GL1800 Overheating

[cmwagner]

Can someone give any insight into this Strange problem.

The GL1800 went in for a service (service centre forgot to check water level)
Bike started overheating - only in Town driving, we checked and the water dipstick was bone dry, so we filled it up with Anti-Freeze, it only took about a 1/4 Bottle to fill.
It still overheats in Town Driving only. When it overheats, we Stop and let it idle, the Temp comes back down to Normal Operating Temp, then you ride (In Town) for +- 5-10 Minutes, Robot to Robot, and it overheats again.

It does not overheat when on the Open Road.

Anything that you can think of will really be appreciated, before we Burn It - Never

Thanks

Colin
South Africa

[Steve F]

Are the cooling fans coming on? If you ride more than 15 MPH, the fans are inhibited from starting, and continued riding at that slow speed may not be enough moving air to keep things cool. You can hear them start while riding slower than the 15 MPH threshold. Also check that you have enough coolant in the system, but to do that you'll have to remove the right comtartment to gain access to the radiator cap. Check this ONLY WHEN THE BIKE IS COOL. Simply adding coolant to the overflow bottle may take several heat/cool cycles to draw the antifreeze/coolant into the radiator. Once there is air trapped in the radiators, it can be difficult to get it all back out, especially if you're expecting the system to draw the coolant into the radiators on its own.
Check for clogged radiators. Sometimes tree debris and cattail fluff and cottonwood seed crap will float into the radiator fins and clog things up.

[cmwagner]

WOW Thanks for the Information, we will be checking this Bike this coming weekend, and will start with your suggestions.

I suspect Air in the system, is there any proper way that you know of to drain it completely and start a fresh by filling the system up with just Liquid and with no Air.

Thanks again, much appreciated

[Steve F]

Here's a handy little device that is intended to aleviate the air pockets when changing out the coolant:
http://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airl ... ingdocs-20

It's a bit pricey, so I made my own and cost me about $15US and a little time. It works as suggested, and many swear by it for getting all the coolant into the system with no problems. You need to get some silicate-free coolant 50/50 mix and follow the directions for draining and refilling using the device. Whole process for my first time was about 1 hour, not including the drain wait time.

[jinx]

Steve F brings up an important point. Make sure you use silicate-free coolant. If it is not you may find yourself spending a lot of money to repair the damage. To be safe I bought the Honda brand .

[cmwagner]

Thanks Steve, think we are going to have to try another way around getting the Air out, than to purchase that item, like you say it is a bit pricey, if you take the Rand/Dollar at R11.40 to a Dollar it equates to R1 347.00 excluding shipping, taxes and VAT.

Not sure how we are going to get all that Air out, but lets see how we go.

I will definitely get the Silicate-Coolant 50/50

Thanks again for the Help, it is really appreciated.

will post the outcome over the next few days

Cheers

[redial]

I will definitely get the Silicate-Coolant 50/50

I hope that you really meant "silicate-FREE Coolant 50/50. And the 50% should be distilled or clean rainwater. These GW are fussy about the water they have

[Steve F]

I will definitely get the Silicate-Coolant 50/50

I hope that you really meant "silicate-FREE Coolant 50/50. And the 50% should be distilled or clean rainwater. These GW are fussy about the water they have

Absolutely good point! always use distilled water, not "filtered" water, "drinking" water, reverse osmosis or tap water as they all contain some degree of minerals and other things. Even avoid the use of deionized water as it can cause problems with certain metals.

[HawkeyeGL1200]

I'd look at the radiator cap to see if it is degraded. If the system can't maintain pressure, it won't cool effectively. I don't know anything about 1800's so I should probably keep my yap shut on this one.. but I do know low pressure in a cooling system will allow the coolant to "boil" in contact with the cooling jacket, and boiling coolant (more likely while the engine is under load than idling) won't remove much heat from the metal it is in contact with.

[93aspy]

No one has asked the question so I will... When you "ride in town" at what speed are you riding at??? All GL1800's will overheat in what is called "Parade Mode" which is driving at a speed of 15-20 MPH... At this speed, the cooling fans will not come on because of your forward speed, but there isn't enough air passing over the radiator to keep the bike cool... So if this is your speed "driving thru town" you are destined to overheat and there will be no fix for it... Even adding an auxiliary switch for the fans will be doubtful, as the cooling fans on an 1800 push air forward OUT the radiators... If your forward speed is close the amount of air the fans are moving, it will be "zero sum game", or in other words, no additional cooling... IMO, Honda really stepped in s*** with this arrangement and I would have expected a much better system for a "World Class Touring Bike"...

If your speed is other than this, then pursue the very informative comments of other members... For myself, I use the UView55000 and it does a very good job when changing coolant, but I do understand the financial aspect of your obtaining one...

Good luck finding the problem and please report when you do find what is causing that issue...

Les

[Big Blue UK]

During Light Parades when crawling along, my cooling fans will often start up (two up towing a trailer). Fist parade on the trike it had only done just over 8,000 miles, when I heard the fans start up I though uh uh. Alas, just doing what hey are there for, and it lets me know they are working ok. The temp gauge goes up a just a little but it stays there. My cooling system is fine, speed sensors work ok, I just have a fan that makes a annoying sound.

[93aspy]

OK, all that sounds pretty close to normal... A few more questions... What is your speed when riding thru town??? Is it in the 15-20 MPH area???

Regarding the fan that makes noise, perhaps it is running slower than the other because of the noise it's making??? If it's overheating in town, that implies one of two things... Your fans are not working properly to keep it cool at lower speeds, or your ridng at or very near "parade mode" and the bike is overheating due to lack of cooling air... There is also the possibility you have air in the cooling system or there may be an issue with the overflow line between the radiator filler neck and the overflow bottle and your sucking air into the system...

In your description of riding in town, what does "Robot to Robot" mean???

Les

[cmwagner]

Hi all you Goldwing Addicts

So our SAGA continues. The overheating is still not solved, we have tried everything that everyone has advised - Thanks to All

We have found that placing the cooling system under 1.0BAR of Pressure (thru a home made cap), and in Idle Mode, we waited for the Fans to kick in, the minute they kicked in the Pressure would drop immediately and the Temp would start climbing.

When we turned the Power Plant Off, and checked the Water Level in the Radiator it was GONE, dropped drastically, in seconds, so we filled it up again applied pressure again started the engine, waited for the Fans to Kick in, pressure dropped again, switched off and checked water had dropped again (Gone) we added water again, started it under pressure, once 1.0 bar was reached, switched off (prior to fans kicking in) checked water - 100% - still full

Checked under bike - nothing, checked Oil - fine - NO Water leaking

Don't know where it is going and from where

Any Help would be appreciated, as short of Burning it now, we are clueless

Thanks in advance

Colin
South Africa

[93aspy]

Colin,

Only a few things left that might cause the overheating... Perhaps the thermostat is sticking closed - this would certainly cause an overheat condition or perhaps there is a restriction in the cooling system some where... There were early models of 1800's that had issues with the cooling passages in the heads, although I would tend to discount this with yours as it sounds as though it was working properly at an earlier point in time...

One other thing comes to mind and it may be a long shot, but I remember reading in other threads about a T device down by the coolant drain that has a tendency to become blocked... Usually this happens when trying to drain the coolant, but it may be worth looking into... It is part # 19 on the microfiche shown below and will be an integral part of the coolant drain valve... Hope you find the problem...

http://www.ronniesmailorder.com/oempart ... water-pipe

Les

[Steve F]

Your indications of the coolant "disappearing" is a common problem since there are air pockets that get trapped in certain areas of the cooling system. I would recommend (again) that you look into getting a coolant installation device that I talked about in a previous post several months ago. You said it was too expensive, but like I said, you can make one for about $30(US) and it virtually eliminates the air pocket problem. If you don't want to go that route, you'll just have to pour in, wait, and pour in some more and wait some more....(in my opinion a severe waste of time). If you don't have a problem with all that waiting around, it's your call.
Hint: if you're going to do the pour/wait/pour thing, do so while it's running and blip the throttle a few times to get the water pump to circulate a bit faster and maybe this will help in flushing out the air pockets. Oh...keep the bike on the center stand all the while you're doing this.

[Viking]

Hi all you Goldwing Addicts

So our SAGA continues. The overheating is still not solved, we have tried everything that everyone has advised - Thanks to All

We have found that placing the cooling system under 1.0BAR of Pressure (thru a home made cap), and in Idle Mode, we waited for the Fans to kick in, the minute they kicked in the Pressure would drop immediately and the Temp would start climbing.

When we turned the Power Plant Off, and checked the Water Level in the Radiator it was GONE, dropped drastically, in seconds, so we filled it up again applied pressure again started the engine, waited for the Fans to Kick in, pressure dropped again, switched off and checked water had dropped again (Gone) we added water again, started it under pressure, once 1.0 bar was reached, switched off (prior to fans kicking in) checked water - 100% - still full

Checked under bike - nothing, checked Oil - fine - NO Water leaking

Don't know where it is going and from where

Any Help would be appreciated, as short of Burning it now, we are clueless

Thanks in advance

Colin
South Africa

Could all this perhaps be a matter of an air lock within the cooling system? Have you yet gotten to the point that the water from the reserve tank does not disappear? If it was me, I would keep doing this until the coolant was not gone from the reserve tank when I checked. If after you have done this six or eight times, I would then start looking for where the coolant was going. So far, it sounds to me like it is just filling in the air lock in the engine. Throughout this process, I would also be adding 50/50 mix water and coolant, so as to have the correct mix when finished.

[Terry D]

I know this is a reply to an old thread but for those who have older 1800 Goldwings, it still may be valid. Back when the 2001 first game out, I had the first black GL1800 sold in San Antonio, there was a recall about the same time the 2002 were to come out. The source that provided the heads to Honda did not follow the procedures in checking completely and several engines were put together with restricted water jackets. Many of these first 1800s were overheating anytime the speeds were low. The fix was the dealer was to drain the heads, plug them, and pour a specific amount of water in the heads. If they would not hold that amount, then the heads were replaced. My bike passed the test. Only once did I see the gage creep up to redline and it was when I was riding about 15mph in 100 degree heat at the coast for quite a while. But as soon as I got back up around 35 mph the temps went down immediately.

[GoldWingrGreg]

All GL1800 bulletins and recalls can be found here.

SB-1, and SB-13 have to do with overheating.

http://www.justwings.com/RecallsBulletins.html

[Asphaltmaniac]

Can someone give any insight into this Strange problem.

The GL1800 went in for a service (service centre forgot to check water level)
Bike started overheating - only in Town driving, we checked and the water dipstick was bone dry, so we filled it up with Anti-Freeze, it only took about a 1/4 Bottle to fill.
It still overheats in Town Driving only. When it overheats, we Stop and let it idle, the Temp comes back down to Normal Operating Temp, then you ride (In Town) for +- 5-10 Minutes, Robot to Robot, and it overheats again.

It does not overheat when on the Open Road.

Anything that you can think of will really be appreciated, before we Burn It - Never

Thanks

Colin
South Africa

I had a weird overheating/ coolant dribbling out problem as well just around town...I pressure checked the system and it held just fine. BUT did not check the cap. So one day I was heading down town and took just the cap to Honda. They pressure checked it and pronounced it good. A few months later I pressure checked the cap myself and found that if pumped up it would release at the correct pressure. But not hold pressure for any real length of time like the rest of the system. That was it! Problem solved.