Another thermostat failure

[Fred]

If you think it might be bad then it probably is. On a few instances recently I noted a momentary dip to 2 bars. It also seemed to take a little longer to warm up in the am. Then my mileage dropped a little. Sunday am I took off the tupperware and went to work. In addition to the t stat I found all but one hose clamp loose. The bike warms up faster now and the mileage is back up. Do not hesitate, change the sucker if even if it appears intermittent.

 

[AZST]

Fred-- I'm curious, how many miles on your 04?

--Bryan
04ST1300A

 

[Fred]

20 thousand

 

[Bribak]

Fred,

Did you replace it with a stock Honda thermostat? I'm on my second one already (Honda stock) and it's starting to occasionally show two bars again. Anyone tried Turbo City Tom's Thermostat?

http://www.turbocity.com/product_info.php?cPath=64&products_id=588&osCsid=ad55d1937f1e16af958607eed109dd5b

 

[Fred]

I used Turbo City replacement. I have not heard of any failures with his.

 

[MNwing]

Just replaced mine at 232xxx. The first couple of rides this season it went to three bars, but then it took for ever to get to 2 bars, and if lucky finally to 3. Wish I had know about the Turbo City replacement. Guess that happens when you don't stay current with all the posts on here.

 

[alf04st]

Waiting on my TT tstat, supposed to come in today. My 04 has 8900 miles and when I started riding again two weeks ago it took it about 7 miles to hit 3 bars and it was in the 80s when I was riding. You would think Honda would address this at some point. I will take my bad tstat to my dealer and talk to them but it I don't think it will get anything done.

 

[Pred8tor]

You would think Honda would address this at some point.

If they were made aware of every bad tstat, that would help. But a lot of folks simply replace it themselves, and Honda never officially knows. I don't think showing the tstat to the service manager will help much - they don't see many STs anyway, and even fewer with bad tstats.

If they get replaced under warranty, then Honda has access to that data, and THEN perhaps they would know something is going on.

I had mine replaced under warranty. Yeah, it's a hassle. And you worry about the work being done correctly. But in my case, I like my dealer. YMMV.

 

[Tor]

Any of you seen the engine warming up a little slower with the TT thermostat? Not that it matters, but I have seen since I replaced mine that it looks like it's getting up to temp. a little slower.

 

[Ashrack]

I'm having a low MPG problem with a brand new '06 (under 500 miles total). My temp gauge seems to be getting up to 3 bars just fine and doesn't appear to fluxuate, but I'm stuck at just 34.2 average MPG.

Most of my rides are less then 20 miles total though so it could be a combination of new bike and short, cold rides, but if the Tstat is a known issue, can the dealer fix that for me? I'm scheduled to take it in at 600 miles for break-in checkup, so I could easily request that.

 

[JW-1300]

Just replaced my stat on my 05 (10,000 miles) a couple of weeks ago. Would not stay at three bars, mileage went to pot. Dealer took my word that it was the stat and ordered parts and did a one day turn around on installation. Mileage back to what it always has been.

 

[Byron]

Chris,

I think it is more of the short rides and or riding style more than the thermostat. Especially with less than 600 miles on the bike.

 

[Fred]

Cadelitta, good luck getting the dealer to do it. It requires removing all the tupperware and the radiator along with changing the coolant. You would have to convince them that your mileage was a lot worse than you say it is.

 

[nm6r]

I'm having a low MPG problem with a brand new '06 (under 500 miles total). My temp gauge seems to be getting up to 3 bars just fine and doesn't appear to fluxuate, but I'm stuck at just 34.2 average MPG.

Most of my rides are less then 20 miles total though so it could be a combination of new bike and short, cold rides, but if the Tstat is a known issue, can the dealer fix that for me? I'm scheduled to take it in at 600 miles for break-in checkup, so I could easily request that.

The short rides, starting, stopping, having to warm up, etc. will affect fuel economy. Your statement of being stuck at 34.2 average begs the question, do you reset your average each time you get fuel? Realizing you couldn't have bought more than a two or three tanks so far.

Ray

 

[STPaulK]

As for the dealership, they will just replace the tstat and coolant. They will do NOTHING as far as cleaning out the reservoir or flushing the system before filling with coolant. If that is not done, then the second...and third...tstat will fail as well.

I miss the logic here. Are you saying the stuck thermostat is from foreign material in the coolant? Then the problem isn't the thermostat, it's stuff in your coolant from the factory or from another source. If the stat is sticking on it's own, then how does flushing the coolant eliminate the reoccurence? Not trying to sound rhetorical, just need to understand your statement.

 

[TLTONEY]

There are two theories. One is that foreign matter in the coolant causes the t-stat to fail. The second is that the Honda t-stat is faulty and not properly engineered.

I am currently sitting in the first camp. The foreign matter is partially attributed to overspray of paint in side the inlet's of the radiator. That is the black matter but there is also a silver matter that is suspended in the coolant. I'm not sure what that is.

We cleaned the reservoir with crushed ice and water, flushed the coolant system with a 50/50 vinegar/distilled H2O mix, and cleaned out the t-stat housing with a rag prior to filling with fresh coolant. We also sanded down the inlets as best we could to remove as much paint from the system.

If it fails a second time, I will flush again and install Tom's t-stat and see how it goes. It may take a while before I know as it won't really be cool around here anymore.

+1 on the flush
Bebeep and I flushed our systems and found all kinds of gunk (looked like black paint) in there. We did not replace the t-stats because we were not having any problems. We hope the drain and flush will help the stock t-stat to last.

Trey
:biker:

 

[STPaulK]

Ahhh, OK, I see. Not having owned a 1300, I have been ignoring the thermostat threads. I am looking at buying a 1300 this season so I started getting interested in the problem threads.

I saw the picture of the paint flaking on the inlet. However my ST1100 is flaking like that and my 83 Venture flaked like that as well. No problems. Not doubting the theory, just wondering why the 1300 would be more sensitive to it.