high coolant temperature in warm weather?

[Kevin]

Greetings, wise listers, Yesterday I rode my trusty '95 KLR to a meeting 50 miles away. It was a 90 degree day. Engine temp was about 3/4 of redline. On the return trip, 10 miles from home, the engine died abruptly. Plenty of gas in the tank. I disconnected the fuel line from the carb and cranked the engine. No fuel was flowing. I blew into the fuel line and heard bubbles in the gas tank. Hmm. Problem with the petcock diaphragm? I called my son to get a ride and started strolling towards town. When he arrived 20 minutes later, I had him take me back to the bike so I could try it one more time. What do you know? Fuel flowed when I cranked the engine. Once I reconnected the fuel line, the bike started right up and I rode it home with no problems. Any ideas what's going on? Kevin

[Fred Hink]

I d check your gas cap vent. This is a common problem. If your cap vent is blocked or partially restricted, it won t let air into your tank and won t let gas out. This usually happens on a tank that is full or mostly full since the amount of air in the tank acts as a cushion. Be careful if you disassemble the gas cap as there are small springs and check valve parts that can be easily lost. You should also check your petcock and vacuum line to be sure they are working correctly. Fred www.arrowheadmotorsports.com From: Kevin Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2011 5:05 AM To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Mysterious engine stall Greetings, wise listers, Yesterday I rode my trusty '95 KLR to a meeting 50 miles away. It was a 90 degree day. Engine temp was about 3/4 of redline. On the return trip, 10 miles from home, the engine died abruptly. Plenty of gas in the tank. I disconnected the fuel line from the carb and cranked the engine. No fuel was flowing. I blew into the fuel line and heard bubbles in the gas tank. Hmm. Problem with the petcock diaphragm? I called my son to get a ride and started strolling towards town. When he arrived 20 minutes later, I had him take me back to the bike so I could try it one more time. What do you know? Fuel flowed when I cranked the engine. Once I reconnected the fuel line, the bike started right up and I rode it home with no problems. Any ideas what's going on? Kevin [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

Off-topic... but none of the four KLRs I own/owned ran that hot, no matter what the ambient temp was. Mark At 11:05 AM +0000 6/16/11, Kevin wrote: Yesterday I rode my trusty '95 KLR to a meeting 50 miles away. It was a 90 degree day. Engine temp was about 3/4 of redline. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[revmaaatin]

If you slide a piece of paper/cardboard between the rad screen and the radiator, it won't matter what the OAT is where you live. The coolant will get warm, pretty fast. That should cause the fan to kick on as the temp cycles past the 'middle'. Works great for that fall coolant change before you put the bike away. Well, if you change the coolant. wink. You can also tell/check if the fan is working by pulling the electrical lead off the temp/sensor at the bottom of the radiator and touching (= grounding) it to the block or head. Then at least you will know the fan will operate if it is getting electricity. revmaaatin.

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "fw189uhu" wrote: > > EXTREMELY helpful feedback from everybody. I just ordered a Thermo-Bob from Watt-Man (Bill) and he was also hyper helpful. He concurs that my problem is almost certainly a wiring/switching issue. > > Of course, we're in the middle of a cool snap right now and the temps are in the very low '70s, so I can't check whether the fan is coming on just yet. > > But hey, it's summer and by next week we'll be baking again within a couple of weeks. I'll check for worn/melted wires this weekend when I have more time. > > Again, thanks to everybody. > > Dave >