[Thornska]

Hi fellow riders,

I have an overheating issue with my Shadow 750 ACE ( 98 ) and I'm running out of ideas. Maybe I could get some pointers here.

Everything started with the overheating light turning on one evening while coming back from work in medium traffic. With the help of the manual, I discovered that the fan was not starting because the heat sensor was not working anymore. I went to the garage and explained the issue to the mechanic guy. The sensor was burnt and the guy changed it. The fan was starting again and I was happy.

Unfortunately, in the following week the overheating light lighted red again on my way to work. Being caught in traffic, I didn't really noticed because the light stopped as soon as I was able to gain speed. But as days passed, the light turned red sooner and sooner and it began to really worry me. I checked to cooler level and the fan twice, but nothing odd. Then I went back to the garage and the mechanic guy told me that my thermostat was stuck close. The guy changed it and the heat sensor. He told me that the coolant was flowing normally and that everything would be ok from now. I really hoped he would be right because it costed me a lot of money.

The next day, the red overheating light turned on again and for 4 days in a row, it turned on sooner and sooner to a point that it would turn red after 15min of riding. Sometime the traffic was heavy and I understand that a motorcycle can finally overheat, but 15 minutes is a very very short time, isn't it ?

I left my motorcycle parked at home since (it's been 6 weeks) to save enough money to bring it back to the garage. I just rode it 3 or 4 time around the neighborhood, but even without traffic, the motorcycle was way too hot for such a short ride.

Maybe some of you may have experienced such issues. I'd appreciate advices and pointers to understand what's happening because I begin to think that the issue may not be "not enough cooling" but "too much heating".

My motorcycle is a Shadow ACE VT750 from 1998 with 120000km on the odometer. I joined a picture of the bike to help identify the model if that can help.

(imgur: the simple image sharer)

Thank you for any help you could bring !

 

[Thornska]

Wow guys, thanks for so much replies ! The thing is I have close to 0 skill in mechanics, so I likely misused some words and I may not understand some things.

To sum up my situation in simpler, (and I hope) more accurate words :

• 
  The first time the warning temp light switched on, the fan was never starting.

• 
  I checked the fan by connecting it to the frame and it started

• 
  The mechanic changed the fan heat sensor and, according to his words, everything was working as expected.

• 
  During the following weeks, the warning temp light switched on again but would switch off as soon as I was able to gain speed.

• 
  Then, the warning temp light started to switched on more often, almost each trip to or from work. I ride twice 12.5 km in Paris to go to work, sometime with heavy traffic.

• 
  I went to a different mechanic and he told me that the thermostat (the thing you boil in water to test it) was stuck close, preventing the coolant to flow.

• 
  This guy changed the thermostat and one heat sensor that had melted. But I don't know if it was the fan heat sensor or the warning light heat sensor. The bill just says "contacteur thermique" (Google translates this to "thermal contactor").

• 
  According to the bill, the coolant was completely replaced. The mechanic said "the coolant is flowing as it is supposed to do" (but in french of course ).

• 
  From this point, it went from bad to worse. The warning light switched on for each trip, sooner and sooner, and harder and harder to switch off by gaining speed. The last time I used my bike to get back from work, it switched on after no more than 15 minutes in traffic. I didn't think to check anything, I was too upset and worried to burn my engine.

Anyway, from what I read here, I should check for the water pump and the radiator cap. I have no ideas how to check those parts. Are there some easy checks that I can perform myself or should I go straight back to the mechanic ?

Again, thank you very much for your support and your replies. I don't feel alone anymore !