New to the board and new to my 98 VFR. The usual awesome VFR red, 20k miles, Hindle exhaust. Plus, the sound of a gear driven cam is addictive! VTEC, gen 5 or gen x, they're all awesome bikes, so I'm proud to be a member of the VFR ownership community!
Unfortunately an issue already: 2nd ride, digital Coolant Temperature Gauge starts showing -- and never shows a temperature. Air temp indicator works fine. Bike seems to run hot, but looking at posts that seems fairly normal. No overheating or puking coolant. Looking at other searches, it looks like there are some common electrical problems, but all other electrical items on my bike seem fine (including neutral light, so if I'm reading the service manual correctly that means it's not the sub-fuse for that circuit).
So am I looking at an ECT sensor, or is there something else I should be checking? And if it is the ECT sensor, does that mean my fan is not functioning as it doesn't know when to cut in? I haven't noticed the fan coming on, but I ride mostly freeway during the week so I'm guessing there's plenty of air to keep it cool.
If I do have to replace the ECT, how bad is it to remove the throttle bodies?
I can't help you with the ECT, although it sounds like that's probably it. I will saw, the fan is probably not on much for highway travel, if at all, but it will likely come on pretty soon after you get on the highway. It is loud enough to hear too.
Thanks for the reply. If the fan is loud enough that I would definitely hear it, then it's not coming on. Sounds like I'm garaged until this is fixed. :warranty:
Looking at the service manual, this looks like a bit of a PITA fix ... would really appreciate any feedback whether or not this is common or ways to verify if this is the problem.
I've never had my fan come on on the highway. Just in slow to not moving traffic and that's in the heat of AL summer. It usually comes on around 220F.
I've also noticed that while some things looked painful when reading the service manual, nothing has really been difficult yet. Except the fact that I'm clumsy and drop small connectors, screws and holders into hard to reach places.
You can put a switch to your fan so you can manually turn it on or off in traffic or after a long ride. I have one on mine, and I personally think it helps a lot.
I like the idea of the switch, I'll have to give that a shot. But I'd still like to have the gauge working.
I've checked the connection to the wiring harness ... looks OK. You can't really see the full wire run from the sensor, so I can't tell if it's intact. They have a test procedure for the sensor in the Service manual, but it requires removing it (and the gas tank, and the throttle bodies, and the ...). After all that work, you might as well replace the $30 part.
I saw one post that said thermo (btw nice avitar!). Wouldn't their be other symptoms if the thermostat is hosed.
Some progress ... I tore into the left side cover a bit and figured out that the test mentioned in the service manual for the ECT sensor can be done relatively easy. Where the ECT connector plugs into the wiring harness is right behind the coolant reserve tank. The test tells me the ECT sensor is fine. Now its on to testing continuity to the combination meter (and figuring out how to reasonably get to that). So it seems to be pointing to wiring or a combination meter circuit. I'm an old motocross guy, so this electrical stuff in like reading Chinese. :cool:
Just wanted to wrap up the thread in case anyone finds it later in a search.
An hour after my last post on this topic, I realized that my initial test of the ECT Sensor was incorrect (I was testing the wrong side of the circuit ... yep still learning electrical systems). The test in the manual is good, and can be done just by removing the left fairing and the coolant overflow bottle. When the test was done on the correct side of the circuit, it confirmed that the ECT Sensor (or the wiring that feeds to the wiring harness) was bad.
It's tedious the first time, but removing the airbox and throttle body isn't too bad. You really don't have to disconnect anything from the throttle body. just loosen it from the boots, pry it loose and hinge it up when you're working. Along with the ECT Sensor, I went ahead and replaced the thermostat as long as I was in there. Based on what it looked like when I got in there, I would bet the PO at some point had a coolant hose or something go and it probably flooded hot coolant in the V ... maybe why the ECT Sensor failed. The thermostat exercise was also a good excuse to flush and replace the coolant. I went ahead and used Engine Ice as the replacement ... as posted, these bikes tend to run a bit hot.
Temperature gauge now works and the bike seems to run nice and cool. I haven't seen it go over 185 yet, but no 95 degree stop and go commutes yet either. I'll need to use that first opportunity to ensure the fan is now coming on when it should.
Thanks to those that provided helpful posts! Time to go riding :rolleyes: