# HELP please



## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

Ok, I'm about to go insane. I have an 08 brute 650 SRA, the temp light was coming on when I would ride trails, so I removed the radiator, cleaned it out really good and relocated it to the rack. I let it idle today until the fan came on then rode it around the neighborhood about 10-15 mph, and the freakin temp light came back on! When I parked it and the fan shut off you could hear to me what sounded like bubbles or bubbly noises in the radiator hose. Please help me figure out wtf is going on here because it is driving me nuts! Im running water and water wetter in the radiator as well. Here's a pic of the setup


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## mudmaniac (Jan 26, 2010)

Most likely the small auto reset breaker under the seat...P/N 21008-0001 BREAKER,FAN MOTOR. 

I have had two of them go out. One on each of my 2009 750 Brutes and both had the same symptom you described.

Link to a diagram of the part: http://www.mrcycles.com/fiche_secti...egory=ATVs&make=KAWASAKI&year=2009&fveh=38836


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

I had this problem it would come on but shut off after a few seconds. I replaced the breaker under the seat with a 15 amp fuse and have had no problems since then.


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

i took the upper rad. hose off to burp it and nothing came out but air, then a little water. can hold it at a steady low throttle and a small trickle comes out, if you rev it up a bunch comes out then stops, then a little. its wierd


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

what does that breaker do? control the fan or what? My fan comes on like it should, Im just confused as hell as to what is causing this issue. It's keeping me from going riding haha and to say the least, pissing me off


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## mudmaniac (Jan 26, 2010)

The breaker controls the fan. 

If you are not getting any water flow then I would check if the impellor is tore up in your water pump or the thermostat is froze up. Both take a little wrenching but they are about the only two items that can cause you not to get water flow.

The good news is that either of these items is pretty cheap to fix. Maybe 30-40 with a new gasket.


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

I just burped it and added quite a bit of water to it, and rode it for about 10 minutes in this heat 100 degrees at least, the fan came on pretty quick and stayed on the whole time. The light never came on this time. Im just nervous as hell to set out riding it. How can I tell if the thermostat is bad? The guy before me said he changed the coolant after break in. He only added 1 quart!!!!!!!!!! The bike now has 60 hrs on it, which I have only had for approximately 3 hrs! Since the fan is working I wouldnt think it could be the breaker under the seat?


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

Sounds more like a circulation problem. If you get all the air out and it still does it, may be thermostat. Pull it and place in cold water first and make sure its shut. If it isn't, its bad. If it is, then put some water in a pan on the stove and heat it to about 200. Use an oven thermometer to get it close. Drop the thermostat in and watch it. It should open about all the way which doesn't look like that much. If it does, its good, if not...well. 

A lot of people use and like Engine Ice coolant. Seems to work pretty good.

I also hear that plain water with water-wetter doesn't raise the boiling point of the coolant. I don't know if that true or not but if that's true, then at 212 its will start to boil and when that happens, contact is lost between the coolant and the metal parts like the cylinder & heads. That makes it..well...not carry the heat away and overheat.


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## Smokey (Jan 17, 2010)

Sounds like a head gasket to me. If your fan is coming on it's not the breaker.


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## bruterider27 (Apr 29, 2010)

I had mine boil all the water out of mine


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

I burped it and filled her up. Rode it for about 30 minutes down the bayou and in the retention pond. The fan did stay on the whole time, but the temp light never came on... knock on wood. If it was a head gasket, it should be smoking out the tail pipe and have water in the oil......


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## Smokey (Jan 17, 2010)

I thought the same thing, mine did the exact same thing as yours, bubbling out the overflow, overheating, but no oil in coolant and wasn't burning coolant. Turned out my carb boot was ripped, leaning out the rear cylinder and blowing my headgasket. If it's any consolation the head gasket is only $20 and a few hours work if you can do it yourself.


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## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm leaning toward it just having had air in the cooling system, sounds like its doing ok since you added more water. I run the 50/50 premixed antifreeze along with Purple Ice in mine, when the radiator was in the stock location it would rarely throw the temp light and now I have the rad rack'd and I can definately tell its running cooler and hasnt offered a temp light.

I would recommend going ahead and removing the fan breaker and replacing it with a 15 amp fuse like mentioned earlier because these have a bad tendency to go bad... I have done this on all 3 of the brutes I've had as well as a buddy's and my dads. You dont have to cut any wires, just unplug the breaker and insert the fuse back into the female connectors. It will operate 100% normal.


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## Josh (Nov 23, 2009)

nmkawierider said:


> I also hear that plain water with water-wetter doesn't raise the boiling point of the coolant. I don't know if that true or not but if that's true, then at 212 its will start to boil and when that happens, contact is lost between the coolant and the metal parts like the cylinder & heads. That makes it..well...not carry the heat away and overheat.


The water will not boil in the system even if the water wetter doesn't raise the boiling point. The system is under pressure, therefor raising the boiling point of water which will no longer be 212.


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## DrillersGoDeeper (Jan 3, 2009)

filthyredneck08brute said:


> I'm leaning toward it just having had air in the cooling system, sounds like its doing ok since you added more water. I run the 50/50 premixed antifreeze along with Purple Ice in mine, when the radiator was in the stock location it would rarely throw the temp light and now I have the rad rack'd and I can definately tell its running cooler and hasnt offered a temp light.
> 
> I would recommend going ahead and removing the fan breaker and replacing it with a 15 amp fuse like mentioned earlier because these have a bad tendency to go bad... I have done this on all 3 of the brutes I've had as well as a buddy's and my dads. You dont have to cut any wires, just unplug the breaker and insert the fuse back into the female connectors. It will operate 100% normal.


 :agreedretty much what I was thinking.


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

thanks for all the help! Since I did burp it, the bubbling sound has seemed to stop and the level in the resevoir hasn/t moved any. Should the fan stay on that long though? How long should the fan run when im running around 15 mph and then up to 30-35 mph when its 100 degrees outside?


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## rmax (Nov 21, 2009)

i have been watching your post, sounds to me you have other problems that are contrubiting to the heat problem, if you know anyone with a lazer temp gun, or go buy one they are not that costly anymore , then you can shoot the exhaust on each clyinder an compare temps for lean condition, and shoot all exposed water pluming an rad, to see if it is realy hot or just lying. or install water temp gauge so you will know for sure, i hardly ever have to run fan as long as the wheeler is in motion an temp will stay around 190


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

rmax said:


> i have been watching your post, sounds to me you have other problems that are contrubiting to the heat problem, if you know anyone with a lazer temp gun, or go buy one they are not that costly anymore , then you can shoot the exhaust on each clyinder an compare temps for lean condition, and shoot all exposed water pluming an rad, to see if it is realy hot or just lying. or install water temp gauge so you will know for sure, i hardly ever have to run fan as long as the wheeler is in motion an temp will stay around 190


what other problems are you talking about I could have


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

another question, why would my bike backfire loud once when I ride it at approximately half throttle or more then let off and it gets to about 5-10 mph? I did do the stock exhaust mod. COuld it be running lean? If so could this be causing the cooling issue as well?


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

Josh said:


> The water will not boil in the system even if the water wetter doesn't raise the boiling point. The system is under pressure, therefor raising the boiling point of water which will no longer be 212.


That's right..forgot about the pressure... Thanks!


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

nmkawierider said:


> That's right..forgot about the pressure... Thanks!


 so the bubbling sound I could hear when I put my ear close to the hoses was more than likely the fact that the system needed to be burped and had air in it still. Should I try burping it again with the radiator straight up and down instead of the angle its on, then once the air is out, bolt it on the angle?


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

I just started it up again in the garage and let it idle. It idled for about 11-12 minutes, then the fan kicked on. The fan ran for I would say 10 to 15 seconds and shut off for approximately 30 seconds then came back on and ran for a minute of so, so I shut the bike off and timed it. The fan ran for 41 seconds after the bike was shut off. Does this sound about right, since it was idleing? It almost looks like most of my water wetter is in the resevoir and not in the radiator because the coolant filter by the carbs is crystal clear, which to me shows its only got water running through it which isn't what I want or need. Im trying to find ENGINE ICE but cant find it anywhere in Houston on MONDAy ( my day off)


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

I believe the overflow on the filler cap is leaking, and seems to have a hole in the tube that the hose slides over.


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## filthyredneck (Feb 10, 2010)

camobruteforce said:


> I.... Im trying to find ENGINE ICE but cant find it anywhere in Houston on MONDAy ( my day off)


I know Napa/Carquest usually keeps it in stock. I would think Autozone or O'reilly would have it as well but never know about them. A friend of mine bought a few quarts of it from a Ford dealership here a couple months ago....dont know if the service dept would have any now or not, but just an idea if you cant find it anywhere else.


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

alrighty thansk man. I discovered my filler neck on the radiator/ overflow is cracked and letting coolant drip and Im thinking my thermostat is bad so Im going to wait to get the engine ice until the new parts come in. Im hoping the crack and thermostat are whats causing my heating issues because other than that the bike runs like a scalded @$$ ape


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

ok, I took the bike all apart, the thermostat operates properly. ( I tested in in a pot of water) took all the lines apart and blew through them, no obstructions. Im thinking about buying an inline filler neck and putting it up top so I can thoroughly burp the system and get all the air pockets out since its hard to do with the upper hose.


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## NMKawierider (Apr 11, 2009)

camobruteforce said:


> alrighty thansk man. I discovered my filler neck on the radiator/ overflow is cracked and letting coolant drip and Im thinking my thermostat is bad so Im going to wait to get the engine ice until the new parts come in. Im hoping the crack and thermostat are whats causing my heating issues because other than that the bike runs like a scalded @$$ ape


Well, if the neck is cracked or the cap can't hold pressure and lets it go back to the resuvour...it will boil


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

well its not cracked, the piece where the overflow tube connects to is broken, and not sealing good. That would cause it to lose pressure and boil and not let the system function properly. I think Im going to buy a new filler neck/cap and put it on, then put an inline filler up top on the radiator so I can burp the system completely. Is thier a way to do away with the filler under the front fenders and leave the thermostat still there or what? dont really want to buy a 750 radiator


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## rmax (Nov 21, 2009)

camobruteforce said:


> what other problems are you talking about I could have


lean cylinder or cylinders, running lean produces more power(to a point) an more heat, properly tuned it will not be a problem, but a cylinder running lean because of fuel flow issues(trash in carb,air leak in induction,value adjustments) can cause serious problems. other thought would be blockage in cooling system. thats why i sugested a temp gun so you can follow the coolant lines an rad looking for hot spots, i have seen 1 brute come here that the water pump impeller was striprd an would stall at high rpm not allowing coolant to flow properly causeing it to run hot, had another one that had all kinds of trash in it(sand, small gravel, an some stuff that looked like ground leaves)this one had impeller damange an the rad had cooling flews stopped up with trash,


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## camobruteforce (Jul 17, 2010)

I know he nevere took it in to have the valves adjusted after the break in period becsause they wanted to charge him 600 bucks. I pulled th ecover off the water pump and the impeller looked like brand new. pulled the lines loose and blew through them, no obstructions. got the bike to idle fine now as well. the coolant filter is clean too. How can i tell if its running lean?


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## bigborebrute (Apr 21, 2010)

I have been going through the same problems bought the quad off a guy who only put 1400km took great care of it he did some mods and its in excelent shape parked inside everynight. but i have only rode the thing for about 4 hrs and have owned it for 5 months all im doing is fixing and now it just keeps over heating. ive changed breaker over burped it aswell i run 50/50 prestone coolant. but still hot as hell.. il get some pics up on here as soon as possible.


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## bennapa55 (Oct 15, 2010)

My temp light comes on too but the engine doesnt seem to be overheating or even that hot. Ive seen my buddies over heat and mine is not that hot.. The fan works like it should. My question is anyone have a bad sensor telling the dash its overheating when its really not?


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