1985 Royale with a hot side

[Cruser]

Hello, Im the new guy.

 

What would make the right side cylinder's run hotter than the left side? Much more heat coming off the right than the left after a few miles, Im just wondering if this is normal or not? I have not owned a venture before been a Harley,Honda goldwing guy for a long time till now.

[Yammer Dan]

You could be running on 3 cylinders.

[V7Goose]

I do not know what makes you think t hat one side is running hotter than the other, but it is very unlikey. Especially since these engines are water cooled - once the engine is up to temperature, the water flowing through BOTH sides must always be the same temperature.

 

However, it is very possible that you sense more heat from one side. It only takes a very light cross breeze to channel most of the heat from the radiator down one side of the bike, and this is VERY noticeable as heat on the foot and lower leg on the down-wind side. My experience is all from a 2nd gen, but even with the extra body work on the 1st gen, I suspect it will feel the same.

Goose

[Cruser]

So If I pull plug wires and get no change with one of them then that would be the cold cylinder?

 

would that also account for a lag in fuel mileage?

[V7Goose]

Yes, what you describe indicates that you have a cylinder not running -could be spark or fuel. This is certainly more specific information.

 

These bikes run amazingly well on just three cylinders, and sometimes it is not that easy to tell you are running on just three unless you push it past 85. But at any speed, that would definitely have a big impact on fuel mileage.

 

The easiest way to tell if it is a spark or carb problem is to spray a little starting fluid (ether) into the vacuum port on the suspect cylinder while the bike is idling - if it has spark, you will get a definite increase in RPM.

Goose

[Cruser]

Thanks ,I will give this a try and see what I come up with, I will no doubt be back ,The yamaha dealer in this small community does not even want to work on these bikes, they quote $85.00 an hour shop time to even look at them.

[Ottawa]

Hello, Im the new guy.

 

What would make the right side cylinder's run hotter than the left side? Much more heat coming off the right than the left after a few miles, Im just wondering if this is normal or not? I have not owned a venture before been a Harley,Honda goldwing guy for a long time till now.

 

When I went for my maiden voyage I went 400km and found it a bit sluggish but FUN! When I got back all kinds of bad reasons started going through my head!!

 

I had the same issue as you. It turned out to be crossed wires going to the coils on the right side. I am sure I didn't do it but I suspect the previous owner or his shop did it.

 

Have a look at the wires going to the two coiles on the problem side. You will need to remove the battery and box to get a good look. The wires are marked with #'s. (1,2,3,4) then make sure the coil that is going to the cylinders that is cooler correspond to the coil # on the wire.

 

I hope this is it!

 

What amazed me was the 85 VENTURE can even run on two cylinders and do OK!!

[Cruser]

Here's a pick of the 1985 Venture Royale "she sure is pretty" , ever feel like your stuck in 1985? thats also my 85 Ramcharger.

 

Try not to stare, this Bike has a nice rear end !

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c177/Touched1/PICT0005d.jpg

 

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c177/Touched1/PICT0001g.jpg

[Cruser]

Thanks for the info on the coils, I will check that as well this weekend.

[skydoc_17]

There are two plastic heat shields that go on top of the cylinder heads that the spark plug wires go thru, maybe one or both are missing which would allow air to blow across the engine from the side.

Nice bike.

Earl

[dingy]

I am going to disagree and agree with goose here.

 

Yes, he is correct that the water is the same temp. on both sides.

 

But that does not take into account that the water is being heated by the engine. The water can only remove a certain amount of heat. If heat exceeds designed cooling potential, then the excess heat will be dissipated in other ways.

 

There is the possibility that one or both cylinders on one side or the other are running at a lean condition. This will cause those cylinders to run hotter than the cylinders which are running at a correct or rich fuel mixture.

 

The flow of water only cools the water jacketed parts of the block & heads. It does not cool the exhaust manifolds which are an intense source of heat. The lean cylinders will run a higher exhaust manifold temp.

 

Gary

 

 

I do not know what makes you think t hat one side is running hotter than the other, but it is very unlikey. Especially since these engines are water cooled - once the engine is up to temperature, the water flowing through BOTH sides must always be the same temperature.

 

However, it is very possible that you sense more heat from one side. It only takes a very light cross breeze to channel most of the heat from the radiator down one side of the bike, and this is VERY noticeable as heat on the foot and lower leg on the down-wind side. My experience is all from a 2nd gen, but even with the extra body work on the 1st gen, I suspect it will feel the same.

Goose

[friesman]

Welcome to the "1985 Brownie is best" Club. I have the virtual twin to your bike but no chrome on the backside. You rs looks sweet!

I would suggest that you may be missing the plastic deflectors that some people take out because they make it hard to work on the bike. I have noticed that mine gets hot on one leg or the other in very slight breezes when riding, and I usually ride with the venting closed on the side panels. Also there is a foil insulation on the backside of the plastic sidepanels, pehaps insulation is missing off one.

I would change plugs as they do seem to foul occasionally on these bikes, and then see if you can get a spark from all the plugs. If not maybe trace the wire back and check the connection going to the sparkplug boot, and to the coil end for cracks and breakage.

Then after ensuring spark fire it up and quickly and very carefully check the header pipes and see if they are all getting hot. (but be careful! these get hot quickly).

There are lots of very knowlodgeable people in this forum who will offer a ton of knowledge to get you back up and running properly, so dont be afraid to ask questions, we all had our first |Venture and a time when we didnt know anything about them.

Enjoy the bike!!!!

 

Brian

[V7Goose]

I am going to disagree and agree with goose here.

 

Yes, he is correct that the water is the same temp. on both sides.

 

But that does not take into account that the water is being heated by the engine. The water can only remove a certain amount of heat. If heat exceeds designed cooling potential, then the excess heat will be dissipated in other ways.

 

There is the possibility that one or both cylinders on one side or the other are running at a lean condition. This will cause those cylinders to run hotter than the cylinders which are running at a correct or rich fuel mixture.

 

The flow of water only cools the water jacketed parts of the block & heads. It does not cool the exhaust manifolds which are an intense source of heat. The lean cylinders will run a higher exhaust manifold temp.

 

Gary

Technically you are right, of course. But that is not the point at all. The inside cylinder temperature cannot be detected by someone riding or looking at a running bike. Even the head temp cannot be casually detected or measured. From a casual inspection of the bike while it is running at full temperature, the water that is virtually the same temperature in all the water jackets is the only indication the rider has.

 

The OP made a casual statement about one side of the bike hotter than the other without providing any information at all about why he thought this was so. My initial response was simply to explain how easy it was to be fooled by a simple cross breeze while riding; trying to put his mind at ease about the sensation if that is what he was feeling.

Goose

[Cruser]

I have the louvers for the side covers, I Removed then while trying to figure out what was up with the heat, right leg burning left leg cool as a cucumber sensation I get when the bike gets up to temp.

 

The info I have gotten is great, at least now I have some direction.

 

I will work my way through it and see what I find.

[barend]

right leg burning left leg cool

 

I had heat issues on the right side of my bike. (think I dubbed the thread "hot,hot,hot") turned out to be cracks in the exhaust down tubes for the rear cylinders. So if it isn't plugs, you might want to wrestle the downtube out (drop the exhaust and remove brake master) and check real close around all those useless little bolts welded into it. replace all seals while you're there, you don't want to do this too often.

[Yammer Dan]

Thats a Great looking 85!!

[Cruser]

Thanks Dan, while the Bike has its little cosmetic problems , who can see them at 75 miles an hour.

[GeorgeS]

Did you do the " cold start up test " ??

 

Start engine, " cold " let run for about 1 min, then feel the pipes to check for one being " colder then the rest of them "

[Cruser]

Ok back to this, I had some time today to mess with the Venture, I took the plugs out 2 were black, one was brown (the one I thought was the hot one) and the other was hand tight and didn't look like it had been firing.

 

after changing the plugs all the pipes were warm after a minute run, three felt about the same but the one that was hand tight was a little less hot ( I won't say cooler because all of them were just about to warm to hold a finger on for very long) .

 

This morning when I went to coffee, I noticed that I could hear a spark jumping somewhere through one of the stereo speakers with the system off, I think new wires will be next.

 

Im fixin to take it out for a night ride here in a bit, if I have anything to add on performance I will post it when I get back.

 

 

what do you guys/gals think?

 

 

Have a great and safe Indepence day! exercise your freedoms daily!

[Cruser]

The Bike ran hotter than it ever has, maybe its running on all 4 Cyl. now and thats normal, it went to about half way into the green of the gauge is that right?

 

It really seemed to run crappy at that temp, like a pig below 2000 RPM, once up and going it was smooth, I will be running seafoam through it this weekend and see if it helps.

[barend]

depends on ambient air temp. starting off in low/mid seventies and staying on open road I'm running mid green; going through town with temps in the upper 80s/90s will get me upper green and fan kicking in. When it's that hot I also have a problem with coming of idle,but I'm sure that's a different problem

[barend]

Other queustion: you're saying the bike is running hot, but then you say it's in the middle if the green. So are you talking about engine temperatures being too high or excessive engine heat on the back of your thighs, even in cooler night time temps?

[Pappa Bear]

Remember, on the right side of the motor is where the water pump and all the plumbing is. There will be alot of heat trying to escape there especially at that elbow!