Been seeing some weird behavior with the temp light on my 2001 SX700R. I had previously added an electric starter and had grounded the battery to the engine (which may be relevant in terms of what I discovered, more on that below). When riding after about 20 miles I started seeing the temp light flashing, I was going about 60 mph so was difficult to determine the exact sequence, but I thought it was one long and 3 short which would be a potential discontinuity or short with the water temp sensor. It then started flashing constantly. I stopped and used a laser temp gauge pointing on the head by each sparkplug and each read about 175 degrees, which I would not think should turn the overheating light on so I kept going for about another 40 miles and it stayed flashing but seemed inconsistent. So now I have a few questions:
1) the ground wire had become loose from the eyelet and I was able to pull it out after determining why the electric start quit working, could that have caused the temp light to do some weird signals?
2) what temp causes the temp light to continually flash, as I am not sure I should trust the laser temp gauge I used?
3) I also have read about the water pump gear not spinning due to the issue with the gear on the crankshaft becoming lose when it gets warm, if this was causing the overheating, doesn‘t that gear also spin the oil pump and if so wouldn’t that have smoked the motor if I drove another 40 miles?
As you can see I am trying to determine what to look at next to diagnose the temp light issue without having to drive it another 20 miles to see if the battery ground was the potential issue/fix. Also, forgot to mention I also replaced the water temp sensor prior to running it the last time out as this has been an ongoing issue.
Appreciate any thoughts on the questions above, thanks!
1) the ground wire had become loose from the eyelet and I was able to pull it out after determining why the electric start quit working, could that have caused the temp light to do some weird signals?
2) what temp causes the temp light to continually flash, as I am not sure I should trust the laser temp gauge I used?
3) I also have read about the water pump gear not spinning due to the issue with the gear on the crankshaft becoming lose when it gets warm, if this was causing the overheating, doesn‘t that gear also spin the oil pump and if so wouldn’t that have smoked the motor if I drove another 40 miles?
As you can see I am trying to determine what to look at next to diagnose the temp light issue without having to drive it another 20 miles to see if the battery ground was the potential issue/fix. Also, forgot to mention I also replaced the water temp sensor prior to running it the last time out as this has been an ongoing issue.
Appreciate any thoughts on the questions above, thanks!
I would say the electrical ground issue was the most likely culprit.
A few years ago I installed LED lights on my wife's 2002 Vmax 600 and now because of the reduced load on the electrical system the temp light will now flash if the hand warmers are not being used. Turn up the hand and thumb warmers and the flashing stops.
A few years ago I installed LED lights on my wife's 2002 Vmax 600 and now because of the reduced load on the electrical system the temp light will now flash if the hand warmers are not being used. Turn up the hand and thumb warmers and the flashing stops.