i have a stock honda forman 500 and everytime i ride it now. the over heat light comes on after about 10 min. of riding. any help? thanks

 

is it water cooled.....if so make sure your rad is clean ive seen mud get in around the rads and its hard to see

also make sure the fan is working.and put some syth oil in it.....i use mobil 1 10-40

 

It is air/oil cooled. There are two seperate oil coolers, so find them both and be sure they aren't clogged up.

Does the fan come on when the temp light is on??? Does it actually seem hot when the light comes on??? Could just be a faulty temp sensor making the light come on, and the machine is actually at normal temperature.

 

it is water cooled. i have checked the coolent level and eveything seams to be fine there. and yes the fan does come on when the light comes on. it does seam like its runing kinda hot but its hard to tell.

Reconranger: where is the two oil coolers located so i can check on them. and how do i check to make sure its just not the temp sensor causing the problem?

thanks

 

The manual transmission Foreman 500 is NOT water cooled!

The Rubicon 500 automatic IS water cooled.

Which one do you actually have???

 

it is automatic. sorry i should of said that

 

I know they do call the Rubicon a "Forman", but most folks just call it Rubicon and call the manual tranny one the Foreman 500. That helps distinguish between the two....

If the coolant is not boiling, I would say you may have a sensor problem. Another possibility could be a stuck (closed) thermostat, that isn't allowing coolant to circulate????

 

the coolent in the reserve tank is not boiling. any other way to tell?
and how would i go about checking the thermostat? thanks

 

You have to pull the thermostat out and put it in hot water and see if it moves enough that it could open.

Get a service manual, it should tell you how to get at the thermostat and how to test it.

 

When I saw 500 Foreman, and 01 in the signature, I figured it was a Rubicon...

Make sure the radiator is really clean. I think there's a shroud on either side that comes off pretty easy. Also make sure the oil level is correct.

Is the fan coming on? If not, that needs to be fixed.

Is the radiator full? If the hose to the overflow tank gets bad, the radiator may be down even though the little tank is full.

Otherwise check the thermostat. After you remove it, if you heat it in a pan of water with a thermometer, it should begin to open at 176 to 183 f.

If it hasn't been done, the coolant would be overdue to be changed, anyway.