[Bigyellow1]

Why oh why does the 1800 overheat? I am riding from Wichita into the depths of Colorado. I went up Pikes peak and the temp went sky high, (no pun intended) I did Trailridge rd and it also climbed. How do the Harley guys do it? Can anything be done to help this? Is there any new fixes or any new hop ups to help?
Mine is an 05 with 32000.
Are we stuck? I have good coolant and the overflow tank is up, what's up????

If there is a link to anything we can do about it? I could not find one.
Thanks to all.

Ray

 

[Ed Siemers]

Probably the same thing discussed here:

http://gl1800riders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287741

 

[WestWing03]

Like most sharks the Wing wants to keep moving.

On a warm to hot day I can heat soak the engine by running at freeway speeds for 20 or more miles then turn on to a slow, shaded blocked by 20 mph cars road as we all climb a hill. The bike will over heat. Getting stuck in traffic at Bolder dam, same thing. Otherwise, no problims.

Yes, it's a '03 an yes she has had the update(s) for over heating and I do reasonable maintenance. Never boiled over, just sends the pin into the red. I will pull over, sometimes idle, sometimes shutdown to cool her off depending on the tactical.

 

[Biker John]

May be running hotter than normal, but I don't think it's over heating.
Unless it boiled over.

 

[Rocketman911]

On good hot Alabama, rides I have to keep above 30mph to keep the temp needle from climbing!

 

[Wetumpka]

Overheating 07

My 07 GL1800 started overheating going over the grapevine in CA. Got home and the next day tried to drain the coolant system and nothing came out the drain opening. Removed the drain tubing and it was clogged with what looked like chalk with lots of black specks. After getting this gunk removed I had to shove a coat hanger thru the rubber tubing to get that gunk out. Then some brown muddy water came out. When I refilled the system I couldn't get more than 60 oz of coolant into the system no matter how much I burped the engine. Removed the H2O pump and it was severally corroded. Ordered H2O pump and both radiators. when I removed the radiators they were both clogged. With the rads removed I filler the main coolant hoses and engine with CLR and let it set overnight. That puked up a lot of chalky looking foam:frown:. The main tubes of the radiators which are 3/4 " in diameter were chocked down to the point of no larger than a pencil opening. After replacement of the H2O pump and rads. The engine temp gauge never goes over the middle mark. Clues to overheating 1. drain the coolant system, flush with a garden hose and let that drain. 2. Refill the system BUT measure the amount that it takes. Owners books says how much coolant should go into the system, I think it says 86 flu oz's. If you can't get the correct amount of coolant into the system (not to include the overflow tank) you got big TROUBLE:shock: C H I DOOIE KEY

 

[SLOWDOG]

Read this and see what you think. I'm not endorsing it...just found it interesting.

http://stevelarsen.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/UView550000.pdf

 

[31261]

Interesting. Yes.

So the water/coolant pump will not circulate liquid coolant through all the engines nooks and crannies? Leaves hot air spots??

So common sense says if it leaves hot air spots, then even if you got the air out it would still not circulate so now it would leave hot coolant spots. :joke::joke:

I read it on the internet. Has to be true. :lol:

Bip, blip............burp..........doe not forget the diaper..........ha!!

I have observed that simple coolant changes done every two years or so works well. Fill er up, let it idle until the thermostat opens and the fans come on, top her off and you are good to go. Trying to burp and blip, with the thermostat closed............weeeellllllllllllllllll ya know..........

 

[fjr vfr]

The universal fix for the overheating is to turn the fan blades around and rewire the motors to run in the other direction. In stock configuration the fans blow out the front of the bike. What happens under certain conditions is the air from the fans cancels out the air flowing from the front of the bike. In these cases there is no air flowing around the radiators. By changing the fans direction, they will blow out the sides instead of the front and eliminate the condition which causes the overheating. A good number of people have done this, including me and, there is some old threads on the forum with pictures and diagrams. Sorry, I would include some links, but it's already past my bed time...we old folk need our sleep.