2012 ec300r safe temp?

T

Terrence R

New member
So I've been looking all through the forums for answers, I can't find any. I'm wondering what is a safe/good operating temperature for the 2012 EC300r. What temp is too hot? My bike has the gauge in the digital speedo. Took it for a quick tip up the road for only 5 minutes and it was reading 160 F when I got back. Is that normal? The engine felt really hot. Sounded like it was pinging too. I'll check the plug and jetting, but I'm mainly looking for temperature answers right now please. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanx.
 
2-stroke thermostats are usually set at 55C or 130F. 160F isn't bad, but if you were running up and down the road at higher speeds, that seems high since the radiators had plenty of air flow. I'd be looking at jetting, especially if you think it was pinging.
 
Ok. So I went back out and made some adjustments. I started by putting a fresh plug in, but I did put a BR9ES in cause I'm nervous of hearing it ping. Then I raised the needle to clip 4 (it was in clip2). Then I set the air screw to the factory 1 turn out (it was at 1.5 turns out). I drove it up the road again and down through a tight trail. About 10-15 mins of total driving time. Leaving the tight trail; it went up to 149 F. Once cruising back on the road; it went down to 141 F. So, it has improved. But, I know that I should be running a BR8 style plug instead of the 9 that I put in it.
I bought the bike from a fellow last week. The plug looked very rich originally, but I'm not sure if the po just lugged the bike around everywhere. Also, the edge of the base gasket looked wet and green, so I replaced the base gasket and their doesn't seem to be any air leaks. Sealed up nicely. It's the .5mm gasket. I'm starting to wonder if the po had a different thickness gasket in there. Would that cause the need for jetting changes? The bike still feels too hot to me.
Also, what should the Danger temp be set at on the EC300r? Thanx.
 
200-210 is getting dangerous but won't cause damage unless it stays the hot for more than a couple of minutes. Your engine temperatures seem perfectly fine to be honest. I have a trail tech voyager that tracks engine temperature and then puts it I a nice graph for you and average temp is usually 160-170. What are your current jetting settings?


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I'm not sure on the jet specs ( I really should have checked when I had the carb apart for a cleaning :( ). I know that the po has the JD red needle in it, which I think isn't good cause I'm going to be riding 0-800 ft. Meaning, he should have had the blue needle in there.

Even though the numbers look ok on paper, it just still feels too hot. Takes a long time for it to cool down. I looked at the plug and it looked a bit on the light tan side. I would much prefer it to be darker than it is right now. But, that's only 15 mins run time on that plug. I'm thinking that I'll try a bigger main jet after I take a look and see what size is in there now. Do u know of the richest diameter RM 250 needle that I can use? Thanx.
 
If it's running lean it would seem really hot and coolant temps won't be necessarily be high. Which seems like what you are thinking. The NEDW needle works really well in these bikes with a 40 or 42 pilot and somewhere around 175+/- on the main.


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Ok. Good info. Thanks.

I think I'm ganna see what the impeller looks like once I get home tonight. I'm running engine ice for coolant.
 
Terrence R said:
I'm not sure on the jet specs ( I really should have checked when I had the carb apart for a cleaning :( ). I know that the po has the JD red needle in it, which I think isn't good cause I'm going to be riding 0-800 ft. Meaning, he should have had the blue needle in there.

Even though the numbers look ok on paper, it just still feels too hot. Takes a long time for it to cool down. I looked at the plug and it looked a bit on the light tan side. I would much prefer it to be darker than it is right now. But, that's only 15 mins run time on that plug. I'm thinking that I'll try a bigger main jet after I take a look and see what size is in there now. Do u know of the richest diameter RM 250 needle that I can use? Thanx.
Click to expand...

I'm at 1100' and the blue needle is to rich, second clip down red needle 40 pilot 172 main is perfect at this altitude and the temps im riding are from F70's to F100's+.
 
What else would cause this? Like I mentioned; the plug was reading rich before I replaced the base gasket. I was sure to torque the cylinder down evenly and to spec. I didn't even remove the head from the cylinder. It's not showing signs of leaking any where and the idle isn't unbalanced. The carb boots are tight as well.
 
memphis2857 said:
200-210 is getting dangerous but won't cause damage unless it stays the hot for more than a couple of minutes. Your engine temperatures seem perfectly fine to be honest. I have a trail tech voyager that tracks engine temperature and then puts it I a nice graph for you and average temp is usually 160-170. What are your current jetting settings?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I have a trailtech on my 300. I have set the trailtech red warning light to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are in 95 plus degrees with humidity at slow speed in tight woods you can get into the 200 degree range, my buddies that ride Ktms will start to boil in the mid 220s. My GG never gets to 200 except the condition described above and usually never over 200. Usually 140 to 160 is normal.
 
I have a lisle funnel that I have to use on my Subaru because they have boxer engines thus are prone to trap air pockets which could cause a head gasket to fail. I don't use it on my GG. You can google lisle funnel on YouTube to see how it works.

I just fill up my GG with coolant, put the cap on, bring it to operating temp for 5 or 10 minutes, shut down the engine and let the rads and coolant cool off completely,then remove rad cap and check coolant, if low then add coolant and repeat the process until the coolant level does not drop.
 
Moto7man said:
I have a lisle funnel that I have to use on my Subaru because they have boxer engines thus are prone to trap air pockets which could cause a head gasket to fail. I don't use it on my GG. You can google lisle funnel on YouTube to see how it works.
Click to expand...


how likely are they to get bubbles?
 
One last question:

I've been reading through some similar threads and found some good info about overfilling radiators and having weak rad caps. Really good info. I'm glad that there's so much good info on this site. I noticed that the inside of my cap doesn't look that healthy and the rubber that presses against the inner orfice looks parished. Question is; what KTM model and year rad cap would fit my 2012 ec300r? Should I go with something a bit higher pressure than the 1.4? Thanx.
 
Terrence R said:
One last question:

I've been reading through some similar threads and found some good info about overfilling radiators and having weak rad caps. Really good info. I'm glad that there's so much good info on this site. I noticed that the inside of my cap doesn't look that healthy and the rubber that presses against the inner orfice looks parished. Question is; what KTM model and year rad cap would fit my 2012 ec300r? Should I go with something a bit higher pressure than the 1.4? Thanx.
Click to expand...

I run a 1.6 with no issues. Gassers are not as prone to boil over as the ktm 2stroke or any 4 stroke for that matter, so no need to run as high as 1.8. IMO.

Also, when I am filling the radiators I like to burp the cooling system by laying the bike over a time or two on each side with the cap off. It works to some degree because I can always hear the air bubbling in the system as I lay it over.
 
Jacob 'Berg said:
I run a 1.6 with no issues. Gassers are not as prone to boil over as the ktm 2stroke or any 4 stroke for that matter, so no need to run as high as 1.8. IMO.

Also, when I am filling the radiators I like to burp the cooling system by laying the bike over a time or two on each side with the cap off. It works to some degree because I can always hear the air bubbling in the system as I lay it over.
Click to expand...

Ok. Which year and model KTM cap will work on a 2012 Gasser EC?
 
Terrence R said:
So I've been looking all through the forums for answers, I can't find any. I'm wondering what is a safe/good operating temperature for the 2012 EC300r. What temp is too hot? My bike has the gauge in the digital speedo. Took it for a quick tip up the road for only 5 minutes and it was reading 160 F when I got back. Is that normal? The engine felt really hot. Sounded like it was pinging too. I'll check the plug and jetting, but I'm mainly looking for temperature answers right now please. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanx.
Click to expand...

I wish my bike ran at 160. My plug is a rich brown, maybe too rich. I have the checkpoint impeller, no fan, and run yamacool. The Voyager shows 170's in 70 degree weather riding at 40mph avg on levelish ground. Climbing tight canyons, no airflow, first gear at 5mph runs low 200's, like 210 to 220 for prolonged periods, sometimes 230. Always been that way, bike seems to be fine, runs fine. Never boils over, never lose coolant. Never any in the catch tank. I think my autoclutch adds to the overall engine temp.

My buddy's 11 EC300 hits 230 routinely and sometimes 240 riding tight, slow terrain... He uses engine ice....but again never boils over.

I've used my infrared thermometer to confirm the voyager temp. Wondering, if your bike seems to be hotter than the gauge reads, maybe confirm the gauge is accurate.
 
Thanx for all the good info guys.

So, the parts crossover for the KTM rad cap has no detail. Do u guys know which year and model ktm cap fits the 2012 EC? Please, thanx.
 
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