The Best Way to Prevent Overheating is to Maintain Your Radiator Properly | Here is a Summary of How To Do It

Summer is hot, but if it gets too hot, I worry about my car overheating.
If the engine is water-cooled, it can be cooled by a motor fan, but if the engine overheats too severely, the motor fan cooling may not be able to keep up, and the engine may suffer permanent damage.

But the cause of overheating is because the radiator is not functioning properly and not cooling properly, which should not be a problem!
If the radiator is functioning properly, it is usually designed not to overheat even in traffic under the blazing sun (except for a few extreme models), so overheating means that there is something wrong with the cooling system.

When there is a problem with the cooling system, there are often signs that the motor fan is turning in the middle of winter, but there are also cases in which the cause of the problem goes beyond what is expected, such as when the motor fan that should be turning is not turning.

It's important to maintain the cooling system before the summer to protect your motorcycle's engine!

For the majority of you who say that but don't know how to do it or how to check it, I have compiled a list of radiator system maintenance articles.
You may not be able to do all the work by yourself, but you can often do the easy parts by yourself in a snap!
If you can think of motorcycle conditions but do not think you can handle the problem yourself, consult a motorcycle shop immediately.

Signs of overheating

Of course, the water temperature rises, but there are cases where the water temperature gauge or water temperature sensor is malfunctioning and has a terrible malfunction, pointing to the normal value.
Even on days when it is not that hot, a water temperature gauge needle showing near the danger zone, water vapor coming from somewhere around the engine, or evidence of some liquid flowing around the engine are common signs.
When coolant turns to vapor, it smells sweet, so be careful if you smell something sweet at a traffic light.

Emergency Measure

If you overheat, the general rule is to pull over to the side of the road immediately and turn off the engine.
There are some explanations that stopping the engine abruptly is not good for the engine, and that you should wait for the engine to cool down without stopping it to allow the coolant to circulate but this is only true when the engine is under high loads, such as repeated rapid acceleration on a slope, and when the cooling system is normal. 
With a cooling system that has a problem because something is broken, it will not cool down even if you wait, and the water temperature will continue to rise and the conditions will only get worse.
If the motorcycle overheats, especially in traffic, there is a big possibility that the motor fan has some kind of trouble, so stopping the engine immediately will prevent the damage from spreading.

The drastic solution is maintenance of the cooling system!

The engine is a machine and will not fix itself.
Even if the conditions disappear, it is just a coincidence, and the fact that they disappeared temporarily does not mean that they have been fixed.

A full-scale overheat to the point of running out of coolant can cause irreversible damage, such as oil leaks due to distortion of the cylinder head, oil rises due to cylinder and piston damage, and con-rod metal breakage due to rising oil temperature.

Before it happens! Let's know what's going on and what's wrong, at least as much as we can figure out.
If you can do the maintenance yourself, that's great. If you're not sure, but you can think of some conditions, please consult a motorcycle shop!

Thermostat Related

Thermostats are often overlooked.
In cold weather, it is closed to prevent water cooled by the radiator from entering the engine, and in hot weather, it is opened to allow as much cold cooling water as possible to flow into the engine.
The thermostat can be easily checked because it has a surprisingly primitive structure that operates by using wax sealed inside to solidify at low temperatures and liquefy at high temperatures.
Read on to find out the amazing way to check if it works by boiling it in a pot.

Coolant related

Coolant is an antifreeze solution used as cooling water.
When was the last time you changed your coolant?
Replacement was once recommended every two years, but now it is not uncommon to specify replacement every five years.
But that's for newer, newer models, and used or lower-aged motorcycles still need to be replaced at two-year intervals.
The stories range from simple replacement methods to heavy and advanced, but the one about sticking a water hose in and vigorously flushing out the coolant during a coolant change is a must-read.
You'd be amazed at the dirt that builds up and spurts out along with the green coolant!
But first I suggest you check the condition of the coolant you have in there now!

Read maintenance articles about coolant

When was the last time you changed it? Water-cooled engine coolant should be checked before summer arrives.

 

Coolant is important for water-cooled engines, which absorb heat generated in various parts of the engine and dissipate it through the radiator. Although coolant is called "long-life coolant" and can be used for a long period of time, this does not mean that it should be replaced without replacement. It is important to replace the coolant before it deteriorates and degrades performance or damages the engine interior.

Be careful because of its long life. Check the thermostat and reserve tank when replacing the coolant.

 

The hotter it gets, the more we realize how much we appreciate water-cooled engines. Although recent models have a longer replacement span for long-life coolant, which reduces the time and effort required for maintenance, it does not mean that the coolant can be replaced without replacement. Rather, the longer coolant replacement intervals make it more important to inspect the cooling system in general. Insufficient coolant and air contamination also affect water temperature...

We're in for warmer weather. Riding! Touring! Not only riding, but also paying attention to the coolant!

 

Water-cooled engine motorcycles require replacement of coolant = LLC (long-life coolant) at least once every two years. In particular, there are many cases where people forget to change the coolant after filling it with tap water in an emergency, and when they realize it, the coolant is bright red with rust. Let's review the procedure for replacing coolant here. 

Motor Fan Related

Even in scorching traffic jams, overheating does not occur because of forced cooling by motor fans.
But what if the motor fan doesn't work?
Sometimes the motor fan itself is broken, and sometimes the sensor that activates the motor fan is broken.
The most common cause is probably that the contacts on the connector connected to the water temperature sensor have rusted and lost continuity, causing the motor fan to stop working.
Either way, it's the last thing we need to do to keep our water-cooled engines from overheating, so let's make sure they work right every once in a while!

Let's also look at the worst-case patterns

This is an amazing image, but this is a tragedy that happened to a vehicle that had been filled with tap water without using coolant.
Coolant contains rust inhibitors to prevent this from happening, but tap water alone will naturally rust the inside of the engine.

How can you be sure that your motorcycle's radiator is filled with coolant?
If it's a used motorcycle, the previous owner may have used tap water and left it in there.

Let's take a look back at the worst-case scenario and make sure the coolant in your motorcycle isn't tapped water!

Keep an eye on the water temperature on a regular basis, and if you notice anything out of the ordinary, check it out!

No one wants to go out on a hot summer day and have the motorcycle overheat, making it impossible to move around or have the engine break down as it is.
The best way to prevent this is to observe the condition of your motorcycle on a daily basis.
If you feel that it looks a little like overheating, check it out with the help of this summary.

Read the maintenance article about the worst pattern of coolant not being used in the coolant.

After years of using tap water for coolant in water-cooled engines, I knew LLC was the best replacement!

 

The principle of water-cooled engine cooling is to transfer the heat generated by the engine to the cooling water and dissipate it in the radiator. Compared to air-cooled engines, water-cooled engines not only have an advantage in summer cooling but also have the advantage of shortening the warm-up time in winter through the action of the thermostat. Long-life coolant (LLC) is supposed to be put in the cooling path of such water-cooled engines, but it is just a matter of time.