What are the thoughts on running a constant fan on my 511. I amagine my bike runs hotter than stock and gets hotter quicker than stock. I understand that heat is the enemy but at what point is it necessary and what's overkill?. Is running engine ice and a constant fan too much or is it a good idea?

Please keep in mind Riding in California is generally warmer than it is cool.

Big Vince,

i've never even seen a fan come on unless the machine was idling through a pit area... o just sitting idling with no airflow....

i think your leaking head gasket and this problem are related somehow....

you were absolutely right John... it was my base gasket that was messed up. and it wasn't like it was just cracked in any one place.. that things was blown out. anyway...

do you not think running a switch for a continuous fan on my build is not a good idea?


regards to you and yours

Big Vince

The way it runs with the stock thermostat, the fan runs anytime the engine gets hot. If your engine is running hotter, the fan will be running more anyway. If the engine isn't running hot, the fan doesn't kick on... and when the engine isn't running hot (even if you have a lot of modifications) you don't NEED the fan to be on. If you want your bike to run cooler you could change the thermostat switch to a cooler temperature one, kicking the fan on earlier, but its not going to make a serious difference if the bike is overheating as is. In addition, the fan running all the time is really going to tax your stator. Our bikes aren't made to have continuous heavy draw on the electrical system, and they have meager power output and teeny tiny batteries that won't support a whole lot of extra output.

If you are running hot you may want to change the radiator out to a larger aftermarket one, upgrade the cooling fan (though this will also draw hard on the stator), or try simple "hot rod" tricks to try and make what you have cool better.

You can buy "wings" that direct more air to the radiator. You can drain and refill the radiator with 100% distilled water and this will cool better than with an antifreeze mix (just make sure you never go below freezing with that setup), or even better you can toss in some redline "water wetter" or similar product that can lower temps a few degrees.

If your fan isnt kicking on all the time than your not running hot. Like the last guy stated if you really are running hot the fan would kick on more. You dont want the fan running all the time. Just make sure your radiator cap is good and the temp switch is good. They will control the cooling system for you.

You might consider swapping out that engine ice some good old factory Honda coolant. Dont get sucked into the hype of engine ice runs cooler, its simply not true.

my fan hasn't even come on yet!!!!! i dont know if it is broken or what? ive only riddin my 450r a couple of times so far . and here in new england its been cold out side when ive rode. should it have still come on?

i race xc and have 480 14.25 venom. I have my fan wired direct and have had it this way for over a year. NO problems to report of and probably about 20 races so far. I would guess 50-60 hours

Hey everyone! New to this site and new to atvs. Recently bought a 2005 TRX450R. Love it so far. but im trying to figure out the cooling fan. I have seen that others are asking about it, but theirs are the newer machines and are electric start. Just wondering if the 05's with kick start are the same way as in the fan not coming at all. Its only been 45-50 when ive been riding. Would like to know. Kinda scares me for when it gets warmer. Also never seen the light come on besides at start up. any other helpful knowledge about my bike i should know would be great. Thanks!

Steve "Shaggy"

I mud my trx pretty often and my buddy won't hit nearly the same holes I do in his LTR450 and his hot light is always on... my fan kicks on and off occasionally but the hot light has so far never came on. his radiator looks a lot punier than mine though, so thats probably the difference. I think as far as cooling goes, the TRX's have it pretty good. knock on wood, but mine's yet to overheat even when i beat on it and clog the rad. with mud.

Wow your either lucky or the rad is just that efficient

I understand that there was a problem with my cooling system because of the base gasket failing. But, I thought that since my high temp light kept coming on.. it was an idicator that my engine was hot and as such... my fan should have come on.

And since my engine is built and creating more heat sooner than a stocker, I thought keeping it cooler with a constant fan would be a good idea. But I like the idea of a lower temp thermostat. Anyone know of where I can get one?

vince, on my own 511 i never have the fan come on unless the machine is sitting still with no airflow from movement....

you really shouldn't need to wire the fan for any special operation...

Boom!!! There it is. That's all I needed to hear

I just wired my fan to a switch. But i had the same problem. My bike would be barely even running and the fan would come on. My gasket was in bad shape when i took my head off. I would go with the switch. It's just easy and probably less expensive to buy than a diff thermostat.

Exactly, I ran my 531 with no problems. Only see the fan come on if it idled for a long period of time, or alot dragging up the hill with 260lbs of balast strapped to it.......lol. It came on at 185-185 faithfully, never went over 195 until my fan switch went bad. Then I seen 200+.
The cooling system will cool most of the time, only time I see issues is wrong coolant or bad fan switch, or rad cap needs replaced.
I see to many people try to compensate with "other" coolants. Fact is the only way to properly increase cooling capacity it to up the heat rejecting. The only way to do this is a larger radiator with added cooling surface.

Sounds kinda like u think engine ice is B.S.... is that the case?

the engine ice thing has made me think alot... short of makeing your cooling system into a A/C system there really is no way for a diffrent liquid to be at a diffrent temp in the same system. the main thing in coolant is water im sure... i have recently put engine ice in my engine just for kicks to see if there is a diffrance... so far cant tell any thing has changed. i have not been checking with my temp gun tho. i think i will do that soon tho.

all in all the cooling capacity of the system should not change if you dont change any componants in the system. changeing the type of water in the system doesnt make the radiator move heat diffrent. the biggest problem with cooling systems is that air doesnt transfer heat as well as water. so the weak link in a cooling system is the transfer of heat from water to air. water and aluminum are very good conductors of heat(reason for fins in radiator is for more suface area for air to touch) so that isnt the problem.... but air.. not a good heat conductor. so any ways if you want to run cooler(but thurmastate also regulates this) or cool down faster, More air transfer over the radiator.

I love this forum....

When reading the following... please keep in mind I'm just asking questions for the sake of learning. I'm not an engineer nor a mechanic and my questions come from an ignorant laymens point of view.

1) what's the benefit of using coolant vice water in our radiators?
2) I thought that if a coolant has a higher boiling temp it would take longer to heat up and thus flow cooler liquid thru the system thus keeping the operating tems lower longer?
3) does stock coolant have a higher boiling point than water. Does engine ice have a higher point than stock coolant?

And it should be noted that I follow the suggestions of those I know know more than I. Mix has already said I don't need anything more than the stock cooling system... that's enough for me. These questions are just for general knowledge.

Thanks

distilled water would be best, but if you forgot about it, you would have a split radiator or engine in the winter. Plain ole 50/50 is what I use, and haven't had a problem at all.

i ran a bottle of water wetter and then topped it off with 50/50, keeps them good and cool in the summer months. drain them and go to just 50/50 for winter.

Never run straight water in your cooling system!
As far as any questions regarding other types of coolants like engine ice, they dont provide any benefits.
I have seen a small advantage to water wetter, it helps with some coolants that lack the chemicals to provide proper cylinder coating.
Most tests you read about arent telling the whole story, they are marketing tricks to promote their products.
Water provides the best thermal conductor, but water alone wont prevent corrosion and you will reduce your boiling point, which actually can reduce thermal conductivity. If water starts to boil, which creates bubbles this reduces thermal conductivity. The problem with most tests is they only measure the temp on the water return line, which will show lower operating temps. But is the engine temp lower, no its not. None of the tests actually measure the cylinder temps or exhaust gas temps. So what happens, the heat is still there and its absorbed into the cylinder/piston. If you measured the actual head temps or exhaust temps you would see the additional heat in these areas. Most coolants provide certain chemicals that adhere to the inside of the cylinder, which is what you need to have a thermal conductor. If water alone is used it wont be able adhere to the cylinder, this why we need the coating to transfer the heat from the cylinder. Then the water will do its part to cool the engine. Another way to understand it is implosion, this is a condition that happens during the combustion cycle. What happens is shock waves are transmitted from the inside of the cylinder outward. This vibration is worse in aluminum cylinders, and with added comp or added HP this will magnify the vibration. This is implosion, so we need the chemical to coat the cylinder to reduce the effects of vibration. If we cant keep the liquid in constant contact with the cylinder we lose the thermal conductor. With out we cant pull the heat from the cylinder. This is another reason why aluminum engines run higher cooling pressures. We need to force the liquid to remain in contact with the metal at all times to get the heat out.