Oil Temperature a little High

[m_stock10506]

Just want to pass on my recent experience.

My high mileage 1100RT, usually runs at 5 bars of Oil Temp on the RID. Rarely after a long high rpm run, or at the very end of a ride, it will go to 6 bars. Yesterday, very quickly after I started my ride I was at 6 bars and it would not go down. It was warm out (80F), not hot. If I ran it casually in 5th gear for a few miles I could get it to drop back to 5 bars, but as soon as I dropped to 4th gear it went back up.

This morning, I rolled her out to the driveway and sprayed the oil cooler with Simple Green, then filled a pump-up spray container with hot water and washed out the oil cooler until a gallon of hot water was gone. Lots of old dead bug stuff all over the drive. Rode this afternoon, mostly in 4th gear, through the back roads. The RID oil temperature display never went above 5 bars. Even at the end of my ride when I would expect it to go to 6 bars as I finish in my neighborhood at slow sppeds, it stayed solid on 5 bars.

 

[PGlaves]

When I read the beginning of this post my first thought was I wonder if he is riding in "buggy" country. Then I read further. I smiled.

 

[paul_f]

Just want to pass on my recent experience.

My high mileage 1100RT, usually runs at 5 bars of Oil Temp on the RID. Rarely after a long high rpm run, or at the very end of a ride, it will go to 6 bars. Yesterday, very quickly after I started my ride I was at 6 bars and it would not go down. It was warm out (80F), not hot. If I ran it casually in 5th gear for a few miles I could get it to drop back to 5 bars, but as soon as I dropped to 4th gear it went back up.

This morning, I rolled her out to the driveway and sprayed the oil cooler with Simple Green, then filled a pump-up spray container with hot water and washed out the oil cooler until a gallon of hot water was gone. Lots of old dead bug stuff all over the drive. Rode this afternoon, mostly in 4th gear, through the back roads. The RID oil temperature display never went above 5 bars. Even at the end of my ride when I would expect it to go to 6 bars as I finish in my neighborhood at slow sppeds, it stayed solid on 5 bars.

I must try that as during the past two summers, once I arrive back in the city on hot days, my ‘98 Oilhead will have the engines temperature gauge rise to 6 or 7 bars unless I have the foresight to turn on the fan as approach the city’s outskirts. It never used to be an issue.

 

[omega man]

Just want to pass on my recent experience.

My high mileage 1100RT, usually runs at 5 bars of Oil Temp on the RID. Rarely after a long high rpm run, or at the very end of a ride, it will go to 6 bars. Yesterday, very quickly after I started my ride I was at 6 bars and it would not go down. It was warm out (80F), not hot. If I ran it casually in 5th gear for a few miles I could get it to drop back to 5 bars, but as soon as I dropped to 4th gear it went back up.

This morning, I rolled her out to the driveway and sprayed the oil cooler with Simple Green, then filled a pump-up spray container with hot water and washed out the oil cooler until a gallon of hot water was gone. Lots of old dead bug stuff all over the drive. Rode this afternoon, mostly in 4th gear, through the back roads. The RID oil temperature display never went above 5 bars. Even at the end of my ride when I would expect it to go to 6 bars as I finish in my neighborhood at slow sppeds, it stayed solid on 5 bars.

“Pump up sprayer”….
Too many try a pressure washer which can get ugly.
Whether it’s vehicle or baseboard heating in a house, the buildup of even a small amount of dust/dirt on a radiator starts to degrade heat transfer- in a big way.
OM

 

[m_stock10506]

Pump up sprayer”….
Too many try a pressure washer which can get ugly

Don’t have a pressure washer, but I was hesitant to even use the garden hose. This was one of those home and garden jugs with a pump/handle on the top. Pump it and it builds up some air pressure. I set it on stream, not spray, and got a stream of hot water about the thickness of a No. 2 pencil lead. I covered up my aux lights mounted directly under the oil cooler. I’ll probably do it again in a few weeks just to make sure I got most of it.

 

[PGlaves]

I am not sure about the Oilhead oil coolers but I can provide a warning about a radiator such as on an F650. I had a run-in with hoards of grasshopper-like creatures while on a trip. The bike began running hotter than normal. So in my ingenious methodology I tried to clean it with a pressure washer at a car wash. I put a hole in the radiator. Not a good thing to do a thousand miles from home and multiple hundreds of miles from a dealer. I mixed up a batch of JB Quik and took a glob (tech term) of it and stuffed it where the leak was. It fixed it until I was home and could replace the radiator.

 

[omega man]

Some light reading on engine cooling and adding additional cooling-

Air/oil cooled camhead oil cooler fan

Last year while sitting in a 4 mile long backed up mess trying to get into the Valley of Fire state park, the motor was getting too hot for my liking and I'd have to pull off to the side, shut down and give it 20 minutes to cool down some. Then move through the line to where my brother with his...

forums.bmwmoa.org

OM

 

[robsryder]

Well Michael, better bugs than deer fur! I believe that Michael in now an "Ace" deerstalker.

When I lived in Ohio I'd sometimes ride when it was snowing. The snow would get into the oilhead oil cooler and the temperature indicator would go to two bars. Usually these were short rides and not when the snow started "sticking" to the road.

 

[DavidEBSmith]

Someone I know who is a mechanical engineer and has owned many BMW motorcycles once opined that people wouldn't have issues with Oilhead temperatures if BMW hadn't put a temperature gauge on them.

 

[m_stock10506]

Someone I know who is a mechanical engineer and has owned many BMW motorcycles once opined that people wouldn't have issues with Oilhead temperatures if BMW hadn't put a temperature gauge on them.

That's been widely reported for Airheads where the owners ADDED an oil temp gauge. I've had the bike out a few times since the first report here, and the oil temp display has stayed firmly at 5 bars. I'm certainly happier with it staying at 5 bars rather than rising when I didn't expect it.

 

[zekeq]

The cooling fan project summary and a link to the design and bill of materials is over at: https://forums.bmwmoa.org/threads/r1150gsa-auxiliary-cooling-fan-project.106336/

I’ve had a few long rides with it and the drag from the fans hasn’t put me past 5 bars, and the system will keep the bike in the normal range at idle while not moving.

 

[rogerc60]

@m_stock10506 for your rinse with the garden sprayer, did you spray if from the front or from the back? Thanks.

 

[m_stock10506]

for your rinse with the garden sprayer, did you spray if from the front or from the back?

Sprayed into it from the front. Simple Green first, then warm water with mild pressure. I have a couple of running lights under the oil cooler. I covered them with plastic bags. Yeah, I know, they get rained on whenever, but this was a lot of water running right onto them.