[Browniee]

I’m having a very hard time trying to figure out why my bike is over heating , it’s a 09 gsxr 1000 with almost full bolt ons.

ive had trouble since I got this bike but I don’t want to get rid of it. When I first got it , it got a little hot but not too bad at all , but still hot, I was racing a guy down the road and all of a sudden my coolant reservoir cap flew off , babied it’s home , got a new cap refilled coolant , drove 2 miles down the road , blew off again , it’s seriously over heating at this point , 210to 230 riding and it would climb to around 250 sitting still , I didn’t ride it long like this

I found out it had no thermostat so I ordered a new head gasket and got the head cut and thermostat and did a good flush , I do run a thinner head gasket ,i took it on a few rides and babied it and it didn’t over heat , 190 ish riding and at stop lights it would climb till the fans kicked on and it would drop back down , I finally opened it up and held it at top speed for about3 seconds , then it started over heating again , I limped it home and watched the temp gauge jump around and not stay on one number for more than 2 seconds , 190 , 250 , 190 ,270 , 180 , 230 and so on. So now it’s sitting and I just ordered a water pump and a coolant temp sensor in hopes that will fix it.

also since the coolant cap flew off the first time I’ve done about 6 flushes , every time I flushed it even before I changed the gasket , it wouldn’t over heat until like 45 minutes into ride time.

has any one ever had this happen before or know what else could possibly be wrong? Or if I missed something?? Thanks in advance!

 

[TwistedMister]

whats the oil look like?

be sure you burp it and get the exact amount of coolant to go into the system that bike holds, air pockets can disturb cooling, also, check your coolant reservoir exhaust hose and make sure its not clogged up or kinked in any way, that hose is to relieve pressure so it makes no sense the cap would pop off like that?

coolant should spew out that hose beneath the bike before too much pressure builds up?

 

[craigfer63]

You raised the compression ratio with the head gasket mod, did you add more fuel with this mod ? What does the Dyno tune tell you ?

 

[Browniee]

whats the oil look like?

be sure you burp it and get the exact amount of coolant to go into the system that bike holds, air pockets can disturb cooling, also, check your coolant reservoir exhaust hose and make sure its not clogged up or kinked in any way, that hose is to relieve pressure so it makes no sense the cap would pop off like that?

coolant should spew out that hose beneath the bike before too much pressure builds up?

Yeahh I saw it spewing out last time I drove it home

 

[Browniee]

You raised the compression ratio with the head gasket mod, did you add more fuel with this mod ? What does the Dyno tune tell you ?

What exactly do you mean by add more fuel ? And it already had a thinner head gasket on it before the current tune but I’ve never seen a dyno sheet so as soon as I get it to stop overheating I’m going to get a new tune

 

[TwistedMister]

what the plugs look like, pics?

 

[BillV]

"my coolant reservoir cap flew off"
That seems very unusual. How did that happen?

Was the new thermostat the Suzuki part or something else? The jiggle valve is located on the top? Any chance that the radiator could be partially blocked? Checking things with an infrared temperature gun might reveal something. You might as well check that the thermostat opens at the right temperature.

 

[Browniee]

what the plugs look like, pics?

This was before I changed the gasket

 

[Browniee]

"my coolant reservoir cap flew off"
That seems very unusual. How did that happen?

Was the new thermostat the Suzuki part or something else? The jiggle valve is located on the top? Any chance that the radiator could be partially blocked? Checking things with an infrared temperature gun might reveal something. You might as well check that the thermostat opens at the right temperature.

Haven’t checked radiator yet but I’ve drained it a few times , what exactly is a jiggle valve? And yeah thermostat was OEM how do you check the thermostat?

 

[Browniee]

Haven’t checked radiator yet but I’ve drained it a few times , what exactly is a jiggle valve? And yeah thermostat was OEM how do you check the thermostat?

Cap flew off twice and busted coolant all over my leg , not sure how

 

[craigfer63]

What exactly do you mean by add more fuel ? And it already had a thinner head gasket on it before the current tune but I’ve never seen a dyno sheet so as soon as I get it to stop overheating I’m going to get a new tune

More fuel means, a 16:1 air fuel ratio is lean and engine will run hotter, 11:1, engine will run cooler.
That plug looks lean.
New thermostat should be good. Can be checked in a pot of water on the stove, with a thermometer.
Measure how much coolant you put in, should tell you how close it is to full. This can eliminate a blockage.

 

[BillV]

"what exactly is a jiggle valve? And yeah thermostat was OEM how do you check the thermostat?"
See the service manual for both. An improperly functioning new thermostat is highly unlikely but stranger things have happened. Aside from a spastic installer, a cap coming off sounds like either the cap or the mating part of the radiator has been damaged.

 

[TwistedMister]

those plugs do look real lean

 

[Browniee]

those plugs do look real lean

yeahh, I just changed the water pump thought it helped at first for the first mile then it went to the same shit

 

[Browniee]

changed the waterpump and sensor...

 

[jeremyr62]

Is the radiator clean? Bikes generate a shedload of heat and the the only way to get rid is the radiator. Make sure it isn't blocked up with bug bodies and road dirt.

 

[TwistedMister]

did you buy this bike used or did you do all the mods? if used check the mods like the pair valve, maybe someone removed it and didn't block it off? dunno much bout the L9's pair but if it works the same way as previous gens then if you remove it without blocking off you will get alot of fresh air going into the cylinders..

that bike is running extremely lean in any event you'll want to solve that as well.. considering you said "since I got this bike its had the issue" imma guess it is indeed used, go over it, all of it, harness, cooling system, ECU, anyway you can get hold of a known good ECU, prolly your last effort if all else fails?

again, be sure to check the entire cooling system, pump, thermostat and maybe even run a hose into the intake end and then see if its coming out the other end slower, take a 5 gallon bucket, make a mark halfway up for a water level mark.. then time how long it takes the hose to fill bucket to the mark, dump bucket put it on the output end of cooling system then insert hose in intake, soon as water begins to come out the other end time it to see how long it takes to fill to your line, should be close to the same time.. if its takes noticeably more time you may have a blockage in the engine block or head? flow test the radiator as well, same way..

then check water pump and thermostat, INSURE you are putting the proper amount of coolant in the system, do this by finding out how much the system holds, use compressed air to blow the entire system clean and dry, then fill with the proper amount, if it doesn't take it all you have to burp any air locks.

did you get a good deal on it? and the seller said nothing of the issue? cracked blocks and bad gasket can make a engine overheat as well..

 

[Browniee]

i bought it used , already fully modded , full brocks exhaust , pair valve block offs , it is flashed for sure , supposedly tuned but ive never seen a dyno sheet ,everything is through the ecu , stretched , lowered , geared -1 +2 , .018 head gasket , and plenty more i cant think of ... i didnt get a good deal considering all this thats going on , ive got almost 2k tied up in just repairs , head gasket waterpump and thermostat and temp sensor was just replaced with no change , im going to try and take the thermostat out today and see if that solves anything and yeah ill try that , never heard of that before.

 

[Browniee]

also if the bikes completley cold , the gause reads 80ish before i even try to crank it , not sure if thats normal or not , none of my other bikes have ever done that

 

[Browniee]

i bought it used , already fully modded , full brocks exhaust , pair valve block offs , it is flashed for sure , supposedly tuned but ive never seen a dyno sheet ,everything is through the ecu , stretched , lowered , geared -1 +2 , .018 head gasket , and plenty more i cant think of ... i didnt get a good deal considering all this thats going on , ive got almost 2k tied up in just repairs , head gasket waterpump and thermostat and temp sensor was just replaced with no change , im going to try and take the thermostat out today and see if that solves anything and yeah ill try that , never heard of that before.

also guy says its only tuned for mr12 so as soon as i get this issue resolved im going to get a tune for pump gas