1990 Honda FourTrax 350 - Overheating

[KaFuff]

hey Group:

I was out riding tonight on the lake and after about 13 Kms my Oil Temp
light lit up and stayed on. Any idea why?

Background: When I bought it, the oil light wouldn't come on before I
started it, I asked the previous owner and the local Honda dealer and both
looked it over and said that the relay responsible for turning on the
cooling fan was gone. Both suggested that I wire in a switch to manually
turn on the cooling fan - so I did it. I had checked and topped up the oil
before I left and checked it again when I got back. It was fine when I got
back. However, the engine and oil plug was REALLY hot - I couldn't hold it
in my bare hands. As it was a little cool tonight, I didn't have the fan
running as I figured that it was cool enough to keep things cool.
Temperature tonight is about -2 Celsius.

KaFuff

[Pieter Litchfield]

I would guess that your oil temp light came on because your oil is very hot.
Your oil is very hot because your fan was shut off. On my ATV, the fan is
wired direct through the key - turn on the ignition and the fan runs. No
relay, no manual switch. Works fine.

Expect that the oil plug will always be too hot to touch even when all is
working correctly. Your oil is likely hotter than boiling water after you
have been running flat out, even with a working fan on the oil coooler and
even on a cold day. Besides, -2C isn't very cold.

Post by KaFuff
I was out riding tonight on the lake and after about 13 Kms my Oil Temp
light lit up and stayed on. Any idea why?
Background: When I bought it, the oil light wouldn't come on before I
started it, I asked the previous owner and the local Honda dealer and both
looked it over and said that the relay responsible for turning on the
cooling fan was gone. Both suggested that I wire in a switch to manually
turn on the cooling fan - so I did it. I had checked and topped up the oil
before I left and checked it again when I got back. It was fine when I got
back. However, the engine and oil plug was REALLY hot - I couldn't hold it
in my bare hands. As it was a little cool tonight, I didn't have the fan
running as I figured that it was cool enough to keep things cool.
Temperature tonight is about -2 Celsius.
KaFuff