Over heating after F1 light comes on 2002 GW 1800A w/ 2010 MT

[JIMSUMI]

My questions is - do you think the temperature gauge goes up or is the F1 light telling me something. I've read about this light problem and no one seems to know exactly why it comes on. In fact there are two of em on my dash which really confuses me.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Ridge runner]

Hi jimmy I have a 2002 my light came on it can be a bad knock sensor or the computer after the shop put in new knock sensors on mine didn’t fix so had to change the ECM if you have a Goldwing repair book it will tell you there is a white open plugin under the seat use a paper clip put in the plug turn on key and count how many times the F1 light flashes then call the dealer they will tell them what’s going on or you can google Goldwing/chuck sounders there is a video on how to do what I just told you,good luck

[triwinggirl]

my question would be what kind of antifreeze are you using. car antifreeze just not good enough and will overheat. i use a motorcycle brand called engine ice. sometimes i through in water wetter. you need antiboil fluids. prestone just cant take the heat. you have an 1800cc engine with small radiators, less surface than a small car with same size engine. not to forget you had 2 people on and you engine is exposed underneath to the heat of the road more than and closer than any car engine. you also have a much heavier rear end than mine.

even with the anti boil fluids i use, my fans both of them run all summer. but i live in vegas its very hot here. you might want to actually check that road temp, this time of year it can get hotter than 125. also i just saw you live were the humidity is high. high humidity can cause overheating as the system does not work as well.

the f-1 light is your idiot light your check engine light and you find out whats wrong light. that is unless you can diagnose your bike. i built mine and am very familiar with it.

[cScjhb]

There were some overheating problems with earlier GL1800s. That was corrected in 2006 when Honda increased the radiator size by about 30%. The overheating condition exists when going slow. Usually below 25 MPH. The problem is that the cooling fans blow air from back to front. So, when you're going slow and the fans come on, you can have zero air going through the radiators. The fans and the incoming air fight against each other. This reverse fan "cooling" was an engineering designed to eliminate complaints about hot air being forced upon riders legs by cooling fans.

There are 3 fixes. Buy a 2006 or newer GL1800. Or there is a way to reverse the fans so they blow from front to back. In addition, some have fitted the larger radiators to the older wings. But, as long as you know what is happening, Just avoid circumstances that create the overheating conditions. I have had 2 different GL1800s with the smaller radiators and have been able to avoid overheating issues in spite of living and riding in the desert. Knowing what's going on and why helps to eliminate trouble. Good luck..... Jim

[JIMSUMI]

I finally took my bike in for a check up. I live in New Orleans (Westbank) Repair shop was in Baton Rouge about 80 miles away. They put the diagnostic thing on it ($238) and its finding was the ECU computer thing that was defective. Honda recalled it back in 2008 or so and changed it out for free because of faulty design. Well, the recall ran out in 2008 so I didn't qualify. I bought the bike 5 months ago and this darn FI light kept coming on and it also overheated as I mention before in my post. The mechanic at the Baton Rouge (Friendly Yamaha and Honda) told me that the ECU was the problem and it would cost about $800 for a new one and another $600 to put it on plus flush out the radiator and replace a few filters, etc. all of which cost $1800. oh well thats the down side of owning an expensive bike. On the good side - it rides great now and I have no complaints what-so-ever with the guys at Friendly Y&H.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

I finally took my bike in for a check up. I live in New Orleans (Westbank) Repair shop was in Baton Rouge about 80 miles away. They put the diagnostic thing on it ($238) and its finding was the ECU computer thing that was defective. Honda recalled it back in 2008 or so and changed it out for free because of faulty design. Well, the recall ran out in 2008 so I didn't qualify. I bought the bike 5 months ago and this darn FI light kept coming on and it also overheated as I mention before in my post. The mechanic at the Baton Rouge (Friendly Yamaha and Honda) told me that the ECU was the problem and it would cost about $800 for a new one and another $600 to put it on plus flush out the radiator and replace a few filters, etc. all of which cost $1800. oh well thats the down side of owning an expensive bike. On the good side - it rides great now and I have no complaints what-so-ever with the guys at Friendly Y&H.

The good news ... now that the issue from 08 is repaired ... the Gold Wings are pretty much bullit proof. I hope one of the filters they replaced was the air filter ... about 95% of the labor needed to do that was already done.

[JIMSUMI]

Thanks guys for all your help

[BrokenBackJack]

Bought our 2010 Honda Goldwing Trike used and low mileage and worked great up in ND and SD.

Came down here (Payson, AZ) 2 years ago and it ran and worked well here too.

Took it in for an air filter and all fluids changed as we didn't know what the previous owner had done.

Since then when we drive about 20-30 mph in town it wants to overheat. It even puked out anti-freeze twice when we pulled into our driveway and it was still running and both fans were working.

I have blown out the radiator outside to inside and also took our lower pressure power washer and washed them out too from outside to inside.

I took it back to the shop that did the work and they checked for air in the system and none there.

They are a reputable shop in Tempe and came highly recommended and they also build Trikes and people that we talked with, have nothing but good to say about them.

So have been wondering if it is possible that the thermostat isn't opening fully since the coolant change? That is what is sounds to me like. It worked perfectly back before the coolant change. It cools well at lower speeds and higher speeds and both fans blow hard so they are working well also. Our Trike only has around 14,000 miles on it.

Fingured if we have to change out the thermostat we might as well do the water pump also as the thermostat is inside the water pump and no sense in paying labor twice.

They told me they use Honda anti-freeze.

Forgot to add i changed the radiator cap also after it started overheating and that didn't solve anything.

No coolant leaks or bubbles.

Runs excellent as a Goldwing should with only 14,000 miles.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

[cScjhb]

Bought our 2010 Honda Goldwing Trike used and low mileage and worked great up in ND and SD.

Came down here (Payson, AZ) 2 years ago and it ran and worked well here too.

Took it in for an air filter and all fluids changed as we didn't know what the previous owner had done.

Since then when we drive about 20-30 mph in town it wants to overheat. It even puked out anti-freeze twice when we pulled into our driveway and it was still running and both fans were working.

I have blown out the radiator outside to inside and also took our lower pressure power washer and washed them out too from outside to inside.

I took it back to the shop that did the work and they checked for air in the system and none there.

They are a reputable shop in Tempe and came highly recommended and they also build Trikes and people that we talked with, have nothing but good to say about them.

So have been wondering if it is possible that the thermostat isn't opening fully since the coolant change? That is what is sounds to me like. It worked perfectly back before the coolant change. It cools well at lower speeds and higher speeds and both fans blow hard so they are working well also. Our Trike only has around 14,000 miles on it.

Fingured if we have to change out the thermostat we might as well do the water pump also as the thermostat is inside the water pump and no sense in paying labor twice.

They told me they use Honda anti-freeze.

Forgot to add i changed the radiator cap also after it started overheating and that didn't solve anything.

No coolant leaks or bubbles.

Runs excellent as a Goldwing should with only 14,000 miles.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Please read my post #4 to this thread. If you continue to ride in the 20-30 MPH speed for extended periods of time you will have higher than normal temperatures..... Jim

[BrokenBackJack]

Never done it before they serviced the anti-freeze so something isn't right.

Also this is a 2010.