well, i won't do only the switch since what you're goin to do is make the fan work more. With the second fan i would do it in a heart beat. Don't know what year your bike is, but the earlier dashboard get used to have the 5 bar on and the fan on constantly, but with the second fan and the switch you're always in the 4 bar, which works out to a nice peace of mind if you ride in tight stuff.
I recently did both the second fan and the lower temp switch. I'm thinking of switching the temp switch back to stock as I find the fans come on waaaaaaaay more than they ever did. I get that can be a good thing, but I'm wondering if they are even kicking on before the radiator and thermostat even get a chance to really do their job, all the while using precious battery juice when it isn't really needed. That being said, since I made the switch I can only ever recall hitting 5 bars once, and that was on a 100+ degree, 500-mile, 80+ mph highway blast from the CJRacer tech weekend back to home.
I put the 200* thermostat in my bike a while back. When I first got it installed the fan would kick on, run for about 10 seconds, then kick off. Never had any issue with it so just figured that's the way this one worked. Now I'm sitting in traffic, at a standstill, and it's 60* outside. Bike is at 6 of 7 bars and the fan doesn't kick on until the 6th bar come up. Even then it doesn't run solid; 10 seconds on, 20 seconds off, and so on. Bad thermostat? Do all the low thermostats work like that? The original switch would come on at the 5th bar and stay on until it went back down to the 4th bar.
I recently had same issues. There are two different things going on with your cooling system. The fan thermoswitch (blue and copper plug with wires on the lower right side of raditor) is triggered on when the coolant in the radiator reaches a certain temp. But if there is not enough fluid in the radiator to reach the thermoswitch sensor it will not turn on or at least not turn on very well. Could be a few reasons for this: 1. low coollant level - if your overflow bottle overflowed (do to overheating) you lost coolant and the level is low - check it 2. Thermostat opens and closes to keep coolant flowing in engine when it needs to warm up and opens to allw coolant to flow through the radiator to cool down. If thermostat is broken and stays closed hot coolant does not flow inot the radiator to heat the thermoswitch and cause it to turn on. May need to replace thermo stat. I did that just recently. 3. Bad radiator cap. I know there is a one way value in the cap (which allows coolant to escape when the pressure gets to high due to overheating in the raditor) itself and if this fails some people indicate this could also cause cooling system problems (although I have not quite figured out how this can cause problems - maybe someone else can explain) - replace radiator cap. As a prevetative measure when I do a water pump replacement I replace the radiator cap, thermostat and thermo switch as well. Mike Z
Thanks guys. It's been progressively getting worse but I just figured it was from sitting in traffic and not getting any airflow. As soon as I get about 15 mph or faster it'll drop to 4 bars almost instantly. The bike hasn't overheated to the point where the radiator overflowed yet, but it just isn't working correctly. It'll maintain 6 bars no problem but the fan doesn't kick on until 6 bars come up. I'll probably just get bored tomorrow morning and swap out the thermostat right fast while there isn't 6 gallons of gas in the right tank. I know it works with the stock thermostat and if it's still acting up with that then it tells me there's another problem. Then I'll flush the whole system and start fresh. Thanks
The thermostat opens and circulates water on the 950/990 at 167F, 75c. My stock fan t-stat used to come on at 5 bars and run it back to four. With the lower temp fan t-stat it sits at four, runs a lot more...
I put the other fan on and the 200 temp switch. Much better. I was in a 10 mile sand wash in the AZ desert and only 5 bars, working hard, 100 degrees outside. The fans run a lot but thats fine with me. When I did the work I found almost no coolant in the rad. Overflow bottle was still full??? Found bad water pump seal and the cap was so gritty it was not opening up. New water pump and seals, a good flush, cleaned the cap, now all good.
I got the new switch and on the right side I have a 5.2 spal fan same size as the left stock fan. I also have a manual switch to turn on both fans when I want.
Did you put any kind of duct work on the right side. The only thing I dont like about the other fan is that it blows the hot air under the tank, not much comes out the vent hole. At lease not nearly as much as the left side.
I have the lower temp thermo switch for about 3 years now and without any doubt it is keeping the bike run cooler. It has nothing to do with a second fan. It is about starting to force air through the radiator at a lower temp and being slightly ahead of the overheating curve. This bike needs every bit of help in the cooling department. Katoom119- the thermo switch and the thermostat are not the same part and dont do the same job. You either have a faulty thermo switch or a low water level in the radiator...before you replace the switch check the water level in the radiator itself, not in the expansion/overflow tank.
