overheating

[swamper650]

HELP
..............Stranded in northern georgia......Coolant fille the expansion tank will not return to the radiator.................any suggestions will be appreciated......750 miles from home with an overheating Tiger..........

[Stretch]

The tank has to come off in order to fill and bleed the system.  The Radiator cap and thermostat housing are together, on the left side of the head, behind the radiator.  You can see the water pump on the side of the head (oval, with four bolts in it, with a one-inch hose going forward.  Follow the hose forward and up to the thermostat housing.  There's no way to get to it with the tank on.

But I believe that will just be a Band-Aid.  What caused the bike to overheat in the first place?  If that isn't fixed, it's just going to overheat again a few miles down the road.

Check your PM's.

[TigerTrax]

Is the rubber boot cap on your dash nice and secure? I believe that creates a vacuum that allows coolant to flow to-from the expansion tank.
Perhaps if it is loose.... it will not flow back out. ( Deductive Guessing)

Stretch was correct ... the tank may have to come off.

Triumph has a history of radiator cap issues...

Try this:
1. Open coolant Bleed valve  ( left side engine/ small lone bolt head
    located beneath 4-bolt metal pipe flange with hose going fwd/up;
    and forward of smaller 2 bolt
    metal pipe flange with hose going back/down.
    See if any coolant flows ... it may dribble but not flow.
    If it flows.... I'd say a bad radiator cap. ( Vacuum is broke )
    If it appears OK.....

1. Warm up engine....hot enough to OPEN thermostat.
    Thermostat should open at 185°F  ( 85°C) ±5°
    Open coolant bleed valve.. if you have 'surging flow'
    Then your thermostst is open and coolant is circulating.

    If you get nothing or 'dribbles' .... probably a thermostat.

Testing CAP:  Take to  automotive shop or parts house and test the cap:
                     Here is specs: Blow Off Pressure    1.1 bar
                     If it OPENS before 1.1 or fails to open: Replace Cap.

Let's not talk water pump.... no reason at this point.

I hope this gets you some answers. Got to be cap or t-stat..
Good Luck.
PS: always state year of Tiger.
     
If you get hung up and on last breath...
Jump on http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/us_tiger_ride_ins/ and
state your location. There are some Tiger riders not far from you that may be able to help... A couple are near Hiawassee  and GA & SC line.

TigerTrax

[Stretch]

Doing a bit of digging here...

Check out this thread by ArizonaKid.  He describes his radiator cap weakening and allowing the bike to overheat, and found an auto parts store replacement, relieving you of having to find a Triumph dealer, and then going through the aggravation of discovering they don't have one in stock.

The cap is a Stant 10227 , a replacement for 80's Toyotas.  A bit of Googling found that this cap is also a replacement part for 1988-91 Honda Civics.

Clicky:  http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,3531



Also make sure your overflow tubes are routed correctly.  Some were routed backwards from the factory.  They ought to be like this...


Courtesy of Iansoady

[TigerTrax]

My riding buddy has a 2004 Tiger and just told me of his EXACT problem.

Rode it 6 months with no problems.
Got into heavy traffic, heating up;
OVer flow filled and would not syphon back
into system.

He found that from factory the 2
hoses going into overflow tank
were hooked up just the reverse
of what they should have been.

PS: Stretch... that's a very good job of tracking that down... I racked my brain knowing there was an automotive 'close or compatible'... but the brain cells never surfaced...

[Stretch]

Teamwork.

I didn't even think of the Triumph radiator cap problems until you mentioned it.

[Stretch]

Twenty-four hours now and no word.  I PM'd him my cell number this morning, but I have to work tomorrow.  I hope he was able to get back on the road with no major problems.

[AndyM]

I had overheating problems this weekend on my 03 Tiger. Last week in very hot weather and stop and go traffic my Tiger went over halfway on the temp gauge (1st time) and when I parked and shut down proceeded to puke coolant out the overflow .

Fast forward to this weekend. I was riding the Cal24 Rally (finished 14th) and bike seems to be running hotter than normal. But I'm running at high speeds for extended periods so I keep going. Late in the day after a checkpoint the temp gauge reads just below the red. I kept going as I was in the middle of nowhere and didn't have a lot of choices. I checked the oil and poured some water in the overflow tank but still running hot.
All through the night (24 hour rally) bike ran just below the red. This caused the fan to stay on which used enough juice that I could run my driving lights or my heated gear, not both like normal. I was expecting the engine to blow at any time but I figured the closer I could get to civilization the better so I kept going through the night.

I am thinking the worst. Blown head gasket, water pump, trashed engine.....

I pull in to a gas station in Redding to top off before a couple hundred mile run to the finish. I'm thinking no way I'm going to make it. It had been running just below the red through the night when the temps were in the 40's.
I throw in 4 gallons of gas and fill the over flow tank with water. I add a quart of oil for good measure and take off figuring every mile I could get was a mile less I'd have to have it towed.

And the damn bike ran like it has for the past three years. The temp never came close to mid point. even when it was over 100f and I was running 90+ on the freeway.

I have no clue why the bike acted up. I'm guessing a bubble in the cooling system maybe but I don't know.

[Stretch]

Thermostat stuck partially closed, then freed back open?

[Sasquatch]

I would not be surprised if you just need to replace the radiator cap.  This happened to mine.

Picked a new one up at NAPA that fits a toyota car, I believe.  Temps came back to normal.

[AndyM]

I would not be surprised if you just need to replace the radiator cap.  This happened to mine.

Picked a new one up at NAPA that fits a toyota car, I believe.  Temps came back to normal.

This is what I'm thinking also. I'll be replacing it for the piece of mind if nothing else.
I also think the hoses to the overflow tank might be reversed. Looking at the diagram posted above I think last week when it got hot in traffic it drained the overflow tank and sucked air back in. I had added coolant to the tank but probably not enough and not at the right time. When I added water Sunday morning I filled the tank to overflowing and then topped it off again as the level went down a bit. I'll check it out this weekend and replace the coolant at the same time.

[swamper650]

Many thanks that all who replied to my problem. The info was most helpful. In the process of field stripping the Tiger, a fellow rider gave the overflow tube a lil shake and the dang thing fell off. The 90 degree plastic fitting broke at the overflow tank. A run run down into Dahanaga secured the parts to effect a repair. Seems the bike would heat up pulling steep grades and sprayed me with coolant from the cracked  fitting. On cool down the radiator would not refill. Will be having a talk with my dealer. Had them drain and refill the coolant before my trip, and the fitting shows signs off pry marks! On the positive side the Tiger returned 50 mpg. cornered great on my new set of Tourances and handled a little gravel riding.

[Bliker]

I wish I got close to 50 mpg. I get 38-39 mpg on my 04. I also had an overheating problem due to the hoses being routed the wrong way.

[Stretch]

Hey, I'm glad it was something simple and you were able to finish your trip.

[swamper650]

In conversation with a fellow local Tiger rider, discoverd his elbow failed while on the road in Murphy a year ago. I wanted to affect a permanent solution.  Have found a brass fitting to replace the failure prone 90 degree elbow in the Girly's coolant recovery. I was rooting around at my local Home Depot. In the plumbing section I discovered  a Qestpex 3/8 barbed brass elbow, part # 084169484406, priced at $1.59. Works a treat and will never fail.