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Engine problem on Return from Yreka, to Seattle


GeorgeS

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About 5 hours into return trip, when stopped at stop lights, ( in towns along U.S. 101 ) ( air temp only about 70 deg F along

coast road ) engine started " missing " and actually stopped running couple times. However would Re Start, immediately. Problem continued all the way

back to Seattle. Hmmmm ??? says I . At Speed, on Highway, there was NO sign of a problem. Only when stopped

at stop lights, waiting for light to change.

 

Added some SeaFoam, next day, problem, got better, but problem back a few days later.

 

OK, yesterday went to work on it, decided to hook up the " Carb Tune " . First look, showed the 4 bars,

were still almost aligned. However, as engine warmed up. the left, forward Cylinder, showed, a deffinate!!!

Missing, about once every 5 seconds. It was Audible and the bar on carb tune, Jumped !! each time cylinder miss

fired.

 

Moveing throttle to just above Idle speed, and problem went away , Hmmm ??

 

Decided to pull the Spark Plug, and change it. Fixed the problem. There was now more, miss match in the SYNC

adjustments, but was easy to get them all back into adjustment.

 

I had replaced all 4 plugs, with New NGK, Iridium plugs back in April. ( New Set ) they have about 5000 miles on them.

Anyway, morel of story, is again, Spark Plugs, can " Fail " whenever they decide to. !! And, they can fail, Intermittently

 

Also, the " Carb Tune", is a good tool, to spot, Intermittent Missing, of One Cylinder, when trying to Isolate an

Ignition problem, that is only effecting One Cylinder !!

 

---------------------------------------------

Another item:

Two days ago, ( Before fixing the above problem ) I was rideing around in the Seattle Metro area, for 2 hours, in Heavy ,

City Traffic. ( ie: Lots of stop lights ) Air temp was about 85 deg. Hot for Seattle.

I noticed that the Engine temp, was getting Hotter then normal.

 

After returning to home, and parked in garage, Engine OFF, Left KEY " ON " so the Fan would keep running, and I " Noted "

that the Fan kept running for about TWO Minutes until finally Shut down. ???? Hmmmm ??? says I .

 

Normally when parking in garage, the Fan might run for about 15 Seconds, until it shuts down.

 

Something is NOT Right ????

 

Got to thinking about Anti Freeze, of course ???? Remembered, when I changed it last time, back in Sept. of last year. I Used the CHEAP Stuff, that I got from O'Riley's Auto parts. Had some left over from work on one of my cars. I had bought 2 gallons for the car, and had about 2 Qts. left over, so I used that in the bike. ????

 

So yesterday, in addition to changing the plugs, I replaced the Coolant with the ORANGE, " Dex-Cool " Expensive Stuff.

I also Added, the Reccomended Dose, of " LUCAS, Super Coolant " I put in about 3 Oz. of the stuff, with the New 50/50

mix of Dex-Cool.

Outside Temp was 85 degrees, After having engine running for about 30 min. in driveway, doing the RE-SYNC of Carbs,

engine was HOT, as it would get, at Idle speed, pushed into garage, and on shut down, I noted that the Fan only ran for

about 10 Seconds.

 

Today, looks to be a HOT day here in Seattle, so will go for a ride, and try to Duplicate, the Overheating Condition. My point, here

is to try to prove, one way or the other, IF!! The more Expensive Orange Stuff, is any better then the Cheaper GREEN Stuff !!

 

Note: On the bottle of Lucas, Super Coolant, Additive. IT CLAIMS ??? that your cooling system will run 20 Percent cooler with

their Stuff Added. ????? Who knows?? anyway, if it does work, that is a Good Thing, for your Engine, in Hot summer weather.

 

Anybody, have any comments, as to the Validity of the Claims for these products, I think there are about 3 of them on the market.???

 

Ride safe folks!!! See you all " down the road "

Edited by GeorgeS
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Good going my friend, sounds like you once again proved your amazing ability with these motors/bikes!! GOOD ON YA AND GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON OUR SIDE!!:thumbsup:

 

Only thing I may add if I can is that I have also been in similar situations with having an errant plug and have noticed that my 1st Gens will have a tendency to run warmer if I am attempting to ride them with a fouled plug - especially if its warm out.. No idea if that was a possible cause of the fan running more - something to think about I guess. Because of your experience, I am sure you know whether or not your bad plug was fouling at higher R's too - sounds like it may not have been BUT - I wanted to toss that thought into your mental computer anyway.

Another note worth sharing between gearheads George.. You ever played with a "Color Tune"? Tip and I just made a trip over to Orlin's MD (met some AWESOME folks there). One of my new friends, who's name is Shrek/Kenny, had one of these "Color Tunes" at Orlin's and I was honored to have been given the chance to spend some time with it. It is a device that is basically a spark plug with a window into the combustion chamber. You remove a plug, screw this in, attach the plug wire, fire up the bike and you can actually see the ignition coloring (both spark and actual combustion). What a BLAST I had playing with that device George.. You ever had a chance to get your fingers on one (knowing you, ya probably have had one for years). Anyway, glad you got your scoot back under control and THANKS for passing on your fixin brother!:thumbsup:

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I can't speak about the 'orange' stuff in a bike, but I did use it in my Suburban and it screwed up everything. Couldn't get rid of it even after a professional flushing. I have used O'Reilys 50/50 green stuff and it seems to do the job. I also add a couple of ounces of Purple Ice water wetter, and it does run cooler. It made a heck of a difference in the '83 on the way back from Ft Collins. That was a heck of a trip...huh?? :) I don't know what was in the '07, but it's all gone now. Seems like a few of us had problems after and during VW-Shasta.

 

7of9Barf.jpg

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Good going my friend, sounds like you once again proved your amazing ability with these motors/bikes!! GOOD ON YA AND GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON OUR SIDE!!:thumbsup:

 

Only thing I may add if I can is that I have also been in similar situations with having an errant plug and have noticed that my 1st Gens will have a tendency to run warmer if I am attempting to ride them with a fouled plug - especially if its warm out.. No idea if that was a possible cause of the fan running more - something to think about I guess. Because of your experience, I am sure you know whether or not your bad plug was fouling at higher R's too - sounds like it may not have been BUT - I wanted to toss that thought into your mental computer anyway.

Another note worth sharing between gearheads George.. You ever played with a "Color Tune"? Tip and I just made a trip over to Orlin's MD (met some AWESOME folks there). One of my new friends, who's name is Shrek/Kenny, had one of these "Color Tunes" at Orlin's and I was honored to have been given the chance to spend some time with it. It is a device that is basically a spark plug with a window into the combustion chamber. You remove a plug, screw this in, attach the plug wire, fire up the bike and you can actually see the ignition coloring (both spark and actual combustion). What a BLAST I had playing with that device George.. You ever had a chance to get your fingers on one (knowing you, ya probably have had one for years). Anyway, glad you got your scoot back under control and THANKS for passing on your fixin brother!:thumbsup:

 

The Engine " MISSING " only showed up when Stopped at a red lite, Started along Oregon coast. Lots of small towns and stop lights.

After I got onto a highway, up to speed, Seemed to be running just fine.

 

But Every Stop point until got back home ( About 250 miles ) it would be idleing bad, and want to just Stop running.

 

So I agree, with your point, as to a bad plug might be causing overheating, ???? But, Hmmm not sure on that. Yesterday, I changed the plug, Re-Synced, and changed the Anti Freeze, and added the Lucas Super coolant, all at same time. SO, can't be sure.

 

Might have been better to do one thing at a time, then test drive. Anyway, going for a ride today, will see how it goes.

 

As to the Orange Stuff. I been using it in 2 Chevy's and one Ford, for over 10 years, Hmmm. I did replace the radiator in the 03 blazer this year, it was leaking. But its been on the road, for almost 12 years, so ??? Not to concerned.

 

The Ford radiator went about 18 years before I had to replace the radiator. Still have it running on the road, a 93 T-Bird, V-6 .

 

I used the Orange stuff in my 89 Venture for about 5 years before I sold it, never had any Coolant leaks. ??? 90K, and 18 years

of on the road service on that bike.

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When I did my research, I think I came to the conclusion that the dex cool wasnt going in my bike. As for any of the ice, super coolant type stuff before I did thechange some of the discussions were with a thermostat in it is going to run at the presribed temp no matter what you got in it. Anti freeze or the ice stuff if thermostat is say 210 its going to heat to 210 and open. Then when it cools so far it closes and cycles.

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Well, that's true, can't argue with that. But, I don't think it will hurt anything.

On the ride yesterday, ouside temp was about 82 deg. However did not have to do many Red light stops.

Ride was all in open country. ( as compared to 3 days ago, in Heavy City Traffic. )

 

Anyway, the bad plug is in the trash can, that's the important part.

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When I did my research, I think I came to the conclusion that the dex cool wasnt going in my bike. As for any of the ice, super coolant type stuff before I did thechange some of the discussions were with a thermostat in it is going to run at the presribed temp no matter what you got in it. Anti freeze or the ice stuff if thermostat is say 210 its going to heat to 210 and open. Then when it cools so far it closes and cycles.

 

The water wetter's don't make the engine run any cooler than the thermostat temp, but it will keep it there. During hotter weather your engine will run above thermostat rated temps depending on how it's run. Water wetter's will keep the engine closer to that temp. I'm not sure what the thermo temp is on a Venture but I doubt it's 210. Probably more like 185-190. And it doesn't just pop open when it reaches that temp or slam shut when it's cooler. It's sorta a temp regulator with wide open being the max at 190 or?? All the water wetter does is make the heat transfer more efficient when absorbing off the metals or when transferring to the radiator fins. How?? Heck if I know, but it works. Especially at the higher temps...

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The water wetter's don't make the engine run any cooler than the thermostat temp, but it will keep it there. During hotter weather your engine will run above thermostat rated temps depending on how it's run. Water wetter's will keep the engine closer to that temp. I'm not sure what the thermo temp is on a Venture but I doubt it's 210. Probably more like 185-190. And it doesn't just pop open when it reaches that temp or slam shut when it's cooler. It's sorta a temp regulator with wide open being the max at 190 or?? All the water wetter does is make the heat transfer more efficient when absorbing off the metals or when transferring to the radiator fins. How?? Heck if I know, but it works. Especially at the higher temps...

 

Well the open and shut was just short description. They usually act as a "flow gate" type thing you said kind of like when you take a shower and find that "rite" temperature. EXCEPT my 96 Ram diesel. That thing hits about 190 watch the gauge and it drops to like 160 or something then it will go back up to 190 when it opens again. Like a door. But I have been told this is normal for those engines.

I agree what the wetters do is change the "heat absorption and dissipation" properties of the water. The thermo is still going to open @ 190 flowing. But just incase someone is thinking about it the wetters as far as I know have little to no antifreeze properties.

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If working right all a thermostat does is make sure and engine reaches a certain temp then it opens and lets the coolant flow into the radiator to cool down. If the coolant is hotter than the thermostat is made for it will stay open allowing it to circulate in the system. Adding a super cooler to the anti freeze coolant should only be added to lower the temp of the coolant but not allow it to cool lower than the thermostat or it will over heat. If it's running cooler the thermostat will not open and cannot circulate thru the system causing other problems,

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Agree'd. No antifreeze properties. They just do what they're designed to do.... My F250 7.3 diesel doesn't pop open. The engine heats up to running temp and stays there. Hard to believe that the they make a special thermostat for the Dodge that opens and drops back down to 30 to 40 degs, and then warms back up again. Are you sure the thing hasn't been put in upside down?? I've seen it happen.. Then the ambient heat causes a delayed reaction and it opens all at once. Once it's open the coolant flow will cause it to regulate accordingly. Or... you have a sticking thermo...

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