My K1200GT keeps overheating in traffic!

[Barrie C]

I was caught in a monster jam last week that meant I was travelling in the centre of London for maybe 45 minutes at very low speeds.

 

Towards the end of this journey my temperature gauge went ballistic & bounced off the top of the scale. Lots of red lights flashing and I pulled over to let it cool down.

 

It was fine after 10 minutes or so & has been Ok for the past few days.

 

This morning I was caught in a much shorter jam for about 10 minutes and the same thing happened again.

 

I've had a quick look at the radiator and it's not looking overly clogged up and checked my oil level just in case it was running a bit low & that was fine too.

 

Rode home this evening in brisk traffic and it was fine all the way home.

 

I checked my owner's manual and there's no mention of what to do if this happens?

 

The bike is an '06 with just under 40K miles on the clock, it was serviced at about 35K miles.

 

Any suggestions very much appreciated before my journey into work again tomorrow morning!

Edited July 26, 2010 by Barrie C

[KLC]

If its the older K type engine check your cooling fans are working . They should cut in to get rid of excess heat . They are prone to siezing, If they are working it sounds like an airlock. The 2 radiator system can be a real PITA to get rid of air locks.

[Twocams]

Also make sure your coolent recovery tank has plenty of coolent. Make sure the hose going from the radiater to over flow tank doesnt have any holes to leak coolent. Check the weep hole in bottom of water pump for leaks. Coolent or oil. If all else failes check the thermostat.

 

Richard

[Barrie C]

Cooling fans seem to be coming on, I'll try to check if they are both working.

 

I'm afraid I don't know where the coolant recovery tank is

[Twocams]

If it is one of the older GT 02 03 2004 it is on the right side as sitting on bike. up by seat...have to remove panel maybe to see real well. Long narrow panel by seat. Should be at least 1/2 full.

 

Richard

Edited July 27, 2010 by Twocams

[tallman]

It's an '06.

Check coolant level.

The thermostat can be bad.

Eliminate those first.

Best wishes.

[Barrie C]

It's the more recent K1200GT - the model which was directly superseded by the K1300GT

[Twocams]

All of these things still apply. Your hand book should tell you how and where to check your coolent level. what the mixture should be for antifreeze mixture. Make sure the fan(s) come on dont just guess. Make them come on by ridding then stoping at home and let it warm up till they do. You are just wanting to see by looking at the fans moving. I hit a plastic bag on the I-5 (interstate) hwy. one year. Didnt see where it went as I rode over it. Stopped bike...it had hung up and was covering the whole right radiator. Hope this helps some.

I was stationed at RAF Mildenhall for 5 yrs. in the Air Force dont remember it ever getting that hot over there.

 

Richard

[Guest camerasimage@aol.com]

Check the radiator overflow tank mounted under the seat. Remove the seat using the ignition key. Pull the rubber cap off of the over flow tank and see if any coolant is present. Check the level of the coolant using the marked lines on the tank. Add coolant if necessary. Important: Check that the cooling fan/fans are operating when engine is hot.

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Guest camerasimage@aol.com said:

Check the radiator overflow tank mounted under the seat. Remove the seat using the ignition key. Pull the rubber cap off of the over flow tank and see if any coolant is present. Check the level of the coolant using the marked lines on the tank. Add coolant if necessary. Important: Check that the cooling fan/fans are operating when engine is hot.

 

You  are replying to a thread that was posted on July 26, 2010?  

[lkraus]

21 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

You  are replying to a thread that was posted on July 26, 2010?  

There's probably a bad joke here about old posts and AOL (probably something involving free CD's and dial-up) but I won't attempt it since I often forget to check posting dates myself.

It's interesting that the new forum software allows guests to post replies - I've not seen that on any other forum. Usually the administrators require registration to help maintain some control.

 

camerasimage@aol.com, sign up, let us know where you are and what you ride! 

[Trobinson]

On 1/28/2019 at 11:40 AM, dirtrider said:

 

You  are replying to a thread that was posted on July 26, 2010?  

It would make sense if he was searching on the same problem and looking for a solution (I've done this recently), but to randomly reply is odd.  I do wonder what the fix was.  Hate it when people don't follow up.