abominmablebean Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 So... I have jumped the Kawasaki ship a couple of months ago and got myself a VFR 800 FI 1998, it's been a good little bike so far but there are a few bits bugging me, I'm just wondering if anyone else has similar issues or knows a fix. Had it for about 2 or 3 months now and I've put about 3000 miles on it while the weathers been good, Oil and oil filter have been changed, upgraded headlights to xenon bulbs (55/60w) and swapped the micron can the last owner had on for a stubby. Since I got the bike the left indicator blinker on the dash has never worked, the indicators outside in the fairing are fine. I changed the blinker bulb, now it only blinks when the headlights are off. I've also never heard the fan come on at temps of up to 110c (230f) while in traffic. This weekend I took the bike to Wales, it was about a 6 hour trip back on A roads, bike never went over 100c (212f) even in stop start through Liverpool city traffic. Got home, gauge showed just under half a tank. And then the problems started. Monday morning, the next time I started the bike, I and went on a >10 mile journey, fuel gauge showed as full, I didn't trust it, ended up putting 15 litres in, its not budged since and I've done about 80 miles since then. The bike has started getting really hot, ambient outside is about 24c (75f), once the bike is up to temp it stays 80-90c 176-194f while in motion even cruising 85mph in sixth on the motorway. I've not let it get past 110c 230f while stopped in traffic, I'll cut the engine first but I'm sure the temperature would carry on climbing, I've not seen the radiator fan come on yet. Both radiators get equally hot but you can still touch them with your bare hands. I burped the radiator this morning with the bike on the side stand, squeezed out all the pipes and ran the bike for 10 mins with the radiator cap off to get any air out, I grounded the main wire to the fan on the corner of the radiator and the fan came straight on with no issues, heat issue is still there, fuel sensor is plugged in properly too. I've just ordered in a new rad cap, the one I had felt really weak on compression. If the radiator cap is the bad part why would that affect the radiator fan coming on? Could it be something else altogether like the thermostat or fan sensor or an electrical fault linked to the indicator lights and fuel gauge? I'm fairly certain the thermostat is done, but I know pretty much nothing about electrics.Any help would be appreciated, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ember1205 Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 Sounds like you might have some "general" electrical issues. Check for signs of bad connections and/or burning of any of the heavier wires. Specifically, look at the wires coming from the stator and to and through the R/R. When these connections overheat, they degrade the plastic connectors and will end up grounding the wire on the frame. Then your stator gets smoked, and the R/R can be damaged too. On my Goldwing, I have odd behavior from the gauges because the connectors off of the stator are shot and I need to cut them out and replace with hard-wired and soldered connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Terry Posted June 18, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted June 18, 2014 Hi Bean The radiator fan is only controlled by the fan motor switch mounted on front of the left radiator; the radiator cap plays no part in this process. If the switch has failed or the wiring/connector has a discontinuity then the fan won't come on irrespective of temperature. There's a procedure in the shop manual to jump the switch to test the fan, and the switch itself should close at 98-102C. But I am with Ember, sounds like you have some general electrical gremlins related maybe to the ground/earth wires that could be causing the indicator/fuel gauge, could be related to the radiator fan too. There is a fuse to check for the rad fan BTW. I recently replaced a thermostat and now the temperature sits right around 78-82C while riding (in somewhat cooler air than you at 18C) irrespective of how hard I push it. In traffic it will climb a lot higher as there's no airflow through the rads unless the fan is running. I'm glad to say that I don't ride much in traffic so I can't really comment on how hot it would get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RolandHTG Posted June 19, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted June 19, 2014 I replaced my fan motor switch last summer and the replacement has already failed. I am currently running with a manual switch. An auto mechanic friend told me that when a fan motor gets old it draws more current and the excess current tends to burn out the switch. He suggested running a relay to power the fan with the switch only triggering the relay. I am going to try it as the switches are not cheap. The manual switch works better as long as you don't forget it. Which I did today in 90F heat in town resulting in overheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoystonRocket2 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Dash board issues could be down to corrosion on the main instruments PCB. You'll need to get a look at it, repairs are quite easy if you can use a soldering iron. Is it definitely running hot? Again false temp read out could be related to PCB corrosion. I'd check that first, as the dash indicator light wasn't working that could be a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abominmablebean Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 Yeah looks like a nice job for this Saturday checking the wiring and the back of the PCB. I'm now certain I have a bad earth somewhere. I've also tested the reg/reg after a ride under load 4500rpm and its putting out 14.2v if I remember, which seems to be about right. In the mean time I've rigged a manual fan switch, (a replacement switch is on the way) and freaked out with the VFR very nearly over heating (last bike was a B1 ZX9, bad memories of overheating/head gaskets/ head/ thermostat/ any and all parts of the cooling system).I Pulled off the tank and was going to remove the thermostat until I released that its buried under throttle bodies and FI, thought f**k this and put it back together.When the tank went back on the fuel gauge returned to normal and I never saw the temperature rise to anything unreasonable over the last month until a couple of days ago, the fuel gauge is stuck on full again (even just before filling up with 20L of fuel) and its running unusually hot. (95-100c on the motorway, up to 115c in traffic with the fan on, temperature still creeping up very slowly). The radiators are burning hot, coolant is defiantly flowing, I'll do a coolant change there just to be safe.Ill try to give an update after the weekend when I've checked and cleaned the PCB, wiring by the reg/reg and under the tank and air box and behind the instrument cluster. I'm thinking its reeeealy strange that the fuel level displayed on the LCD seems to be linked to overheating.Where are the main earthing points? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 There's a major ground/earth block in front of the battery under the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abominmablebean Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Any ideas what this is? It was above the horn buried in the wiring behind the cluster, looks pike it was butchered and then electrical taped over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Looks like a relay....? that's what we call "an indicator"~ not uncommon to find hack job wiring when tracing down electrical issues.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abominmablebean Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 (PCB looked fine but I bridged 3 small corrosion points in the track) Haynes manual says its the low beam relay, indicator relay is marked as CBR600 too, indicator blinker is still being funny but the coolant is fine after a coolant change. I'll have to keep an eye on the fuel gauge, I guess I know what the next step is.. new relays.. thanks for the input TN Or a tip over sensor looking at the red wire.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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