K 1600 GT / GTL - Check behind the lower V-shaped radiator louvres

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Look at all that corrosion

:eek:
 
More to this .......

The radiator fouling is understood, but the ongoing overheating issues persist in crawling traffic and slow speed high load situations.My bike has had an issue since approx 5k and it’s well over 20k now. In the U.K. it seems fine but on the continent away it goes.....in June I was almost at the top of the Stelvio and in came the red flashing warnings. The radiator is a compromise and appears the same as all the the 1000 1200 1300 and now 1600......the fan comes on too late to be effective. The rad was cleaned 3x prior to this years European trips.....engine burped...fluid changed....
All in an effort to address the overheating.....but it still overheated.
So it needs an engineering solution....an additional fan....I have bought all the necessary parts and will be fitting it this winter....it will run on its own thermostat and come in when the 6th bar comes on 20 deg F before the main fan.
BMW are unwilling to enter into any dialogue on this, which is a shame, but Kawasaki had a similar issue on there big bikes and in short order fitted and additional fan.....and fixed the problem.
 
The radiator fouling is understood, but the ongoing overheating issues persist in crawling traffic and slow speed high load situations.My bike has had an issue since approx 5k and it’s well over 20k now. In the U.K. it seems fine but on the continent away it goes.....in June I was almost at the top of the Stelvio and in came the red flashing warnings. The radiator is a compromise and appears the same as all the the 1000 1200 1300 and now 1600......the fan comes on too late to be effective. The rad was cleaned 3x prior to this years European trips.....engine burped...fluid changed....
All in an effort to address the overheating.....but it still overheated.
So it needs an engineering solution....an additional fan....I have bought all the necessary parts and will be fitting it this winter....it will run on its own thermostat and come in when the 6th bar comes on 20 deg F before the main fan.
BMW are unwilling to enter into any dialogue on this, which is a shame, but Kawasaki had a similar issue on there big bikes and in short order fitted and additional fan.....and fixed the problem.

You may have seen this already, but there is loads of info about this on the forum.......... www.k1600forum.com. OK, it's a bit US oriented, but useful nonetheless.

There just has to be restricted cooling on these bikes, given the close proximity of each cylinder (5 mm apart) & not enough rad to cope in some conditions, particularly when dirty. I have heard of K16 riders being the pariah of a group when doing the high mountain passes (Stelvio/GG), some having to stop several times due to the red triangle scenario. Others suffer more in city jams.

Some have removed the front plastic & replaced it with a wire rad guard. Others reckon they have managed to burp air from the top of the system like you. The trouble is the rad really needs removing to clean it out properly - spray with peroxide from both sides, let it do it's work & then wash through from the rear. No high pressure washing, as it risks damaging the alloy fins. many reckon the lower third has been found to be at least partially, & in some places fully blocked from bugs & road debris, sufficient to lose probably 25% of it's cooling capacity. A fender extender may help, but some say they impact on airflow, hence why BMW cut back the mudguard.

Anyway, your secondary fan idea is an interesting one. Doubtless you can clean up the rad at the same time. I always thought the fan on my GT was a tad slow to cut in, allowing the coolant temp to rise beyond the fan's ability to bring it back under control, so I would have thought your solution should work. please keep us posted on progress.
 


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