Power Commander worth it? Help!!!!

Deno_n_Philly

Deno_n_Philly

Registered
My 08, blue and gold "Baby Betty" is running extremely hot and overheating. From what I read it could be a number of things:
1) both fans are not coming on
2) airpocket that is making thermostat mess up
3) radiator cap good?

The last one though was running "LEAN", I have a K & N Air filter, and Yoshi Tri-oval slip on pipes. A guy I just called to dyno it, told me since I did the K & N and Yoshi, the first thing I need to do is get a Power Commander, but they are like $275 on ebay without installation. My bike never started over heating until someone knocked it over last year. So what do you guys think, in my situation, should I get a power commander?
 
Heed advice above.

Sprays less gas into cylinders which causes a hotter burn, from what I understand. Get the PC and a good tune, might as well go full system before hand so you dont have to spend money on tune twice.
 
Blaster,
I want to stay as cheap as possible, I did not want to do all of this crazy stuff on my bike. I also bought the 6 yr, unlimited milage warranty through Suzuki, so I can't do to much to it.
 
No way is slip ons and an air filter making your bike run so lean that it would cause it to overheat. Lean and rich have to do with the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder. I think the standard mixture is something like 14:1 meaning 14 parts of air to 1 part of fuel. If you are rich you are add too much fuel to that mix, i.e. 14:5. Lean is the opposite; lean is too much air in the ratio like 18:1. Running lean burns hot, too lean can burn so hot that it burns up the valves or puts a hole in the top of your piston. As I said before, there is no way a slip on exhaust and after market air filter is causing you to run that lean. You don’t need to worry about running an air/fuel manager, like a power commander, until you put a full exhaust system on.

Your overheating problem is going to be related to the coolant system, not your air/fuel mixture. Take it to your mechanic and make sure they do a proper test of the complete coolant system. You can start by checking the simple stuff yourself, like fuses and coolant level. Look for signs of coolant leakage…it dries kind of a white color if I remember correctly. You can fire it up and check to see if the fans are coming on. What I wouldn’t do is start tearing into it. No offence, but you don’t sound like you are too mechanically inclined and/or just not familiar with the busa. You don’t want to do anything that is going to void that warranty. There is no use in buying the Power Commander until you put a full exhaust system on your bike. Even then most people will tell you to do an ECU edit instead of the Power Commander.
 
You don't need a PC, you need to figure out what got damaged. The K&N doesn't flow as much air as the stocker and the slip-on made little to no difference in flow. It wouldn't matter on a Gen I and it certainly want on a Gen II. Troubleshoot the cooling system brother.
 
Charlie,
Thanks that actually explained alot. I am very mechanically inclined, just not on my busa. I bought the extended warranty for this exact purpose. I also do not have a garage or anything, I keep in locked in a 5 x 10 Public Storage locker. So working on it and getting to really know it, can't happen. I had a buddy do all of the chrome and stuff to it. He has a gararge and is amazing with this stuff.
It didn't start until it was knocked over. 1 person on another thread said it was an air bubble in theirs and they had to sway it side - to - side to get it out. I hope it is something easy. It doesn't go above the half way mark on dial but that is to hot for me. If it cant get fixed, I gotta sell it.
 
i would say the person on the other thread is more actually correct, prob is an air bubble, none of the other things youve done will make it run that hot, i mean it will get hot in a lean condition but not that way, also if there is air in the coolant system doesnt mean shes running hot all the time either, but will make the gauge go hot, see if you can burp the coolant system.
 
Why not just do a coolant flush and replace...before messing with anything else..see if the problem goes away?
 
Deno.. In the 1st post you said its running extremely hot and overheating, then your last post (post #8) you said it doesn't go above the half way mark on dial. What is your defenition of running extreemely hot? What makes you think its too hot if the gauge is only at the half way mark? Just above the 1/2 way mark is the normal spot on my bike (08 like yours) when Im sitting in traffic and just at the 1/2 mark is the normal spot for when Im riding. Are you melting plastics or do you have coolant boiling out of the over flow? I ask because it could be that you are way too hot and the gauge isn't working properly, or that you are panicing over nothing. We need more info.... What side was the bike droped on? Was it a crash or did it fall over in the driveway?
 
Well it was knocked over on to the right then the left side.
Before the accident the bike was never to hot to the touch, now through jeans my legs are on fire, even when it is cold up here after about 15 minutes
Sorry, it went above half way once, and that was last week riding when I could not restart it for a while, until it cooled down.
I don't think I am blowing over or melting plastics, i know last week i sprayed chain grease on it, and it steamed off of there like mist. My buddy told me to not ride it again until i get it it the shop. The steam was coming by my left foot. You don't think that gold fairing screens can hold that much heat to where it moves up, under the gas tank.
Before I could ride hours and hours and never get warm, not in 10 minutes it is to hot to the touch.
 
These bikes are a little warmer on the legs especially the right thigh than the Gen I. No, fairing screens aren't the issue. Hope you get it squared away.
 
On my 08 I run M4 slip ons and a K&N air filter and my bike does not over heat. It does however run 1/2 up the temperature gauge during normal operation. Sometimes while sitting in traffic it will get about 3/4 up the gauge, but then back down once the fans cool it off. On cold mornings it is about 1/3 up the gauge.

You may be reading the gauge wrong and think it is running hot when it is not.
 
The fans should kick on when the gauge goes a little past half way but why mess with it if you have this 6 yr extended warranty??? Top off the coolant and run it and see if the fans turn on when they should.
 
Coolant flush. Will sort out the possible air issue. ECU editor: you can control fan temp on/off. Possibly when it was knocked over, a lead to one of the fans knocked off?
Synthetic oil is not a "fix" for a heat issue on a water cooled bike. Helps a little on air cooled dinosaurs like Harleys, but not much. Good ounce of prevention measure, but not something that addresses the condition causing the problem.
I'm running a Brock's AH full system, BMC race filter, and ECU editor, formerly a PCV. Live in central Texas where the normal ambient temps in the summer are close to 100 degrees.
Still run Dino oil, never have a "heat" issue....
At least burp the coolant system, and check the connections to the fans.
Good luck.
 
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