Oil Cooler on TA

[Gromit3528]

Hi Guys

I am fairly new to the forum but have been reading all your helpful stuff for a while. I have an a 1999 AT and my wife has a 2002 650 TA. We are off on a trip to Tunisia shortly taking both bikes.

In the course of owning these bikes we have noticed that the TA gets a bit hot when moving slowly off road and it relies heavily on the fan to maintain its temperature when compared to my AT. As it is going to be significantly hotter down south in Tunisa I would like to fit an oil cooler to the TA to give it a fighting chance. I have a spare AT oil cooler and have ordered what I think are the bits I need from Honda. Has any body else done this and can you offer any tips? Has any one else noticed a difference in temperature control between the two models?

Cheers

Gromit

[Austin]

my cooling fan has only ever cut in once in real use and that was on a hot day in virtually stationary traffic (like 100yards in 20 minutes). I only need to be moving at 1-2 mph for it keep at or near normal. Otherwise I have to leave it ticking over in the garage to check it actually works. Perhaps a check of the thermostat is in order (have they got one? I have never looked)?

[default]

Hi Gromit,
My wife and I run a couple of 650 TAs, as you say the fan can cut in when the engine is working hard at slow speeds. I don't think it is a problem as long as the engine temperature does not contiue to climb. My guess is the fan is cutting in around 108 C. On my bike the fan holds the temp even in prolonged extreme conditions like deep sand.
If your bikes are over heating then it's a different problem.
Running with the fan on and the temperature holding steady is not causing any problems and the oil cooler probaly won't make any difference because of the low air flow when this occours.
If you do feel the need to fit a oil cooler also fit a thermostate because it is possible for the water temerature to run at normal but the oil to be over cooled at high speeds in cold conditions.
It is more important to run a good quality oil and maybe think about the grade. You could change to a 15/50 or 20/50

Have a good trip, let us know how it goes.

Steve

[sproggy]

As Steve said, think about your oil. If you expect the engine to be running at the upper end of its temperature range for extended periods consider using fully-synthetic oil which will maintain its lubricating and protective characteristics better at higher temperatures than a mineral/semi-synth oil would.

If you're still worried about cooling I wouldn't be looking at an oil cooler (just another thing to risk getting punctured, aside from the need to find a sensible place to site it) but you might consider fitting a fan to the left hand radiator. Link it in to the same thermo-switch as the right hand fan and you'll be pulling twice as much air across the radiators at standstill/slow speeds as would otherwise be the case. This will be far more effective than an oil cooler which won't flow any air through at the same speeds unless you also fit a fan to it.