello fellow riders. I have a 2009, with 74,000 miles which is running perfectly. However it has been some time since I had the valves checked, and I have a big trip coming up so I wanted to double check the valves. I took it to the dealer, they checked the valves, changed the valve cover gasket and they also replaced the spark plugs while they were in there. All valves were within spec and the bike is still running perfect. On my way home from the dealer yesterday, the bike performed fine on the freeway, but once I was in the city in stop and go traffic, the temp gauge seemed to remain at the top of the scale, and the fan pretty much ran the entire time. It was quite hot when I started the ride, somewhere around 90, but by the time I got to the city, it was only around 62. I could smell antifreeze at each stoplight.
This morning I made sure to ride again, and the entire ride it was around 58-60 out. Freeway riding of course was normal, but at every stop once I got off the freeway, the temp would spike and the fan would run. Once moving on the city streets the gauge would go down two notches from the top. I could smell antifreeze not at every stop, but a few of the stops.
Could it be it's just time to flush the radiator? Could it be I need a new thermostat, does it have one? Is it likely this was somehow caused by the work done at the dealer? Seems unlikely, but the timing is too much of a hint. What am I not thinking of?
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... so, if the bike is NOT leaking coolant, it really can't suck air into the radiator from an empty reservoir bottle.
sounding to me, like during the valve adjust, the radiator was disconnected and tipped forward, and when reconnected, never refilled correctly, or had the clamps tightened up right.
Slight topic shift, but were they out of spec any of the first three times? (To me, that sounds like checking 4 times in 74,000 miles is a lot).
I do not think that statement is correct Rich- the overflow or reservoir bottle is there to account for expansion / contraction of the radiator fluid. It does that by accepting the excess from the radiator when it is hot, and the liquid expands, but when the radiator and engine cool and the coolant again contracts, the coolant is drawn from the overflow bottle via the small hose at the top of the radiator. So if the overflow tank is empty while the system is hot, it absolutely will suck air from the overflow bottle as everything cools down.
Brian