Temperature gauge question

[scottbly]

I bought my first big bike (83 Venture) last week and have been work out the bugs. I got all the dash gagets working except the temp gauge. Is the sending unit next to the fan switch? If so, I swapped it out with one from a parts bike but got no change. The fans does come on when it gets hot. Is there a way to check the gauge without removing the fairing? Are all the fuses on top of the battery? Thanks guys

[skydoc_17]

Hey Scott,

Congrats on the "new" to you VR! To get to the dash unit you will need to remove the 3 chrome (plastic) pieces at the bottom of the windshield and remove the windshield itself. there are 4 screws on the sides of the dash hood that take a right angle screwdriver or the hands of a 7 year old boy to get to. The fairing does not have to come off. As far as checking the gage itself, I am electrically retarded and hopefully someone like GeorgeS will jump in here and give you the skinny on checking that out.

Hopr this helps,

Earl

[mbrood]

The temp gauge is a variable resistor to ground. With one side of the guage tied to battery hot (signal fuse), if you bypass the temp sensor (ground the wire) you will probably wrap the needle around the top "pin" and that toasts the gauge. The resistance of the sensor varies from about 160 Ohms at ambiant to about 30 Ohms at 100c (212F). So you COULD put a 100 Ohm resistor from the temp sensor connector to ground and see a mid scale deflection...

 

You can also just do a basic ohm check of the meter... from the connector at the temp sensor to the "signal" fuse.

[MiCarl]

... 4 screws on the sides of the dash hood that take a right angle screwdriver or the hands of a 7 year old boy to get to.

 

Pull the turn signal lights and you can get to them with a regular screw driver (at least on the MKII).

 

**EDIT**

Oh yeah, new guy. MKII is the 86-93 version.

[timgray]

Check your ground on the temp sensor. It is on the right side up under the fairing right by the radiator. You have to remove the grille trim pieces above the horn to get to it.

[BuckShot]

Check your ground on the temp sensor. It is on the right side up under the fairing right by the radiator. You have to remove the grille trim pieces above the horn to get to it.

 

 

My ground wire was a little loose--just had to use plyers and make the connection tighter.