1st gen temp gauge question

[outlawauto38]

i just bought a few weeks ago, an 88 white royal and i just love it. i have a white 04 2nd gen that i thought needed some company in the garage. i really havent driven the 04 since i bought the 88. now i know what you 1st gen guys are talking about,but anyway before i start a fight here is what i need some help with. i was riding last weekend with a strong head wind i was was going 70-75 and the temp gauge started bouncing down, got out of the head wind did not do it again. on monday it would do it at 50-60 and quit working, but, in town or at a stoplight, it would work fine. today it wont work until i am almost stopped, if i get on the front brakes hard to stop it will work but as soon as i take off it will quit.i stopped in a parking lot pushed down hard on the front end and it worked but as soon as the shocks rebouned it quit. will my cooling fan still work in town if the gauge doesnt work? what i really want to know is in simple laymans terms where should i start looking for the loose wire. i dont want to take it to the stealer and pay for some kids education on a bike that he has never worked on. i sure someone on here can point me in the right direction,but, i dont want to start really tearing up everything on the bike.right now everything else works flawlessly,the air ride,cruse control,cb,radio, and i dont want to create more problems for myself, or if somebody knows a good mechanic that they could recommend i live about 1 hour south of mpls. mn. thanks

[Black Owl]

Okay... just a quick thought... Have you checked the coolant fluid level?

[dingy]

Both sensors are on right hand side of bike, about 6" rearward of radiator cap.

 

Below is a picture of what they look like on a bike with all plastic removed.

 

Green arrow is temp gauge connector.

 

Blue arrow is ground for temp gauge circuit

 

Red arrow is fan switch.

 

The fan circuit is independent of temp gauge circuit, they do not share the ground.

 

Gary

[Rocket]

Both sensors are on right hand side of bike, about 6" rearward of radiator cap.

 

Clean connectors & check for tightness including the ground.

 

Also might be an idea to pull the windshield to look for loose connections on the back of the gauge itself. If the gauge connections look loose, you will need to pull more, to get at them.

 

[outlawauto38]

Black Owl the raidiator is full.

 

Dingy, I will pull the plastic and check the connections out. Thank you so much for the pics! Dingy, its so much easier to see what a guy is looking for to correct the problem.

 

Rocket, great suggestion, i willl start with the easy first.

 

Thanks everybody for your help... I will let you know what happens when I tear into it tomorrow.

[Yammer Dan]

Rocket has it on this one I think. Clean connections and make sure they are tight. Put some Di-Electric Grease on them. I think I saw that one go on E-Bay. Nice looking bike. Right Freebird??

[BradT]

Yes there is a single wire with I think it is called a bullet connector it gets loose and the gauge acts up. pull it apart and Squeeze it a little and put it back.

 

Brad

[outlawauto38]

thanks everyone for your help!!! i just get nervous on new to me things i buy and always think the worse. anyway when i got it i changed out the fluids,all filters and plugs,well i know you guys are laughing now, cause i am sure you guys know what i did.. here we go and yes i am eating crow!!!! i bent the little green wire on the bullet plug and had it almost off the post when i changed the plugs!!!! 2 minute fix and i am good to go now!!!!

dingy thanks so much for the pics!!!! and thanks again to everybody. all i can say is i just love this site