Here is the history leading up to the question:
2 or 3 years ago I had the water pump redone at a dealership. I also replaced the thermostat with a 'lower temp' model off of ebay (big mistake) because I was over heating.
Next few rides I had no problems (I only get to go 2 times a year usually)
This past spring while at Hatfield McCoy on Day 2 of riding hard it started to over heat after long higher speed runs or a long hill climb. My assumption is that the coolant was not able to get cooled sufficiently before the thermo was opening causing the overheats.
Fast forward to last week when I finally get to working on this.
Step 1, replace thermo with OEM new.
Step 2 Drain coolant and refill with distilled water (3 times to flush all coolant out)
Step 3 drain water our and add Engine Ice blue coolant. (Supposed to help reduce temps)
Step 4 drive around the yard and get it warmed up until the fan kicks on ( a few times ) no issues. No over heats, fan working as it should.
Step 5 drain all this coolant and pull thermo hose off to drain everything off. I wanted to make sure I got all the water diluted engine ice out so I have a good mix in,
Step 6 refill with engine ice, warm up and top off with radiator cap off. replace cap and ride for a few minutes.
This brings me to my problem.
NOW the overheat light comes on after riding a little bit. At about the 20 second mark of idling with the overheat light on, the fan finally kicks on and cools it off and light goes off. It is overheating BEFORE the fan kicks on.
What did I miss? Is there a different possible bad part that I missed?
Thoughts?
2 or 3 years ago I had the water pump redone at a dealership. I also replaced the thermostat with a 'lower temp' model off of ebay (big mistake) because I was over heating.
Next few rides I had no problems (I only get to go 2 times a year usually)
This past spring while at Hatfield McCoy on Day 2 of riding hard it started to over heat after long higher speed runs or a long hill climb. My assumption is that the coolant was not able to get cooled sufficiently before the thermo was opening causing the overheats.
Fast forward to last week when I finally get to working on this.
Step 1, replace thermo with OEM new.
Step 2 Drain coolant and refill with distilled water (3 times to flush all coolant out)
Step 3 drain water our and add Engine Ice blue coolant. (Supposed to help reduce temps)
Step 4 drive around the yard and get it warmed up until the fan kicks on ( a few times ) no issues. No over heats, fan working as it should.
Step 5 drain all this coolant and pull thermo hose off to drain everything off. I wanted to make sure I got all the water diluted engine ice out so I have a good mix in,
Step 6 refill with engine ice, warm up and top off with radiator cap off. replace cap and ride for a few minutes.
This brings me to my problem.
NOW the overheat light comes on after riding a little bit. At about the 20 second mark of idling with the overheat light on, the fan finally kicks on and cools it off and light goes off. It is overheating BEFORE the fan kicks on.
What did I miss? Is there a different possible bad part that I missed?
Thoughts?

