hey all, seems i have been having quite the issues in the past month. with the headlights going out to the speed sensor going bad. well now yesterday i changed the oil on the bike like i do every 1000 miles and used the same brand oil and oil filter that i always use. well after i changed it it seems the bike is running warmer. it usually stays around 168 in the mornings when i go to work and the temp outside is about 30 degrees farenhight. today when i went to work, it would not go under 180 and would raise to 210 when at a stop light. is this normal for new oil? does it hold heat better or does it heat up better or something. any info is appriciated. oh yea i use casterol oil. Thanks.

 

Those temps are normal operating temps. The oil should have no affect on the temp that the gauge shows. That is monitoring the coolant temp. The oil will affect the engine temp, but again that is not the temp that shows.

How many miles are on your bike? You may want to flush the cooling system. I flush mine every 16000 miles and I runEngine Ice. Drops the temp by about 20 degrees.

 

i have 34000 miles, maybe i should run the engine ice and flush the system. why would it all of a sudden raise after an oil change though?

 

Could just be a coincedence. After so long the lubricants and cooling propeties in your coolant begin to break down and stop cooling and lubricating as thorough as they once did. Other than keeping the engine cool the coolant lubricates the waterpump and thermostat. If left unchanged all will begin to fail at some point. Not always the case, I have worked on bike with more than 50000 miles and have never changed the coolant, but I wouldn't recommend that. Also temp sensors do fail as well. I don't think that is the case here, because you are getting normal temp readings.

I would start with flushing the system. It is the cheapest way to start. I pay about 30.00 bucks for a gallon of Engine Ice and like I said I flush mine every 16000 miles and I also use it in all the bikes I work on.

 

i checked the oil level and it was a little too full. when i changed the oil i did it in the garage and apparently there is a slope in there so the sight glass reading was off. let out about 1/2 a quart of oil and now the temp is a little better. still warms up fast though. doesnt go past about 184 now in 50 degree weather so far. i do need to flush the system though. i got the bike at 24000 miles and now it has 34000. not sure if the previous owner ever did flush the system. i will do that next weekend. thanks for the input.

 

May I ask why you're changing oil every 1000 miles. That's way too soon. There is a such thing as overdoing it. Unless you're running near redline constantly you're sacrificing good money AND (believe it or not) doing more damage to your engine. Why? Oil is meant to run in an engine at a certain pH level. When it's new is too alkaline for the engine. As you run it, it get acidic and is one of the main reasons it should be changed. The lubrication properties of the oil are still good usually around 5k for the average street rider.

But since I know that folks are going to do what they want ANYHOW, why not just do a drain/fill at 1k and then 3k change the filter. I'll bet if you crack one open or better yet, get your oil analyzed you'll get the real truth.

BTW, I use Castrol Syn M/C oil too.Change interval 7k, and that's with running at the track and hitting the rev limiter on the street in show-outs. Normal for my comfort is 5k. Honda recommends 8k (believe it or not).

 

well i usually let it go for about 4k miles, but i had to do some other stuff to the bike so i thought i would change the oil at the same time and save me the trouble later. do you have any info on the bike running warmer than usual? since you take your bike to the track and all, i was wondering if you would have more input.

 

Per the shop manual 180-210 is NORMAL - The thermostat isn't supposed to even open until the engine hits somewhere between 176 and 183, and should be fully open at 194.

Not sure why it would have been running cooler before, but there would be no oil that couldmake a difference on how the thermostat, radiator, and cooling fanswork.

Only suggestion is you say headlight out/speed sensor bad - if you are not running proper voltage, it could make your sensors read incorrectly...

 

dont think it is improper voltage. been the same battery for over a year now. shouldnt be bad voltage.

 

Regulator could be the cause of high voltage, not battery - The way to tell on that would be to get things hot, then shut off the engine with the cutoff - see if the temp instantly changes. (Or flip on High beams and see if it changes) - OR just check it with a multimeter...