Hot Bird

ncupsman62 · 07-04-2007, 8:17 PM

Hello this is my first post and I am the owner of an 02 Bird. Love the power but I went to an event with heavy traffic and my bird temp ran up to 240 so I shut down the engine and the battery would not turn over any more. Push started and went home. The next morning battery fired back up but later after sitting in traffic got hot and died again. Here's the tricky part installed a new battery from batteries plus and got the same result. Somebody please help me.

scottsxx · 07-04-2007, 9:08 PM

Check if your fan is coming on. If not, correct that problem first.
You may also have a charging problem. At 240 F, your engine should crank over, no problem.
Check your charging voltage with a Volt/Ohm meter. You should have 13.6 - 14.5 VDC @ 2000 + RPM's.
Check the archives, there is a ton of information on diagnosis and repair of the charging system there.

shovelstrokeed · 07-05-2007, 4:36 AM

The cooling fans normally come on at about 212-216 degrees and they can, depending on ambient temperature, help some to keep the engine temperature down. Problem is, they will run your battery down while doing so.

There are two problems here, both related to engine RPM.
1. The water pump doesn't produce enough flow at idle to keep the engine temperature down.
2. The cooling fan plus all the regular stuff draws more current than the alternator puts out at idle.

Solution is not to idle the bike for extended periods of time.

John01XX · 07-05-2007, 11:11 AM

I agree with all of the above posts except that 240 is to high a temp.

I would check for air in the cooling sytem and replace the radiator cap just for grins first. We all have been in traffic jams and don't see 240 temps. I did once and afterwards burped the cooling system and replaced the cap and it has not happened since.

I never go above 228 now and the one time it hit 250 I turned it off and left the ignition on for about 3 minutes to let the fan run. It fired right back up then but the temp was down to 230 or below then and the traffic jam had cleared enough for me to ride.