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Piaggio mp3 500 LT
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Location: UK
 
Member
Piaggio mp3 500 LT
Joined: UTC
Posts: 13
Location: UK
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Hi everyone.
I have an mp3 500 2013. Done 20k miles.
Had it serviced 4 months ago. Apparently all fine.
Noticed recently when I ride it the temperature gauge will be near the bottom. No problem there. I then drive 20 miles home including motorway at 60 to 70mph.
I never used to hear the fan much, but now it's running all the time. And the temperature gauge rises during the journey. When I get home it's one bar from maximum.
Also the check engine light used to come on intermittently. But now it will come on and stay on 5 to 10 minutes into my journey and until I complete the journey and turn off the bike.
I know the weather has been hot recently but I don't remember this in the past during summers.
Also - hard to describe. But the bike sounds more rattly? The engine note sounds higher?
Drives fine. But worried it might just over heat and stop working on the ride home. There's motorway miles so I can't risk getting stranded or worse.
I'm sending it in next week to get fixed but from the description the mechanic is a bit unsure what it could be.
Any ideas? Things I should specifically check?
Thanks everyone
@jah avatar
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Hooked
Piaggio MP3 250'2007
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Location: Chelyabinsk, Russia
 
Hooked
@jah avatar
Piaggio MP3 250'2007
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Posts: 487
Location: Chelyabinsk, Russia
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Check your thermostat. I had overheating issue with my Big Beo. Thermostat stuck and thus only small cooling circuit was used. The coolant simply could not take all the excessive heat away and at some point started boiling.
@jimc avatar
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The Hornet (GT200, aka Love Bug) and 'Dimples' - a GTS 300
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@jimc avatar
The Hornet (GT200, aka Love Bug) and 'Dimples' - a GTS 300
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I fear the head gasket may have sprung a leak.

The gauge and the fan are fed from two separate sensors in the same package. I doubt both have gone faulty, so the temperature rise is real.

If you see no leaks, it's probably either the thermostat or the head gasket - and in my experience the head gasket is the most likely. I've had three Piaggio ones fail on me over time, but no thermostats. I did have to swap a thermostat on an X9 under warranty, but the factory had fitted the wrong temp range one for a while.
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Molto Verboso
2006 LX150 (carbed) | 2007 GT200
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Molto Verboso
@berto avatar
2006 LX150 (carbed) | 2007 GT200
Joined: UTC
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Location: Toronto
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jimc wrote:
I fear the head gasket may have sprung a leak.

The gauge and the fan are fed from two separate sensors in the same package. I doubt both have gone faulty, so the temperature rise is real.

If you see no leaks, it's probably either the thermostat or the head gasket - and in my experience the head gasket is the most likely. I've had three Piaggio ones fail on me over time, but no thermostats.
If it's the head gasket, I guess you'd see it in "milky" oil and coolant level being down?

And I suppose it's not a good idea to keep running the engine until the overheating is repaired, whatever the root cause here?
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The Hornet (GT200, aka Love Bug) and 'Dimples' - a GTS 300
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@jimc avatar
The Hornet (GT200, aka Love Bug) and 'Dimples' - a GTS 300
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When you say the fan runs all the time, is that right from switch-on? Or does the engine have to warm up first?
OP
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Member
Piaggio mp3 500 LT
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Posts: 13
Location: UK
 
Member
Piaggio mp3 500 LT
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Location: UK
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Jimc the fan is not on when I first start it up. Probably after 5 minutes of riding.
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Molto Verboso
2015 MP3 500 ie Business
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Location: Belgium
 
Molto Verboso
2015 MP3 500 ie Business
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Location: Belgium
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Sounds like stuck t-stat
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The Hornet (GT200, aka Love Bug) and 'Dimples' - a GTS 300
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The Hornet (GT200, aka Love Bug) and 'Dimples' - a GTS 300
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nathanolley wrote:
Jimc the fan is not on when I first start it up. Probably after 5 minutes of riding.
So not a wiring fault (which was the other faint possibility).

Change the thermostat, as this is relatively quick to do. If that cures it, fine. If not, it's engine out time and an examination of the head and head gasket.
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