Overheating 83 Venture

Hey all

Posting for a friend of mine who recently purchased an 83 Venture. He had it serviced carbs cleaned, fluids all changed, new rubber.

His problem is that it is running really hot. Temp gauge will redline, then fans come on and cool it down but just a little bit. He said it's uncomfortable to ride with the amount of heat it's putting out.

He spoke with the stealer and was told that "that's just how they run". Doesn't sound right to me. Any advice or thoughts as to what his issue might be?

Thanks for your help!

Joe

Thats just how they run. Your friend can do some upgrades though. 1. metal impeller for the water pump. 2. metal blade for the cooling fan 3. coolant additive like water wetter. Also check the valve in the cooling line in front of the engine, off should be in the 2 oclock position for normal operation.

Also, the temperature gauge calibration for the Mk I's (83-85) is different than the 86 and later bikes (Mk II). On the Mk I, the fan comes on just as the gauge gets to the end of the green. Now the Mk II's don't run any cooler, the gauge just doesn't go up as high. On a Mk I, the only thing you can do to get any cooler is to make sure the fairing vents are open. ON a Mk II, you can also close off the vents on the side panels, and that keeps some of the engine heat away from your legs. There used to be aftermarket plates that would fit cover the side panel openings (Mk I), but you won't find them anymore, and everytime I'd put mine on and leave on vacation, it'd get cold out and you'd want some engine heat. Of course, if I left with the plates not in, it'd get hotter than h$ll.

Frank D.

He spoke with the stealer and was told that "that's just how they run". Doesn't sound right to me. Any advice or thoughts as to what his issue might be?

 

Thanks for your help!

Joe

Fan only kicks in when sitting still, for a while??? If so, improperly calibrated guage & sending unit, in other words it is normal for an 83. I have not seen an 83, where the guage does not read almost red when the fan kicks on.

my 83 runs hot. almost in the red. obviously, cooler on cooler days. but summer? HOT.

Wow, thanks for the replies guys...I'm surprised to hear that this is normal, but I will definitely pass the info on to Jeff.

I also told him to get his butt out here and join up as this is the most helpful group of people on the internet and the best $12 he will ever spend!!

Make sure the radiator is full and test the overfull bottle by removing the radiator cap. (Place bike somewhere where antifreeze spill is ok)

The overfull bottle should gravity drain and overfill the radiator. If not, then something is wrong and water level is low resulting in hotter than normal operation.

When closing up, difficult to completely close the radiator cap both 'clicks'. May have to remove trim. Don't forget to top off overfull bottle to cold line. Then rinse off spills.

Mine had a clogged overfull tube. It would allow hot coolant into bottle as rad cap opened, but would not allow coolant back into radiator as bike cooled. Resulted in bottle overfull spill, and low level radiator ran normally bottom red. Fixing problem resulted in mid to top green.

I just thought of something else....Just before I pulled my 83 apart to fix 2nd gear, if the temperature was in the mid 90's I could be driving down the expressway and the temp. gauge would come up to just below where the fan would come on. When I did the 2nd gear repair, of course I cleaned the grease and crud off of the outside of the motor. When I put it back together, the temp. gauge read quite a bit lower with the same conditions. Now this makes a lot of sense.....in addition to being water cooled, air flowing over the motor does absorb a lot of heat, and if it's crudded up, the air doesn't really touch the motor. Have him make sure his engine is reaqsonably clean, including the bottom.

Frank D.

Yep, nuttin weird there. Nature of the beast. But a +1 on the block offs for the side covers will make a lot of difference in rider comfort in the hot weather. They keep a lot of the heat off the motor from blowing out on the riders legs and they have hardly any effect on the engine temp itself.

Worth installing or making a set for the summer months at least.

Mike

He spoke with the stealer and was told that "that's just how they run".

Wait a minute...... That just hit me. That sounds like an honest answer from a stealer.

Make note: Might be a good one.

Mike

An old trick was to have a switch to bypass the sending unit, and power the fan all that you want to ride cooler.

Another thing to have in mind is to be sure that there is no leaks. That is one of the main reasons for start to get higher temps, air on the circuit.

:225::225::225::225:

Mine get's up to the red only when going slow or standing still. at highway speeds I have it at least 1/4 of an inch down from the red. the only time I have the fan kick in is when I am standing still or under 5 mph.

An old trick was to have a switch to bypass the sending unit, and power the fan all that you want to ride cooler.

 

Another thing to have in mind is to be sure that there is no leaks. That is one of the main reasons for start to get higher temps, air on the circuit.

 

Engine and fan were designed for the correct operating temperature. As long as you're not actually overheating, fluid and fluid level is correct, and the fan comes on automatically when it's supposed to, I wouldn't mess around.

If it ain't broke....

Not sure about the 83 but on my 88 there are two plastic plates on top of the engine, these plates do a lot to help keep engine heat away from the rider by deflecting the hot air out the bottom and back. People have removed them just to make access easier.

When you stop you will get hot fast. So don't stop riding, just don't ever stop......

83's run in tandem with the outside temps. On a cool morning the needle wil stay in the mid range of the swing. On hot afternoons it will climb higher and when it get's into the 90-100 range the needle will hang just below the redline. There's one thing your buddy might check. Is the drain valve turned to off?? And new coolant with a little 'water wetter' will make the system more efficient and help a bit..... There is also a stator cooler mod that was done to the 83's and some 84's to keep the stator running cooler. The kit can be found listed on eBay occassionally, and I bet a few of the members here have them stashed away in their 'kit' bags.....

Before I swapped trannies from the 86 motor to my 83, my temp gauge would always be up near the red line, I was told that was normal. Now after cleaning the engine really good before tearing it down and flushing the radiator clean and adding 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water, the temp gauge now goes just a little past 1/2 way when riding. When stopped in traffic it closes in on the red and the fan comes on and it stabilizes. I cleaned everything really good especially the water pump, it was full of gunk when I tore it down and the passages were kind of restricted, so that may have been part of the high temp problem, mine still has the plastic impeller.