Triumphrat

06-13-2005, 03:42 PM

Hi all

(This is my first posting on this forum)

I have a question related to the expected behavior of the temperature control light on the Thunderbird 2002.

After a while, either when standing still in traffic jams or when driving long times at low speed, the water cooling fan will eventually start -- which is perfectly normal. However, the unusual thing is that the red control lamp will turn on. More precisely, shortly before the fan starts it will sort of flash with reduced light intensity and as the fan starts, it turns on completely. Once the fan has cooled the engine enough and turns off, the light will go back to flashing mode and after a short while it will turn off.

So question is: have anybody here experienced this weird behavior? Is the lamp a functional one, or is it a warning lamp (which it is according to the instruction manual)? Is the wiring incorrect? Any clues?

Tord
Sweden

Trumpets4Years · 06-13-2005, 04:09 PM

This seems to be a pretty common occurrence on the TBird. IIRC, it can be fixed by running an additional ground?

I am sure someone who has resolved it will pipe up but I don't believe it is anything to be too concerned about.

cafetbird · 06-13-2005, 04:21 PM

Here is a recent thread on this - there is a link to the factory fix included.

temp light

MickMaguire · 06-13-2005, 05:08 PM

If it only does it just before the fan cuts in dont bother with the service bulletin fix which while it may fix this problem also was really intended to fix related issues of it coming on with blinkers/brake light etc.

My Tbird has done this since new, but as it goes off again right away as the fan cuts in I just ignore it.

upNorth · 06-14-2005, 09:07 AM

I've never seen the temp light on my bird in over 33,000 miles.

zimtok · 06-14-2005, 09:19 AM

I had this very problem...

But because it was not a major problem I waited untill I had to remove the fuel tank for something else and then I did go ahead and add a ground wire from the battery to the grounding point on the main frame.

That was two years ago and I haven't seen the temp light come on since.

Like Mick says, the ground may help this problem but the bulletin was to correct problems with the lighting.

I remember someone saying it was mostly due to the set point of the fan being close to the set point of the temp light sending unit.

I don't know for sure but the ground wire seemed to solve my temp light problem.

cafetbird · 06-14-2005, 09:30 AM

I think it is a matter of personal preference. I am with you Mick (my 'Bird does the same as yours, with almost 50k now), but some folks are so *nal that this little glitch would drive them completely insane... ;-)

Quote:

On 2005-06-13 15:08, MickMaguire wrote:
If it only does it just before the fan cuts in dont bother with the service bulletin fix which while it may fix this problem also was really intended to fix related issues of it coming on with blinkers/brake light etc.

My Tbird has done this since new, but as it goes off again right away as the fan cuts in I just ignore it.

legend21 · 06-14-2005, 09:44 AM

Same as Mick :-g and Scot :-g

[ This message was edited by: legend21 on 2005-06-14 07:44 ]

zimtok · 06-15-2005, 09:28 AM

Quote:

On 2005-06-14 07:30, cafetbird wrote:
I think it is a matter of personal preference. I am with you Mick (my 'Bird does the same as yours, with almost 50k now), but some folks are so *nal that this little glitch would drive them completely insane... ;-)

Quote:

On 2005-06-13 15:08, MickMaguire wrote:
If it only does it just before the fan cuts in dont bother with the service bulletin fix which while it may fix this problem also was really intended to fix related issues of it coming on with blinkers/brake light etc.

My Tbird has done this since new, but as it goes off again right away as the fan cuts in I just ignore it.

Some are anal about this and would do it right away once they found out about it.
I looked at all of the discussions and determined that this was not serious and it could wait for the next time I had the tank removed. It was about 6 months before I had the tank off again and decided to add the ground. I wasn't even expecting it to make a difference. But it did, and if adding this ground corrected this problem then maybe it prevented another problem from happening.
I have seen many problems in cars because of a bad ground. Some minor and some major.

If it doesn't bother you that you might have a ground problem then don't do anything about it. Maybe nothing will happen. But does it hurt that I added the extra ground? I don't think so. And I feel better because I did.

Tordan58, read the informaiton and decide what you want to do. It is your bike.

:chug:

cafetbird · 06-16-2005, 04:22 PM

Zimtok makes a good point - current is not flowing through your system the way it should, and could lead to a pre-mature failure?