Triumphrat

Adventurer³

Hi all,

I'll make a more formal 'hello' post later, but in the mean time I have a little issue I'll need to use my inaugural post for unfortunately. For whatever reason I can't get the water temp light to click on upon starting, and the neutral and high beam lights don't come on when those are activated.

I removed the bulbs themselves and they all looked good. So I swapped a few around, and just as I suspected, the bulbs are all fine but no juice seems to be getting to those three connectors. Fuses are all fine and I've taken a look around and can't seem to see anything out of order.

Any suggestions?

Adventurer³

Another bit of interesting data...the engine will not start when in neutral unless my hand is on the clutch. The bike is new to me so I assumed this was just unnecessary safety. But I've come to find out, according to the owners manual, that in neutral it should start up without touching the clutch. Which means the bike thinks it's not in neutral when it is, which leads me toward thinking something is up with the switch.

But given the issues with the other lights, perhaps it is something these are all tied into. I suppose it may be the battery, but everything else seems to be working just fine and I don't have any issues starting it.

RickN

Welcome Adventurer³.

The water temp light is not supposed to come on when you start this bike. You can test it by shorting the connector on the top of the temperature sensor on the left side of the top of the engine to ground (the engine or frame). It is just right of the cooland tube bolded to the centre left side of the top of the engine. A screw driver works ok but do it outside in case there is a spark and gas fumes around.

The reason this works is the temperature sensor is a thermistor whose resistance decreases when the temperature increases. By shorting out the sensor you are simulating a low resistance (or high temperature).

Is that clear?

Rick

jimmyj900

It sounds like a loose connector so check the connectors in the headlight.

You've got a wire bundle coming into the headlight from each grip and the instrument cluster, so follow them out and you'll find the one for the instruments.

Since you're not blowing fuses it's probably not chafed.

Jim

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Adventurer³

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. I gave the temp sensor trick a try and had no luck, so tomorrow I'm going to attempt tracking down those wires at the headlight. Should I be able to follow and reach them relatively easily without removing the headlight itself?

jimmyj900

You'll have to remove the lamp assembly (bulb, reflector, trim ring adjuster) from the shell, but that's only a couple of screws.

Once the lamp assembly is out of the way you'll be able to access the wiring.

Be sure to check for worn insulation around the wire clips and where the cable enters the headlight.

Jim

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Adventurer³

Well I took the lamp assembly off and gave everything a good look yesterday. All the wires look good, and the only real 'issue' I could find was just some loosening electrical tape. But the wires underneath it looked almost brand new...didn't seem to have any issues at all.

One thing I found that was interesting was the little blue wire connector. Forgive my electrical ignorance but the best way I can describe it is a small, blue thimble-shaped connector that the wires are twisted together with. The precise name of the connector escapes me. I saw one in-use with the headlight/sidelight wiring (black w/ yellow stripe), and then the second was just sitting at the bottom of the headlight bezel. I couldn't find any loose wires that needed it anywhere, and the fact that it would be a spare seemed unlikely.

jimmyj900

That's a wire nut and shouldn't be there at all. I'd say that somebody has botched the 'flashing temp lite' repair, so give me a few minutes and I'll see what I can figure out from the schematic.

Jim

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jimmyj900

If some dungforbrains tried to do the temp lite fix and screwed it up, then there should be a 'strange' wire that's either loose from the main bundle, tie-wrapped fast or taped to the main wiring bundle. That wire should go to a ground point on the chassis, possibly near the steering head.

Try and locate that first. You may have to remove the gas tank to find out where it goes and/or identify it.

Follow that wire back to the connectors in the headlight. If dungforbrains was capable of some coherent thought, that wire should connect to the black/yellow wire on the bike side of the instrument cable connector. If it jumps over the connector and hooks to the instrument wiring bundle then that's where the problem is.

There are multiple splices in the ground leads of the lamps inside the instrument harness and no telling what dungforbrains did to the wiring, so this may take some time.

Let me know where the strange wire goes -- to the instrument wire bundle or the main wire bundle.

Jim

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Adventurer³

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it. I haven't had enough time to take a look at this and track it down quite yet, but when I do I'll return with updates.